2008 Woodie Awards
Even elite athletes buckle under the pressures of success
Ashley Bonora
Issue date: 3/19/06 Section: Features
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A good athlete is a combination of either natural or acquired talent, hard-work, and a concrete psychological perspective. An elite athlete possesses one major difference, the extreme mental qualities of a competitor.
In sports today, athletes are expected to be the best of the best. An athlete possesses strength, agility, and endurance, while managing their confidence, anxiety, and motivation.
No matter the class of athlete, sub-elite or elite, there is one thing they both have in common. All athletes succumb to the breaking point of the pressure set on them by their coaches, parents, peers, and of course, themselves.
Anxiety is the link between success and defeat. Teams and solo athletes perform poorly because they underestimate their opponent, or worry themselves out of the game.
Nonetheless, dealing with this anxiety successfully is an important characteristic of the elite athlete. Research has shown that the ability to cope with pressure and anxiety is an integral part of sports, particularly with cream of the crop athletes.
In 1998, The Sports Psychologist reported that more than 50 percent of consultations among athletes at an Olympic festival were related to a stress or anxiety problem. As a result, the association between anxieties in athletes has become one of the most common topics of sports psychology research.
Broadhurst in 1957 and Hebb in 1955, sports psychologists, developed an explanation between athletes and anxiety, and performance. It was referred to as the inverted-U hypothesis. This theory states, "as arousal increases, performance would increase as well; but if arousal became too great, performance would deteriorate."
In 1994, research conducted with an elite group of swimmers found that anxiety intensity levels were higher in subjects who interpreted their anxiety as harmful, than those who reported it as being an aid, according to the author of "Personal Individual Differences," G. Jones.
In sports today, athletes are expected to be the best of the best. An athlete possesses strength, agility, and endurance, while managing their confidence, anxiety, and motivation.
No matter the class of athlete, sub-elite or elite, there is one thing they both have in common. All athletes succumb to the breaking point of the pressure set on them by their coaches, parents, peers, and of course, themselves.
Anxiety is the link between success and defeat. Teams and solo athletes perform poorly because they underestimate their opponent, or worry themselves out of the game.
Nonetheless, dealing with this anxiety successfully is an important characteristic of the elite athlete. Research has shown that the ability to cope with pressure and anxiety is an integral part of sports, particularly with cream of the crop athletes.
In 1998, The Sports Psychologist reported that more than 50 percent of consultations among athletes at an Olympic festival were related to a stress or anxiety problem. As a result, the association between anxieties in athletes has become one of the most common topics of sports psychology research.
Broadhurst in 1957 and Hebb in 1955, sports psychologists, developed an explanation between athletes and anxiety, and performance. It was referred to as the inverted-U hypothesis. This theory states, "as arousal increases, performance would increase as well; but if arousal became too great, performance would deteriorate."
In 1994, research conducted with an elite group of swimmers found that anxiety intensity levels were higher in subjects who interpreted their anxiety as harmful, than those who reported it as being an aid, according to the author of "Personal Individual Differences," G. Jones.