Anxiety and Self-Confidence How do they affect sport performance?
Anxiety and Self-Confidence
How do they affect sport performance?
The performance in the competition depends to a large extent on the preparation of the athletes, their training, their daily life and the general “protection” of themselves. The factors affecting performance are analyzed in many categories, whether they are physical, technical, tactical or even emotional-psychological.
The most ‘over-reported’ emotional factors for competitive sport are stress and lack of confidence.
Anxiety, as a negative emotion, comes from the word “angho” which means “to press tightly in the throat”. What everyone feels when experiencing the feeling of stress. Based on the word itself there is no such thing as “positive” stress, instead we seek alertness and psychological preparedness.
Anxiety is the feeling that “heavy body” causes in athletes. Their legs feel heavy, in sports such as taekwondo and karate it will often be reported that “the legs don’t go”, in sports that require movement such as football or tennis, athletes feel that they “can’t move”, in some situations creates hypervigilance to the point where athletes “don’t have control of their movements”. In swimming and in sports with a specific technique, due to stress, the athletes will feel the body tight, to the point that it spoils their technique, while at the same time there is the feeling that “I can’t catch water!”.
Mentally, anxiety is related to “confusion and fatigue” to the point that the athletes cannot “listen” to the coach’s instructions, think about their plan, look for solutions in the match, make quick and correct decisions.
Lack of confidence has a different effect on the match and sometimes acts as a counterweight to one side’s anxiety. “The more confidence, the less stress!”
The athlete without self-confidence shows no dynamism, lacks physical and mental energy and clearly lacks “momentum”, a concept very important for competitive performance. In taekwondo, karate, judo, athletes will not show aggression, their movements will look procedural, “done to be done”, they will not chase the opponent, they will play rather passively. In basketball or football they will not claim the ball, they will not take initiatives, as there is a feeling that “I can’t”. In tennis the strokes of the ball will be without power, in ping-pong the initiative will be lacking, in swimming the movements of the hands will appear without tension. Athletes with a lack of confidence look “like they’re not trying.” But it is not their choice! When you don’t believe you can achieve a goal, what you will lack is the effort. How much will the athlete try for something he doesn’t believe he can achieve?
The two concepts, anxiety and self-confidence, have a central role in the competitive performance of athletes. Athletes are asked to manage them long before the race, so that they are also psychologically ready, without simply waiting for “it’s my day!”. In sports “the day” is determined by the athletes themselves….
Yannis Zarotis MSc-PhD
Psychologist-Sports Psychologist
Can I defeat any opponent? The way of thinking of high-level athletes!
Can I defeat any opponent?
The way of thinking of high-level athletes!
Ulugbek Rasitov from Uzbekistan participated in the 2021 Tokyo Olympics in the 68 kg category. At the age of 18 at the time, it was his first participation in Olympic games. He had some accolades as a teenager as in 2018 he won the silver medal in 48kg at the Argentina Youth Olympics and in 2019 he won the 55kg gold medal in the Asian Junior Taekwondo Championships.
In Tokyo, having won the first match, he faced the 29-year-old South Korean Lee Dae-Hoon, who was already a two-time Olympic champion, in the quarterfinals.
For Rasitov, the data for the match were as follows: “I am 18 years old, without experience in corresponding events, without distinctions in the past at the men’s level, representing a country without distinctions at the Olympic Games in Taekwondo.” And “my opponent is the 29-year-old Lee Dae-Hoon, two-time Olympic champion, top of the World ranking, with countless awards and vast experience, representing the country with perhaps the longest tradition in the sport.”
The data was clearly against Rasitov, at this point the “mindset” gives the opponent a huge advantage, based on real data! But not for Rasitov…..
Without thinking about the past, without dealing with the “history” of the opponent, without analyzing the data, his thought “turned” only to “what I will do in the match!”. Looking for ways to win….
Since then he has won seven consecutive races, two Olympic gold medals in two events (Tokyo and Paris)! He also beat Lee Dae-Hoon…And for his country in Tokyo it was the first medal in the Olympic Games!
Same ability – different performance from match to match!
Same ability – different performance from match to match!
For each field of human activity, the “necessary” elements-characteristics vary, depending on the requirements of the conditions. In the sports environment, the adaptation and success of athletes depends on factors that mainly concern physical and technical elements, as those that are “projected” more. Athletes train to develop their sport-specific components with greater emphasis on how to improve in terms of their physical condition as well as their technical knowledge.
Why, however, are they not in the same mood every day? What are the factors that determine their tolerance to exercise fatigue? Why do some understand better the instructions given and develop correspondingly better perception and speed of thought? Why do some athletes become “better” than others, while following the same training? And if someone is talented in technical or physical elements, will they necessarily reach the top? Because for many athletes, training is a high-performance environment, while in competition they find it difficult to “bring out” their best selves. Why are there shifts in performance while ability is either maintained or improved?
Research data and daily experience show that the athlete’s success “depends” on many Psychological and Spiritual factors. Psychological includes motivation, self-confidence, stress management, emotion management, self-control, and other factors that “regulate” the athlete’s emotional state.
Corresponding to the Mental factors, skills such as concentration, the ability to analyze information, speed of thought, decision-making, information selection, understanding of the environment and all the elements that make up the intellectual dimension of the person are included.
The ability obtained as a result of training concerns technical and tactical features of the sport. The ability of the athlete to perform in each match based on his ability, his consistent performance from match to match depends on psycho-spiritual factors.
It shows that it is necessary for athletes, especially at a high level, to focus on the consistency of performance, as a factor that “distinguishes” them and “places” them at the high level. For this purpose, psycho-spiritual factors are for many athletes a field of focus in their daily sports activity.
Otherwise, while the athlete is at a high level he will not perform in every competition, sometimes because he has not managed his emotions and sometimes because he did not “read” the demands of the competition correctly.
Both Psychological and Spiritual elements are the result of corresponding “training”, each athlete has the possibility to “work” on them and based on his effort to acquire them. Athletes choose to focus on technical elements and physical condition, as these are what “show” the most. For the optimal physical condition, it will be necessary to have the corresponding psycho-spiritual condition as well.
Anxiety before and during the competition
Anxiety is for athletes, at any level, a key factor in competition performance. It is described as an emotion, which changes the smooth functioning of the organism, in each of its individual systems, however, it is experienced by each person in a special way. For some stress creates gastrointestinal disturbances, for others mental confusion, all report a feeling of discomfort and dysthymia.
In sports, anxiety “appears” perhaps several days before the competition. It creates over-intensity or even loss of energy, disrupts sleep, “accompanying” athletes in their daily life as an unpleasant feeling.
As they get closer to the race, the symptoms usually intensify, helping to develop further anxiety about the ability to perform. Athletes now have an additional thought: “How can I perform when I feel so uncomfortable?”.
The body becomes heavy, they lose the sense of mobility, the athlete becomes static, with great difficulty in doing anything that is asked of him or “demanded” by the competitive condition. “The body does not follow!” At the second level, the athlete’s cognitive function decreases, the plan he developed is not followed and the coach’s instructions are not listened to, not because he does not pay attention but because he is not able to control the specific mental function: “I lost it my mind, I can’t think or hear anything!’
Each athlete experiences the race differently, some feel anxiety which still affects them during the competition (even if they don’t realize it), some others not to the extent that it will create a problem for them to perform, many athletes feel anxiety, a pleasant feeling in anticipation of the competition.
The difference sometimes lies in the emotional state before the match: is it waiting or anticipation?
Anxiety is an extremely influential factor both in how athletes experience the competitive condition and in how they ultimately perform. At younger ages reducing anxiety improves athletes’ competitive experience, at older ages reducing or controlling anxiety helps achieve dramatically better performance.
Differentiating the way they see the performance process!
Yannis Zarotis MSc-Phd
Psychologist-Sports Psychologist
www.psychology.org.gr
Λείπει η Αυτοπεποίθηση ή η Ικανότητα;
Αναζητώντας τις αιτίες της μειωμένης απόδοσης στο περιβάλλον του αθλητισμού, είτε πρόκειται για προπόνηση είτε για αγώνα, οι αθλητές και οι προπονητές στρέφονται σε παράγοντες που αφορούν στη σωματική, ψυχολογική ή και την τεχνική/τακτική διάσταση του εκάστοτε αθλήματος.
Ο ψυχολογικός παράγοντας, ο πιο σύνθετος και «απρόβλεπτος», συνδέεται συχνά με την έλλειψη αυτοπεποίθησης, την εμπιστοσύνη που νιώθει ο αθλητής προς τον εαυτό του, ώστε να αποδώσει με βάση την ικανότητά του. Σε κάθε άθλημα η αυτοπεποίθηση «εκδηλώνεται» στην προπόνηση και τον αγώνα με ποικίλους τρόπους.
Σε αθλήματα όπως το ταε κβο ντο και το καράτε ο αθλητής δηλώνει την αυτοπεποίθησή του με την ενέργεια που απελευθερώνει, την κινητικότητά του, την αποφασιστικότητα με την οποία πραγματοποιεί τις κινήσεις του, την πρωτοβουλία που λαμβάνει για να κερδίσει πόντους. Στο τένις και το πινγκ πονγκ δηλώνει αυτοπεποίθηση έχοντας κινητικότητα, ξεκάθαρο αγωνιστικό πλάνο, επιθετικότητα στα χτυπήματά του και την αίσθηση ότι ελέγχει τον αγώνα. Στα ομαδικά αθλήματα, η ενέργεια που μεταφράζεται σε κινητικότητα, διεκδικήσεις, αποφασιστικότητα σε κάθε προσπάθεια και ανάληψη πρωτοβουλίας είναι ορισμένα από τα στοιχεία που θα δηλώσουν την αυτοπεποίθηση του αθλητή.
Όταν η αγωνιστική συμπεριφορά του αθλητή δεν δηλώνει αυτοπεποίθηση τότε είναι σημαντικό να αναζητηθεί εάν αυτό οφείλεται στον ίδιο και την αδυναμία του να «βγάλει» ό,τι διαθέτει ή στην έλλειψη ικανότητας εξαιτίας της ελλιπούς προετοιμασίας ή και του ανάλογου αγωνιστικού επιπέδου του αθλητή. Είναι συχνό φαινόμενο για έναν αθλητή να αδυνατεί να ανταπεξέλθει στις απαιτήσεις του αγώνα και να αναζητά την αιτία στην έλλειψη αυτοπεποίθησης.
Μήπως είναι έλλειψη ικανότητας; Μήπως η προετοιμασία του αθλητή δεν είναι σε επίπεδο αντίστοιχο των απαιτήσεων του αγώνα;
Αν έχω την ικανότητα αλλά δεν τη βγάζω πρακτικά στον αγώνα, λείπει αυτοπεποίθηση. Αν δεν έχω δουλέψει αρκετά, λείπει η ικανότητα!
Κομβικός παράγοντας στην όλη διαδικασία είναι ο προπονητής καθώς είναι ίσως ο μόνος αρμόδιος να κρίνει αν ο αθλητής θα χρειαστεί υποστήριξη σε θέματα εμπιστοσύνης του εαυτού, ώστε να «βγάλει» στην προπόνηση και στον αγώνα τα στοιχεία που διαθέτει, ή έλλειψη ικανότητας ώστε να δουλέψει περισσότερο.
Η αυτοπεποίθηση ως έννοια έχει ψυχολογική «προέλευση» αλλά για να αναπτυχθεί χρειάζεται την ικανότητα!
Γιάννης Ζαρώτης MSc-PhD
Ψυχολόγος- Αθλητικός Ψυχολόγος www.psychology.org.gr
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The important “first coach”
The important “first coach” in the path of athletes
Research at the global level is looking for factors that sometimes have a positive and sometimes negative effect on the development and evolution of athletes. The effects of the family environment, the social data related to sports and the other factors that appear both in the introduction and in the course of the athlete are studied.
In the same context, the influence of coaches throughout the sports career is studied. Research focuses largely on the first coach the child will meet in his introduction to sports, thus highlighting his defining role.
The first coach is “responsible” to present the first image to the young athlete about the content of sports. It shows him how pleasant the sports environment can be (or the opposite), builds a framework that develops pleasant feelings, which will determine whether the child will stay both immediately and in the long term in the sports environment. If the first coach has a positive effect on the athlete, it is very likely that he will continue and stay in sports. The more positive the coach’s image, the more profound an effect it will have on the child’s emotional dimension.
A coach who presents himself as friendly and positive, with mobility and attitude, which shows his appetite to work with children (this element is strongly appreciated by children), inclined to help any child who needs it, with an interest in the child as a person and then as a future athlete, declaring acceptance for each child (avoiding to investigate “having it” or “not having it”), an element that will contribute to the development of the child’s self-esteem.
The behavior of the first coach seems decisive in basic concepts with which the child will structure the sports environment. He will cultivate respect, cooperation, consistency, the willingness to try, trust as he will identify with a role model who exhibits similar behavior. If he trusts the first coach, he is more likely to stay in the sport and at the same time the child himself will develop confidence in himself in the future.
If the athlete in the future continues in sports, if he receives useful information from sports, if he develops into a high-level athlete and if he finally exercises as an adult adopting exercise in his daily life, the first coach will have a decisive role. To develop one needs motivation and desire and the first coach is the one who shapes the environment to develop children’s desire for sports at an early age. If the athlete stars, he will owe a lot to the first coach. It helped him develop as a child a second very important quality, that of an athlete!
Yannis Zarotis
Psychologist-Sports Psychologist
Success: Want, Must or Can?
Success: Want, Must or Can?
Human nature often pushes him to set goals, to seek new experiences and different conditions through which he manifests his desires and fulfills his “wants”.
Both daily activity and sports are fields in which every person seeks success. Whether it is the exams at school, or the participation in a competition, or even in adult life the development in the working environment.
The individual’s involvement in each field includes success as a goal, with each pursuing it as a “want”, “must” or “can”.
Often in sports it is heard that success is a person’s big “dream”, the satisfaction of his desires, his ambition that will satisfy his emotional side. “I want” expresses what could satisfy the person, what would bring him joy and pleasure. “I want” alone does not ensure success. It will need to be transformed into effort!
In many cases, success takes the form of “must”, making it “must”, without any alternative in case of failure. The athlete’s preparation towards the goal he “must” achieve will be accompanied by intense anxiety, while the failure to achieve it will be accompanied by guilt and a more general deconstruction of the whole effort: “I didn’t do what I should have”.
Even if I had to, the basis of success is “I can”. It states the individual’s abilities, the effort he has made, his improvement through his preparation and to achieve the “I can” goal meets the requirements of success.
“I want” is important as it indicates the motivation of the individual, it is the activating factor towards success, without it any effort would not start. “Must” appears to be an inhibitor to success, it creates a sense of obligation, success (if it comes) will bring more relief than pleasure as it is a stressful condition. Ultimately we are looking for the “I can”, this will reveal the desire of the person, as it comes with effort and a lot of work! It will fill the person with self-confidence and optimism and give him the corresponding physical and mental energy to achieve the goal.
It is important for the athlete not to dwell on “I want”, to see success as something pleasant and not obligatory, while developing his individual ability.
To achieve success “you must be able!”
Don’t blame the parents of the athletes, educate them!
Don’t blame the parents of the athletes, educate them!
The role of parents in sports is a key element for the subsequent development of children. They determine to a large extent how much support an athlete will have emotionally, how cooperative and receptive he will be towards his coach, how much effort he will put forth in every situation for his best possible performance. It is the parent who, as the first “educator” in the child’s life, will teach him the concepts of responsibility, consistency, respect for those around him, a positive attitude towards “third parties”, will create the basis for the development of self-esteem of the child, on which he will build his self-confidence, even in sports. All the information provided to the child is what his coach would ask for when working with young athletes.
The importance of the parent is also demonstrated by the fact that 3 out of 10 children are involved in sports because of their parents, who also “influence” the children’s choice of sport. 32% of children are motivated by their parents’ desire to participate in a particular sport, research shows.
At the same time, a percentage of between 65-75% of children who play sports, states that there have been moments in which they have experienced pressure from their parents. Pressure to succeed, expectation to improve, demand to win. In this case, they unwittingly “develop” stress in the athletes. As they will create similar issues by getting involved in training, giving instructions for the match, making countless analyzes about the match that the child did not go “well”, “asking for the reason” from the coach for the child’s lack of progress, arguing with other parents and always being one step ahead of the child trying to provide everything for him, sabotaging his autonomy.
In the end, the parents are a problem, says the coach, and certain research results also state this.
As much as they can negatively affect the development of the child, even more and perhaps more they could be the ideal ally in the athlete’s development effort. They are blamed for their attitude and general behavior, characterized as over-involved or over-protective. They may not be “right”.
Did anyone ever train them though? Has anyone ever informed them of what the “proper” attitude in sports really is? They entered a very demanding space, spending a lot of personal time and corresponding money, not knowing “what should I do when the match is over and the child is upset?”. At the same time, research shows that parents “spend”/invest 3-12% of their annual income on their child’s sports!
Watch training? Should I go to the games? To answer if he asks me “how did you see me?” Should I talk to the coach? Should I ask him about training and the match? These are some of the questions parents have. They express concern and concern, it is about “the most precious thing they have”: their own children.
We take it for granted that he knows how to help, but at the same time he is “unrelated” to sports. Something doesn’t fit…
If you don’t explain something to someone, don’t judge them. No one is evaluated on something they don’t know. The responsibility of educating parents “burdens” everyone, actors, coaches and those involved in sports. The child’s sport starts with the education of the parents!
Educate them, inform them and let them decide whether they are doing “good” or “bad” to their children. And either the parents or the child’s own development will “decide” whether it is good or bad!
Το choose a club or a coach?
Children’s exercise, in any form, helps their development in the best way, either physically or psychologically and spiritually. It contributes to their physical health, ensures to a certain extent their energy/activity, cultivates elements of their later personality, educates and socializes the young “athletes”, creates the foundations for their mental balance and provides stimuli for the mental alertness-cultivation of child athletes.
Sports, which is an organized form of exercise in any sport, has the framework for obtaining the above benefits. The parents’ decision to introduce their child to sports creates questions and searches regarding which sport and club they will “choose” for their child and with what criteria.
Research shows that the main criteria for choosing a club by parents are the distance from their home, the time of training, the cost of the monthly subscription and the “image” they have formed from their information about the respective sports club .
On the other hand, the needs of child-athletes for play, coexistence with friends, fun, smooth and gradual entry into the sports environment appear as additional elements that need to be taken into account for the choice of sport and club.
Responding to what the research supports that the sports environment can offer and to the children’s wishes at the same time, it seems necessary to “control” the training environment of the club, with all that this implies, by the parents.
A key factor in the choice is the coach with whom the child will work, with what goals and objectives, in what form of behavior, in what way of communication. The coach is able to determine to a very large extent whether the child will stay in sports or not, whether he will have fun or be pressured, whether he will form healthy behaviors or internalize views and attitudes inhibiting his further psycho-spiritual development.
Parents, in the first stages of introducing children to sports, are asked to look for coaches who will offer the emotional support the children need, the corresponding behavior to experience pleasant emotions, “ensuring” to a certain extent the development of motivation and the stay of the children in the sports environment. They will look for coaches with a mild and positive attitude, having a willingness to communicate and above all the energy that the children also possess so that they can “follow” them.
Each club has a philosophy for sports, which is “reflected” almost entirely on its coaches, they are also the ones “delivering” its philosophy.
Ensuring the elements that sport offers is the point, the cost for the benefits can be 15 minutes more on the road or reconfiguring the family program based on the child’s training, however “ensuring” the child a multi-year presence in the sports environment with simultaneous pleasure and satisfaction from his participation. Having made the right choice of the person-coach in whom they will trust a lot of the child’s free time and will contribute to his development in all areas of his personality.
Perhaps in the end the answer to the question can be summed up in: “If you want to choose a club, choose the right coach!”
Yannis Zarotis MSc- PhD
Psychologist – Sports Psychologist
Athletic Performance: The Role of Psychological & Mental Factors
Athletic Performance: The Role of Psychological & Mental Factors
Every person, in whatever area they are active in, develops elements that help them to adapt and evolve. For each field of activity the “necessary” elements-characteristics vary, depending on the requirements of the conditions.
In the sports environment, the adaptation and success of athletes depends on factors that mainly concern physical and technical elements, as those that are “projected” more. Athletes train to develop their sport-specific components with greater emphasis on how to improve both their physical condition and technical knowledge.
Why, however, are they not in the same mood every day? What are the factors that determine their tolerance to exercise fatigue? Why do some understand better the instructions given and develop correspondingly better perception and speed of thought? Why do some athletes become “better” than others, while following the same training? And if someone is talented in technical or physical elements, will they necessarily reach the top? Because for many athletes, training is a high-performance environment, while in competition they find it difficult to “bring out” their best selves.
Research data and daily experience show that the athlete’s success “depends” on many Psychological and Mental factors as well as elements of his Personality.
Psychological includes motivation, self-confidence, stress management, emotion management, self-control, and other factors that “regulate” the athlete’s emotional state.
Corresponding to the Mental factors, skills such as concentration, the ability to analyze information, speed of thought, decision-making, information selection, understanding of the environment and all the elements that make up the intellectual dimension of the person are included.
In any case, both the Psychological and Mental elements of the athlete can be measured as there are now the corresponding tools to evaluate the corresponding dimensions.
The Personality elements that help the athlete in his success include receptivity to cooperation, hard work and discipline, persistence and patience and everything else that he develops over the years and is a “piece” of his personality.
Both Psychological and Mental elements are acquired, each athlete has the possibility to “work” on them and based on his effort to acquire them. Psychological elements are difficult to work with and require a combination of things. You try to work within a period of time the self-confidence, which one needs years to acquire. Accordingly, for Mental elements many factors play a role and it is also difficult to work as a factor.
The important thing for the athlete is to understand which elements he needs to work on more, as essential for his sport or his development path. Athletes choose to focus on technical elements and physical condition, as these are what “show” the most. For optimal physical condition, however, it will be necessary to have the corresponding psycho-spiritual condition.
It seems that Darwin’s opinion prevails in sports as well: “It is not the strongest or the best that prevails, but the one that adapts to the conditions”, highlighting the psycho-spiritual factor…
Yannis Zarotis MSc-PhD
Psychologist-Sports Psychologist
www.psychology.org.gr
