Causes of anxiety in sport

Anxiety

“Anxiety is the negative aspect of experiencing stress. It is the worry that is experienced due to

fear of failure” (Honeybourne 2003)

Types

Somatic Anxiety

• Result of a performers negative perception of the body’s physiological reactions to stress.

• Due to the reaction of their body to stress the performer

worries more.• Likely to have a queasy stomach and

increased sweating.

Cognitive Anxiety

• When a sports person may think about concerns of underachieving from unpleasant thoughts.

• Often the stage before somatic anxiety.• Often experience problems with concentration replaces mental images of

success with failure.

State anxiety

• Some people are more anxious that others in particular situations

• Can be either somatic state anxiety or cognitive state anxiety.

Trait anxiety

• The persons usual behavioural tendency to become worried about environment.

• Has a tendency to overreact and usually develops high levels of arousal easily and quickly.

COMMON SYMPTOMS OF ANXIETY

• COGNITIVE ANXIETY- indecision, confusion, negative thoughts, poor concentration, irritability, loss of confidence, images of failure.

• SOMATIC ANXIETY - increased blood pressure, sweating, adrenaline boost, need to urinate, muscle tension, pacing, yawning, nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, loss of appetite, sleeplessness, loss of libido

• BEHAVIOURAL ANXIETY - biting fingernails, lethargic movements,fidgeting, avoidance of eye contact, covering face with hand

CAUSES OF ANXIETY IN SPORT

-fear of failing or a bad performance-fear of bad feed back or evaluation points-fear of the competition from the event-fear of an injury occurring and the athlete having no control

SPORT COMPETITION ANALYSIS TEST (SCAT)

1. Competing against others is socially enjoyable 2. Before I compete I feel uneasy 3. Before I compete I worry about not performing well 4. I am a good sportsman when I compete 5. When I compete, I worry about making mistakes 6. Before I compete I am calm 7. Setting a goal is important when competing 8. Before I compete I get a queasy feeling in my stomach 9. Just before competing, I notice my heart beats faster than usual 10. I like to compete in games that demands a lot of physical energy 11. Before I compete I feel relaxed 12. Before I compete I am nervous 13. Team sports are more exciting than individual sports 14. I get nervous wanting to start the game 15. Before I compete I usually get uptight

Another test was created after the SCAT test- Competitive state anxiety inventory (CSAI).

This test was said to be more thorough and a better test that the SCAT test, as it distinguishes the differences between somatic and cognitive anxiety making it multidimensional.