Discussion: Arousal is an integral element that is needed when preparing ones-self for sporting competition ( or practice for that matter). According to Weinberg and Gould, the athlete must become aware of his or her psychologigal states before they can control any thoughts or feelings they may have. This means when preparing for competition it is important to create an arousal state that is indicative of the competition you are competeing in and be aware of that state in order to set yourself up psychologically to compete. The athlete must energize him/herself when feelin flat and be aware of what he or she is doing in order to enhance his/her sport performance. With that said, if arousal levels are too high then sport performance can be …show more content…
Individual Zones of Optimal Functioning is a concept which states that “ A person’s zone of optimal functioning may be at the lower, middle or upper end of the anxiety continuum. In the Multidimensional Anxiety Theory arousal is said to inversley affected by an increase in state anxiety, therefore decreasing performance. In Kerr’s model,the Reversal Theory, he establishes that if an athlete see arousal as a pleasant experience , tthen the performance will benefit, however if is viewed negatively then performance will be hindered. When discussing Hardy’s Catastrophe Model, it becomes apparent that arousal can be beneficial, but only to a certain point. Hardy believes that as arousal increases it forms an inverted-U as stated previously but if anxiety surpassess the levels of optimal performance then catastrophic failure occurs and performance is at its worst. The athlete must then stop, relax,re-focus and use visualization techniques in order to get to a state of acceptable performance again.
With that said, it is beneficial to understand how to employ relaxation techniques in order to cope with situations like this. Relaxation exercises are used in order to relieve stress from the muscles and clear the mind in order to focus a nd perform at ones best, whether it be in practice or a game situation. There are different types of relaxation techniques. They
A common adverse affect of overtraining for an elite athlete is ‘Overtraining Syndrome’. Overtraining syndrome is a neuroendocrine (neural input cells in the brain) disorder characterized by poor performance in competition, inability to maintain training loads, persistent fatigue, frequent illness, disturbed sleep and the most frequent in an elite athlete: alterations in mood state (Nature Immunology and Cell Biology Laurel T Mackinnon May 2000). Nearly all athletes experience the mood deterioration observed without impairment in sport performance. Since the goal is to reach a point of improved performance within the athlete the athlete then has to reach his/her limits of physical capacity (or even beyond) and since the balance between the right amount of training and overtraining is a fragile line many athletes suffer from this overtraining syndrome. It is not the hard training that makes you stronger in fact it makes you slightly weaker, it is the rest that will allow your body to grow stronger. Physiologic improvement in sports only occurs during the rest period following hard training. Due to this need for hardened training many elite athletes overwork themselves
Sports—which involve emotion, competition, cooperation, achievement, and play—provide a rich area for psychological study. People involved in sports attempt to master very difficult skills, often subjecting themselves to intense physical stress as well as social pressure. research has expanded into numerous areas such as imagery training, hypnosis, relaxation training, motivation, socialization, conflict and competition, counseling, and coaching. Specific sports and recreational specialties studied include baseball, basketball, soccer,
Do all living things fear something? Those with minds surely have many and various fears, but even the simplest organisms must have fear, for fear is such a powerful feeling. Fear is all around us and is felt in every corner of the earth. Fear is the emotion or feeling that a living creature gets when its physical or mental life is interrupted by a change that causes the creature concern.
In a competitive environment, pressure creates mistakes & malfunctions. Even your concern with the outcome of the match can lead to a broad spectrum of experiences.
In Justin Pearson's memoir, From the Graveyard of the arousal Industry, he recounts the events that occured from his early years of adolesence to the latter years of his adulthood telling the story of his unforgiving and candid life. Set in the late 1970s "Punk" rock era, From the Graveyard of the Arousal Industry offers a valuable perspective about the role culture takes in our lives, how we interact with it and how it differs from ideology.
Our thoughts, diet/nutrition, exercise, rest, environment and physiology have a positive or negative impact on us which affects how well we perform and feel. In the world of sports, this is very easy to demonstrate because the mind/body connection provides you with immediate feedback. When you are positive, your performance excels. When you are negative, your performance is adversely affected. With various types of distress, or
for one's mind and body work in tandem. The mind is a message center that
During early 20th century, American writers were influenced by the changing world of industrialization and globalization. The horrors and World War 1 and the invention of new technologies had people questioning the future of humanity. Writers and journalist used this time to voice their views and experiences during these troubling times. Henry Louis Mencken is well-known writer who had a powerful influence on America’s writing style during the 1920s. His writing style was known for it’s wit, and harsh criticism towards American social and cultural weaknesses. His essay “The Libido for the Ugly” sends the message to the reader that America needs to change its way of living because they are too content with their current ugly lifestyle.
Many athletes would agree that they have felt butterflies in their stomach or a sudden rush of adrenaline before an important game. This feeling can either translate into legendary performances or monumental failures. According to Sharon D. Hoar (2007), to fully comprehend anxiety’s effect on performance, one must understand the discrimination between two unique sets of sources: trait and state anxiety, and cognitive and somatic anxiety. Anxiety symptoms are numerous and unique to every athlete. Hoar suggests that athletes might report cognitive symptoms (eg. Inability to focus), somatic symptoms (eg. Sweaty palms), or both. The author discusses a variety of sources of anxiety and argues that it can have both positive and negative effects
Thoughts and actions of mentally tough athletes are mental plan (pregame and game), emotional control, optimal arousal, confidence, intrinsic motivation, optimism, controlled anxiety, concentration and attentional control (alert and mentally focused), performs automatically, proper situational appraisal (challenge and threat),good coping skills (deals effectively with adversity) projects a positive attitude (positive body language) sense of enjoyment in the competitive setting.
Personally I find being calm and collected works best for my performance, in order to get into this state of mind I find it better not to think about the stakes of the game.
I remembering watching a talk show that Jessica Simpson had appeared on a few years ago. She had gained a few pounds and was discussing all the negative feedback she had been getting from the public. Because of this experience she started a reality show called “The Price of Beauty” where she travels around the globe and reveals what ideal beauty is in many different parts of the world. In one episode she go to Uganda and visits with a community that embraces larger women as their ideal model of beauty. As soon I saw the book “Feeding Desire” it reminded me of Jessica’s experience. Rebecca Popenoe is a social anthropologist. Her book, “Feeding Desire” details her
In earlier days sports psychology was mostly concerned with developing assessment methods that would identify those people with the potential to become serious superior athletes. Today the focus is on psychological training, exercises that strengthen the mental skills that will help athletic performances on the path to excellence. These skills include mental imagery and focus training. If an athlete is serious about becoming the best he or she can possibly be, the most essential ingredient is commitment to practice the right things. It takes incredible commitment to reach the top: a commitment to rest and train the body so it can perform under the most demanding conditions and a commitment to train the mind to
Researchers have debated about the phenomenon with emotions. Debates on this topic have and will continue to for many more years. Researchers have attempted to understand why one has emotions and came up with the five different theories. The first theory is the James-Lange theory, which argues that an event can cause physiological arousal first and, it can be interpret this as an arousal. Second theory is the Cannon-Bard theory that argues that all humans experience a physiological arousal and an emotional one at the same time. It still does not give any attention to the role of the thoughts or an outward
The role of the orgasm in heterosexual relationships is significant in having a satisfying malefemale relationship according to society’s expectations. By using the malefemale binary, as well as exploring the social construction of sex, we can see just how significant the role the orgasm plays in heterosexual relationships. First off, we must understand that orgasms are achieved differently for both males and females.