Emotional FactorsImpacting on Performance

Emotional Factors

•Anger •Fear•Happiness (Confidence)

Anger

•Anger is an emotion normally associated with being offended, frustrated or wronged.

•Managing anger is extremely important in sport to avoid reacting negatively to a situation.

Anger

• Anger in sport can be very useful in the right situation but more often than not it is about how you control your aggression that makes the difference.

•Often opponents look to irritate each other in the hope it puts them off a game plan or affects their performance.

Anger

Watch this short YouTube clip

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_gI7-2gvhw&index=1&list=PLMn5YXzQucSFwTNu1FQ0Rf2TcwBBkTCZ5

Anger - Tasks

• What may happen during a performances that could result in you experiencing anger?

• What negative impacts might losing control of anger have on an athletes performance? Why may this be the case?

• In what ways may channelling and controlling anger have a positive impact on performance

AngerImpacts of Uncontrolled

Anger - NegativeImpacts of Controlling

Anger and Aggression – Positive

Poor Decision Making Breaking Rules –

Fouling Losing Focus on what is

important Retaliating to situations Disrupt team harmony -

Arguing with teammates

Can increase determination

Can increase motivation

Can increase effectiveness of actions e.g. tackling

A Netball player experiences frustration and anger after being effectively guarded in a game:

• She starts to try too hard in the game• She causes fouls as she is too keen to get the ball• This causes her team to lose possession and scoring chances• It gives the opposition more possession and opportunities to score

• She loses focus on her role in the team• She starts to make bad decisions and finds herself being caught out of position• This reduces the passing options her teammates have on the ball as she is not where she is meant to be.• She starts to interfere with the role of others in the team (getting in the way)

• She makes bad decisions when in possession of the ball• She tries to hard to be successful • She starts to always go for the difficult play• Chooses the wrong passing options and often gives possession away• Chooses to shoot in too difficult a situation result in misses and lost scoring opportunities

• She starts to get frustrated with her teammates• She there performance for her own poor play• Causes arguments within the team which reduces cohesion• Teammates start to lose focus and therefore their performance drops• Motivation of the team as a whole drops• Players start not working effectively together

Fear

• Fear is an emotion induced by a perceived threat, which causes you to quickly pull away or, in sporting terms, usually hide.

• In sport fear can be a fear of getting physically hurt or it can be a fear of failure.

Fear• The following YouTube clips

Fear of Failure in Football• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZCE87XMx1Y&list=PLM

n5YXzQucSFwTNu1FQ0Rf2TcwBBkTCZ5&index=5

Fear of Failure in Tennis• https

://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MtjAs3YB36s&index=8&list=PLMn5YXzQucSFwTNu1FQ0Rf2TcwBBkTCZ5

Fear - Tasks

• When participating in sport what might cause an athlete to experience fear?

• What affect might experiencing fear have on an athlete physically and mentally?

• Choose 3 of the symptoms of experiencing fear. Give an example of how these will have a negative impact on performance.

FearNegative Impacts of Fear

Experience negative thoughts and feel less confident in their ability

Athletes can tighten up and perform below their normal level.

Can prevent athletes from taking risks due to worry about what will happen if it doesn’t work. This can stop performers trying something inventive that may be succesful

Athletes can lose focus on what is important in order to perform well as they are worried about the outcome. This can negatively affect decision making

Athletes can become indecisive as they fear their decision being wrong

Fear – Positive Impacts• Although fear of failure is seen as a predominantly negative emotion,

some athletes view that fear as something that has had a positive impact on their performance.

• This quote from Tanni Grey-Thompson who won 11 Paralympic gold medal medals during her wheel chair racing career give her view on how fear help her perform to her best.

“The fear of losing made me train really hard. I was terrified of being on the starting line and not having done everything I possible could”.

• A further quote from Sally Gunnell (Former Olympic 400m hurdles champion) gives her opinion on how fear helped her level of performance.

“I trained bloody hard because I was scared of losing”

Fear – Positive Impact

Champion Jockey A P McCoy talks about fear of failure

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D01KhiP4x2A

A Table tennis player experience fear of failure in a big match:

• Only plays “safe” shots as worried about making errors• Doesn’t put opponent under enough pressure• Opponent can take the initiative• Opponent can play attacking shot• Puts player under pressure & results in losing points

• The player experiences self doubt and he feels tight.• He starts to over think the situation• His movements become less fluent and skilled• Errors are made due to this which results in the loss of points.

• The player starts worry about the outcome of the match – In particular worrying about defeat.• He loses focus on what will help him perform well such as tactics• He forgets his pre-match plan and stops playing the ball to his opponents weaknesses• His decision making is poor• This lead to his opponent having easy chances to win points

Happiness (Confidence)

• Happiness is a positive emotion that ranges for contentment to intense joy. A person who is happy will feel good about themselves and their lives in general.

• Happiness impacts on sport through impacting on other qualities such as confidence and optimism.

Confidence

• Confidence is commonly defined as the sureness of feeling that you are equal to the task at hand.

• Confidence is YOUR belief in YOUR ability to complete a physical skill or task required in your sport.

Confidence

Introduction to self-confidence• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kIIqxYJX_I4&index=2&list

=PLMn5YXzQucSFwTNu1FQ0Rf2TcwBBkTCZ5

Impacts of confidence on performance• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XB590DzHpM8&list=PLM

n5YXzQucSFwTNu1FQ0Rf2TcwBBkTCZ5&index=3

Happiness (Confidence) Task

In groups discus how being confident will have a positive impact on your performance in sport.

Low Confidence – Negative Impacts High Confidence – Positive Impacts

  An athlete will experience doubts

that will impact on their ability to perform to their best.

  An athlete may be indecisive or not

fully commit to their decisions. 

Distractions such as fear of failure may cause the athlete to lose focus.

  An athlete will stay in their comfort

zone and avoid taking risks. If possible they will try to hide when performing.

  

 

  Athlete believes in their ability to

perform well and be successful  

Decisions are made and carried out with conviction increasing the chance of success.

  Don’t worry about negative

outcomes so able to focus more on what is important

  A confident athlete is more likely to

take risks that can lead to success. 

A confident athlete will focus on how they prepare and how they perform and won’t worry about what others are doing.

 

A handball player is happy with his role in the team. This leads to him playing with great confidence during the game:

• He plays with a real self belief in his ability• He is constantly looking to get possession of the ball.• He communicates with teammates to let them know he wants the ball and is confident he can create

scoring chances. This creates passing options for his teammates• His teammates confidence and motivation is increased due to the influence he is having on the team

and game. This takes pressure off of teammates

• His decision making is effective• He doesn’t have any doubt in his decisions and executes them with conviction.• He looks to player through balls at the correct time and doesn’t worry about losing possession. This

can create scoring chances.• He shoots at the right time and doesn’t shy away from the responsibility

• He is willing to try out of the ordinary things when in possession.• He isn’t worried about not being successful or what people will thin• This often leads to him making unexpected plays• This can catch defenders out and create scoring opportunities

• He can perform well even in highly pressured situations• He doesn’t doubt his ability regardless of the situation and doesn’t worry about negative outcomes• Even when under pressure he is calm and makes effective decisions• His movements are fluent and skilled as he does not get tense• He not effected by distractions as he is only concerned about himself and his belief that he will be

successful