Sport And Exercise Psychology: A Critical Introduction

In summary, this section of the chapter suggests that athletes can learn to cope with
pressure situations by using at least four psychological strategies. First, they must be
trained to believe that pressure lies in the eye of the beholder. Therefore, they must be
taught to cognitively restructure competitive events so that they can be perceived as
opportunities to display their talents (the challenge response) rather than as potential
sources of failure (the fear response). Second, athletes must learn for themselves that
systematic preparation tends to reduce pressure. One way of doing this is to use
simulation training and mental rehearsal (or “visualisation”—see also Chapter 5) to inure
themselves against anticipated difficulties. Third, anxious athletes can benefit from using
self-talk techniques to guide themselves through pressure situations. Finally, when
anxiety strikes, athletes must be prepared to deepen their routines and to use physical
relaxation procedures in accordance with the temporal demands of the sport that they are
performing.

Unresolved issues and new directions in research on anxiety in

athletes

Despite a long tradition of research on anxiety in athletes, many issues remain unresolved
in this field. Identification of these issues can help us to outline areas for further research
on anxiety in sport performers (see also Gould et al., 2002; Woodman and Hardy, 2001;
Zaichkowsky and Baltzell, 2001).
First, the fact that researchers tend to use terms such as arousal, fear, anxiety and
stress interchangeably in sport psychology suggests that greater conceptual rigour is
required throughout this field. Fortunately, some progress in this regard is evident with
the development of a model designed to clarify the relationship between arousal-related
constructs (see Gould et al., 2002). Second, idiographic research designs (i.e., ones which
reflect the uniqueness or individuality of the phenomena of interest—Cashmore, 2002)
are required to augment the traditional nomothetic approach (i.e., the search for general
principles of psychology based on large samples of participants) to anxiety in sport. A
good example of the idiographic approach comes from a recent interview study by
Edwards et al. (2002) on the catastrophic experiences of elite athletes when choking
competitively. Qualitative methodology such as focus groups (see Chapter 1) could be
especially useful in exploring the meaning of anxiety to athletes. Third, little research has
been conducted to date on the question of how cognitive anxiety and physiological
arousal interact to affect performance in sport. Fourth, apart from anecdotal insights
yielded by athletes and coaches, virtually nothing is known about the effects of emotions
like anger or revenge on sport performance. Finally, surprisingly little research has been
conducted on the anxiety experienced by athletes close to and during competitive
performance (Thomas, Hanton and Jones, 2002). Field studies in this area are particularly
welcome.

Ideas for research projects on anxiety in athletes

Here are five ideas for research projects on anxiety in athletes.

"Psyching up" and "calming down": anxiety in sport 93