On top of your game - Ch1 Performing under

Pressure
Ch1:
*Stressors - Physiological / Psychological (& potential Psych.)
- Situations : your Perception of the Situation & your Assessment of your
Ability to Handle the Situation determine whether you see them as
"Stressful" (= Stressor)
-eg: Competitor A may miss a Free-throw and it doesn't affect them
Competitor B misses & then fear making more mistakes (affects rest of
their performance)
=> So, the Same Situation occurred to both Players - but B's Perception
turned it into a stressor
==> When there is a Discrepency between a Demand and your Perception of
whether or not you can meet that Demand, you feel Stress
*Stress-Response (Physiological Response - or "Fight or Flight")
= Biochemical changes to the body
*Fear (Alerts you to Immediate Threat) vs
Anxiet y (concern about the Potential of a Future Threat) =
an EMOTION caused by a THOUGHT of a POSSIBLE THREAT
=> Anxiety is WORRY , Fear is REAL
*Anxiety : can make us
A. Avoid

B. Over-Prepare C. Adequately-Prepare OR

D. Under-Prepare (Deliberately so it can be used as an Excuse if play

Badly)
- People aren't good at calculating the actual possibility of an unfavourable
outcome (= they overestimate this possibility)

*Athletes experience the most Anxiety in these situations:

- The Outcome is Important to them
- New Situation (& don't know what to expect)
- Unpredictable Situation
- Feel they have No Control
- Experiencing Life Stress = can Bleed into Athletic pursuits
- FEAR OF FAILURE = a Threat to your Ego - if you put too much
Importance on the Outcome
= Fear of Losing/Making Mistakes is very Detremental to Performance
- Analogy = Cyclists holding back from going All Out because of Fear of not
having enough in the Tank for the Final Sprint. They never know what was
possible for them because they were too afraid to take the Risk & finish
every race feeling like they could have pushed harder.
*Nervous System
A. Sympathetic Division (for Pumping us up)- in charge of Stress Response
B. Para-Sympathetic (for Calming us)- in charge of Relaxation Response
*Amygdala - in charge of Emotional Memories & Meaning
- if the Amygdala Detects a Threat it can Immediately Activate the StressResponse to prepare to address the threat
- the Amygdala assesses the Situation before our Rational Mind
(Frontal Lobes) can Override it
- However the Rational Mind is not always Rational (it may spin "What-ifs")
**Chapter 1 - take aways:
It's Normal to feel Nerves before Competition - Performing under
Pressure is part of Sport
Your Mind can create Stressors - your brain can exacerbate or
alleviate Stress Response

 Anxiety isn't Bad - but when you put a Bad "Stamp" on it , it makes
the Situation worse
The Goal isn't to erase your Anxiety - this is Unrealistic - the Goal is to
manage it