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.