``I think it was a combination of the atrophying of my legs, the new scars, and feeling like a caged animal,'' Street said. ``I went from being a very physical person, a very powerful athlete, to barely having any strength to get from my room to the kitchen. You're stuck and you can't do what you normally do and it makes you crazy.''
It is well known that it is the athletes mental state not the injury sustained which causes this ‘depression, anxiety, lack of confidence, ultimately can lead to a nervous breakdown and athletes reaching ‘rock bottom’
``There's a pervasive sense that athletes are superhuman, not only in their abilities to perform athletically, but also in their morals, their ability to handle pain, disappointment and injury.'' Dr. Deborah Saint-Phard, a former Olympic shot-putter, is a physiatrist, a doctor who specializes in rehabilitation.
Athletes themselves take on these larger-than-life expectations and may not reveal to others how much they are suffering. Nicole Detling, who tore a ligament in her knee while playing basketball in college a few years ago, could not endure people feeling sorry for her, so she withdrew in to a shell and ‘beat herself up’ about the injury instead of moving on with life she dwelled on what had happened.
It is this depression that can directly affect the athlete as it has many side effects to the sport.
It is normally seen that there are more negative effects of stress than good but this is only because most people perceive stress to be unpleasant and even a failure to cope. There are positive effects of stress, which can ultimately enhance an athletes performance. The negative effects of stress only occur if we as a sports person do not manage our stress properly.
But stress has positive effects as well such as; causing physiological arousal alertness and it prepares the body for explosive activity. Stress sometimes felt as butterflies in the stomach allows the athlete to think and be aware of their surrounding environments.
“A certain level of stress is needed for optimum performance. If you are under too little stress, then you will find it difficult to motivate yourself to give a good performance. Too little stress expresses itself in feelings of boredom and not being stretched.”(Kerr 1985)
Stress allows athletes to evaluate sporting situations and gives them the ability to understand their opponent and ways in which they will play the game (reading the opponent), here are Guy Whittall (international cricketer) views of the benefits of stress in sport and how to go about goal setting within a game:
"You've got to have a general overall plan. There are always things going on in your mind trying to keep one step ahead really, and I have a different game plan for different batsman… I supposed it's being one step ahead, being in charge of what's going on."
It is evident that ‘Whittall’ has not been able to succeed within his sport without the benefits of stress, stress has allowed him to goal set and given him intrinsic motivation towards the sport. Goal setting is normally an intrinsic motive to do well in a sport and usually the goals are small at first like ‘I will tackle three people today’ or ‘I will score 5 points in my match’ once these small things are achieved you receive intrinsic and extrinsic feedback, extrinsic feedback like Kareem Streete Thompson’s motivation
“I was filled with pride as I saw the people in the stands cheering for us. I knew it would be a good day for me. At the end of the workout, Dan told me it was one of the best workouts I have ever had!”
This positive feedback boosts self esteem and confidence and also builds conditioning loops within the brain e.g. ‘if I do this, this will occur’ (Ivan Pavlov, a Russian physiologist who won a Nobel Prize in 1904 for his work on digestion stumbled upon conditioned learning during his experiments using dogs) this means that athletes are able to reduce stress by making more conditioning loops. Using certain prepping techniques, warm up routines and listening to music are just a few of the ways athletes do this.
“I try to do is keep my pre race routine the same. Visualizing the perfect run, listening to my music and relaxing, getting my course reports from the coaches, and focusing in on the task at hand”.(Picabo Street)
Just as there is a negative feedback loop (above) there is also a positive one, it is this loop that allows the positive effects of stress to be shown.
Overall we have seen that there are positive and negative effects of stress. But to see the positive side we as athletes have to manage our stress and understand that stress has to be managed. We have to realise that stress is only negative when it is not understood and managed.
Bibliography
Books
Sports Psychology: Matt Jarvis. Routledge modular Psychology series.
Coaches guide to Sport Psychology: Rainer Martens.
Physical Education and Sport, for A-level: John Honeybourne, Michael Hill and Helen Moors.
Advanced PE for Edexcel: Frank Galligan, Colin Maskery, Jon Spence, David Howe, Tim Barry, Andy Ruston and Dee Crawford.
Physical Education and the study of sport: Bob Davis, Ros Bull, Jan Roscoe, and Dennis Roscoe.
Own Goal, How egotism and greed are destroying football: Simon Freeman.
Internet
Stress, Anxiety and Energy
Stress and Adrenaline
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Archer targets golden games
http://www.pponline.co.uk/encyc/0336.htm
Mental Fatigue: When your brain tells you to stop going, here's how to tell it to shut up.
Various athletes journals, and quotes relating to stress management and the effects of training.
How We Cope (or don't cope) with Stress
Picabo Street case study
