Written by Ben Sonnenburg
In previous years coaches told their athletes in high pressure situations to suck it up and get over it when their athlete issued a complaint.
Unfortunately, it has been much more common than using listening skills, but in their defense, they did not have a detailed list of what to do and thought that the mental aspect of the game was irrelevant. On the other hand, their schools they are employed for have started taking mental health days.
These occasions are days where the student may not arrive to school in order to take a break from the high-pressure nature of schoolwork and other activities. These coaches have taken note of this shift and witnessed the impact on their athletes. They have recognized that there is a need to provide a better approach in the mental aspect of the game.
For that can have a direct impact on their stress and anxiety levels.
One sport that focuses on the mental aspect of the game is E-sports. It places extremely important need on it and has been much more easily seen compared to other sports. E-sports is defined as an
“individual or team-based competitive activity including ranking systems on both professional and amateur levels (Urukovicova, 2021).”
In this game there is hardly any physical activity being generated besides the click of a mouse and typing of a keyboard. The main activity involves how the person has reflexes and training in multiple situations and must think about their next move ten steps ahead. It is very easy to get frustrated within this setting especially due to the immense cognitive demand it has on the athlete.
If they lose attention, lack mental agility, processing speed, executive function, hand-eye coordination, or virtual adaptations they will lose the match often in one move with very little chance of recovery.
Researchers define stress as
“an interactive psychophysiological response that includes cognitive appraisal and physiological changes to threatening or demanding but relevant stimuli (Urukovicova, 2021).”
Therefore, due to the immense amount of cognitive challenges placed on the athletes, they need to be well equipped by their coaches with multiple resources and advice to combat these cognitive demands. The coaches first need to be equipped with the knowledge of the physiological changes that can occur during gameplay.
A metanalysis on over 3000 studies found that blood pressure was increased in their gameplay. Both systolic and diastolic numbers were up during gameplay, but specifically in more violent gameplay. In the violent gameplay, the athletes got much more tense and easily frustrated. Therefore, the coaches should instruct the players to constantly take deep breaths and remain calm even if they do not perform as well as expected. They should be playing like they would any other less violent game which has been shown by researchers that those do not increase blood pressure.
Similarly, heart rate also significantly increased in violent video games. his is not bad in the short term, but with an increase in heart rate without an increase in cardiac output, can lead to negative health benefits. Furthermore, the athletes respiration rate, the amount of breaths taken per minute, was also found to be significantly decreased over the course of both violent and non-violent video games. Therefore, the coaches need to instruct their players to take deep breaths.
Focused deep breathing has been shown to relax the sympathetic nervous system which puts the body into a fight or flight response. This response over the course of a long period of time is not good for the human body as it can lead to hypertension or other negative health impairments. When deep breathing takes place, the parasympathetic system takes over and allows the body to think more clearly, rest, and conserve energy.
In addition to E-sports, football has a lot of stress and anxiety associated with the sport. The players need to memorize plays, show up to numerous practices which some are two times a day, and avoid injury which is commonplace due to the physical nature of the sport. The players and coaches also both deal with positive and negative emotions of winning or losing and being in favorable positions before the game starts. One researcher said,
“Controlling these ‘pressures’ and lowering the levels of stress, depression, anxiety, leads the athletes to reach the maximum performance (Rozsnyai, Grosu, & Rusu, 2020).”
Therefore, the coach needs to provide tools to combat these negative emotions. Before the game the players need to visualize their own individual success and avoid the thought that it is over before it even begins. If they think it is already over, the player will not be able to perform at peak performance. A clear definition of success by the coach also needs to be given.
Success is the ability to improve one’s own capability and get better.
It is not associated with winning. Therefore, if the athlete is improving then they are being successful. This changes the focus from outcome oriented to goal oriented.
These goals should follow the acronym SMART.
The S stands for specific. This aspect outlines a very clear goal. One example could be that a player will throw twenty successful passes in a game.
The M stands for measurable. If the players goal was to only throw successful passes, there would be no barometer of what the player should strive for in order to be growing in ability.
Continually, the A stands for attainable. If the goal was to throw 100 successful passes with no interceptions or dropped balls, this would be completely unattainable. It should be a goal that is able to be achieved right outside their normal ability level.
The R stands for relevant. If the player had a goal to become a successful basketball player, but they were only enrolled in football it would make not make any sense. It needs to be relevant to the sport they are in.
Finally, the T stands for time bound. If there is no time limit, it cannot be assessed in the same fashion during the next time they try to get better. This is one tool that a coach can use to become a better leader not only in football, but also in other places like e-sports
Stress and anxiety are a common occurrence within sports.
Both physically intensive sports like football and cognitively exhausting ones like E-sports place intense demands on the body.
Therefore, the coach needs to provide appropriate tools in order to teach them to properly assess the situation. Some of these include deep breathing, visualization, and the addition of SMART goals.
If the player incorporates these, it can impact the body greatly by keeping heart rate, respiration rate, and blood pressure at appropriate levels.
Controlling these will help the athlete perform at a much better rate and make astrological improvements both in the immediate game and in their recovery for the next.
References:
Rozsnyai, R. A., Grosu, V. T., & Rusu, A. C. (2020). The Importance of Depression, Anxiety and Stress on Sports Performance at Football Junior (14-16 Years). / Importanţa Depresiei, Anxietăţii şi a Stresului Asupra Performanţei Sportive la Juniorii de Fotbal (14-16 Ani). Gymnasium: Scientific Journal of Education, Sports & Health, 21(2), 63–81.
Urukovičová, N. (2021). Psychological and Physiological Anxiety and Stress in Competitive E- Sports Settings. Megatrends & Media: Media Farm - Totems & Taboo, 607–617.