Anxiety and arousal differ in their effect on athletic performance. Anxiety negatively impacts performance as the individual has a heightened heart rate, is lacking concentration and is in a panicked state. This causes the athlete to fumble the ball or break on a centre pass in netball. On the other hand, when an athlete is at optimal arousal, it positively influences their performance. They are not over-aroused in an exhilarated and anxious state, nor are they under-aroused feeling drowsy and too relaxed. Rather, they are attentive and ready to perform as seen when an athlete can read the play and accurately time their passes. Therefore, anxiety negatively impacts the performance of an athlete whereas, when optimally aroused, an athletes performance is improved.
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In sport setting, arousal is often linked to anxiety. Anxiety is a negative emotional state with feelings of worry, nervousness and apprehension that is associated with the arousal and activation of the nervous system.
Under-arousal and over-arousal are common problems. For example, most coaches have heard the excuse, "I just couldn't get psyched up for it, coach." This comment refers to a level of mental arousal that was too low: a common cause of sub-standard performances.
Over-arousal can also be a problem. Getting too psyched up can cause athletes to lose concentration, act before thinking and perform with tight muscles and a lack of fine motor control.
Do you perform well during training or practice but choke in competition? If feelings of nervousness, anxiety or fear interfere with your sports performance, learning to use a few tips from sports psychology may help you get your anxiety under control and reduce game-day nerves.
