Sport And Exercise Psychology: A Critical Introduction

are omitted? What are the differences between the situation in which athletes might listen
to a relaxation tape and the competitive situation in which they become anxious? How
can such differences be minimised? Using an automated database such as PsycINFO, can
you locate any published research which evaluates the efficacy of relaxation tapes?

Giving oneself specific instructions

Anxiety is unhelpful because it makes people focus on what might go wrong (i.e.,
possible negative consequences) rather than on what exactly they have to do (the
immediate challenge of the situation). Therefore, a useful way to counteract pressure in a
competition is to ask oneself: “What exactly do I have to do right now?” By focusing on
what they have to do, athletes can learn to avoid the trap of confusing the facts of the
situation (e.g., “we’re 1–0 down with ten minutes to go”) with an anxious interpretation
of those facts (“it’s no use, we’re going to lose”). Therefore, when athletes experience
pressure, they should give themselves specific commands which help them to focus on
actions that can be performed immediately.

Adhering to pre-performance routines

Most athletes use “pre-performance routines”, or systematic sequences of preparatory
thoughts and actions, in an effort to concentrate optimally before they execute important
skills (e.g., golf putts, penalty-kicks; see also Chapter 4). Briefly, these routines serve as a
cocoon against the adverse effects of anxiety. In particular, by concentrating on each step
of the routine, athletes learn to focus on only what they can control—a vital principle of
anxiety control.

Constructive thinking: encouraging oneself

When sports performers are anxious, their “self-talk” (i.e., what they say to themselves
inside their heads—see also Chapter 4) tends to become hostile and sarcastic. Although
such frustration is understandable, it is never helpful to the person involved and may even
make the situation worse. So, athletes need to talk to themselves with two objectives: to
encourage themselves for their efforts (positive reinforcement) and to instruct themselves
on what to do next (guidance). For example, an anxious tennis player might say, “Come
on, this point now: go cross-court on the next return of serve”.

Simulation training

One of the best ways of developing mental toughness (see Chapter 1) is to inoculate
oneself against anxiety by practising under simulated pressure situations in training. For
example, Miller (1997) described how, as part of their training for gold-medal success in
the 1988 Olympics, the Australian women’s hockey team practised under such adversity
as gamesmanship (especially verbal “sledging”) and adverse umpiring decisions. The
concept of simulation training is discussed in more detail in Chapter 4.

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