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How Does Stress Affect Performance in Sports?

Not all stress is created equal — here’s what you need to know.

It’s normal for an athlete to feel stressed before a big game or a competition. If they didn’t feel stressed in the slightest, then one could argue that they were not prepared to give their best performance. This is similar to the inverted U theory and how athletes need to experience the optimal amount of arousal — not too much or too little — to perform at their best [1].

Too little stress/arousal and an athlete feels no sense of urgency or motivation to perform. On the other hand, too much stress can limit the athlete’s ability to focus and may cause them to choke or crumble under intense pressure. It’s all about finding balance!

This blog post will explain more about stress and how it affects performance in sports, beginning with more details on what causes stress, and tips to help you deal with stress in sports.

What causes stress in sports?

Everybody experiences stress, but athletes often experience it more than others. But why is this the case? Because it’s a balancing act — athletes need to balance training, competition, family commitments, relationships, and everyday life. And for college athletes (and other Elite athletes), you can throw school and work into the mix for a little extra chaos. 

And let’s not forget the intense public scrutiny that comes with being an Elite athlete.

These stressors are compounded by competition, especially during a big game, whether that’s the NBA finals, the PGA tournament, or a football game that decides who gets relegated.

With so many external factors inducing stress in athletes (and coaches), controlling the internal has never been more important. 

“If you do things to the limit, and don’t purposely go over that limit, then I think it’s fine to do whatever you want. So long as you enjoy it. That’s what’s important.” – Michael Schumacher.

How does stress affect sports performance?

Stress has a direct effect on sports performance. If an athlete feels too much pressure, the stress can get to them and cause them to freeze up, crumble under pressure, or make vital mistakes when it matters most.

It can also cause athletes to involuntarily tense up their muscles, leading to poor form and technique, may lead to cramp, among other issues.

To better demonstrate this intense pressure, let’s use the example of a presentation at work as it’s slightly more relatable for most people… it’s a slight diversion, but I promise it will be worth it…

You’ve been preparing for this presentation for a few weeks, rehearsing what you’re going to say, and running through the slides daily. But when it comes to actually delivering the presentation, you freeze up, you’re unsure of what you’re going to say next, and your mind goes blank.

This is the exact same thing that happens to athletes when they freeze up — but instead of not knowing what to say, they don’t know what to do, what play to make, where to pass, or what the next step is they should take. It’s like a deer caught in headlights. Athletes commonly freeze and choke, making crucial mistakes because of intense pressure.

How to deal with stress in sports

Okay, now that you know what causes stress and how it can directly affect an athlete’s performance, how do you deal with it? You can do numerous things to reduce stress and anxiety, from practicing deep breathing exercises and mindset recovery sessions to creating a pre-performance routine to increase familiarity and reduce stress. 

Below you’ll find a list of things you can do to help deal with stress in sports:

  • Perform deep breathing exercises
  • Create a pre-performance routine
  • Practice stressful situations in training 
  • Focus on getting the basics right (sleep, nutrition, etc.)
  • Visualize success

We’ll now break these tips down into more detail.

Perform deep breathing exercises

When people hear the words “deep breathing,” they often think of meditation. And while it can be a form of meditation, deep breathing exercises can also be used in those crucial moments; before taking a free kick, putting the ball in golf, or moments before toeing the line on the track.

Diaphragmatic breathing, also known as “belly breathing,” involves breathing in through the nose and out through the mouth. Studies show that this breathing technique can be useful to improve sustained attention while better regulating stress [2].

Practice and perform this breathing technique to help alleviate stress and anxiety, whether that’s before competition or something as simple as reducing stress before sleep.

Read more: Breathing Exercises for Stress Relief: How to Do 5-10 Breathing.

Create a pre-performance routine 

The best athletes have a pre-performance routine that they follow like a horse wearing blinders. A set routine increases familiarity, reduces stress, and allows the athlete to get into the right head space and mindset to perform at their best.

You can create your own routine by eliminating activities that cause stress, and replace these with activities that increase focus and concentration. For example, this could include deep breathing exercises, listening to your favorite playlist, mentally rehearsing what the performance will look and feel like, and so on.

It takes time to find a routine that works for you. But begin experimenting by adding/removing activities to best reduce stress and improve your mindset leading up to the performance. 

Practice stressful situations in training 

A lot of athletes do not experience intense stress until it matters most — the final few minutes of a game, during a penalty shootout, or when they are tied on points on the last hole on the green.

A great way to reduce stress is to practice these stressful situations in training to increase familiarity. For instance, if you know your muscles tense, you feel anxious, and your palms get sweaty when taking penalties, practice this in training to reduce stress when it matters most. Practice goes a long way!

You can also add techniques such as deep breathing and muscle relaxation exercises during these intense moments so you have them in your toolkit — and know how to use them effectively — when you need them most.

Focus on getting the basics right

Although it may seem obvious, even Elite athletes need to get the basics right. We’re talking about sleep, nutrition, and recovery.

If one of these is out of whack, then stress may increase, and performance may decline. Get the basics right and then implement other techniques and mental skills, such as visualization — more on this below.

Visualize success 

Visualization is a powerful mental skill that many elite athletes use. It involves picturing yourself performing successful skill performance, whether that’s scoring a goal, passing the ball to a teammate down the wing, or saving a goal. 

Athletes use visualization to improve confidence, reduce stress and anxiety, and calm their nerves. 

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Use Rewire to reduce stress and improve performance 

Some level of stress is needed to improve performance. But too much stress — and not knowing how to control it — can cause an athlete to freeze, choke, or make vital mistakes when it matters most.

Rewire can help athletes reduce stress by tracking their physical, cognitive, and emotional states. Athletes gain access to science-backed protocols from sports psychology, such as guided breathing, pre-workout priming, visualization, and sleep protocols to improve performance and reduce stress and anxiety.

“I have been using the app for a few months. It has helped me set the proper mindset before workouts, disconnect before bedtime, and gauge my mental readiness on a daily basis.” – Matt Hanson (Professional Triathlete and Coach).

Find out how Rewire can help you

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How to Recognise Burnout in Youth Sports

Here’s how to recognise burnout to prevent a mix of physical and emotional stressors. 

Burnout in youth sports might just be more common than we think — with young athletes wanting to be professional football players, gymnasts, swimmers, runners, and everything in between, it can be difficult to find the line between “hard work” and “overtraining.” 

So, it likely comes as no surprise that it’s very common for young athletes to specialise in one given sport from an early age. Besides, it makes the most sense if they want to turn professional, right? Kind of — more on this below.

Whether that’s gymnastics, swimming, tennis, or running, for example, the physical and emotional costs of specialising in one sport are often quite large. Early sport specialisation requires increased training hours and may expose youth athletes to increased social isolation, including less time with family, increased stress and anxiety, and the big one: burnout.

Yep, burnout — hello again, old friend. 

But understanding burnout in youth sports is not as simple as reducing the time or dedication spent towards one given sport — it’s much more complicated than that. For instance, other factors may result in burnout, including increased school demands, a lack of recovery, success from an early age, low self-esteem, the list goes… These burnout risks are taken from Gustaffson and colleagues — although less is known about burnout and youth sport, we should still take these into consideration.  

So, this blog post will highlight what we do know — we’ll provide a quick burnout definition, we’ll touch on early sport specialisation, how to prevent burnout in youth athletes, and how to recognise the signs of burnout sooner rather than later.

What is burnout in youth sports?

We’ve covered athlete burnout in previous blog posts, but before we discuss how to recognise the signs of burnout — and how to prevent it — we need to provide a quick definition.

Burnout is often described as a lasting experience of physical and emotional exhaustion. 

For example, youth athletes who encounter burnout may feel unmotivated to train and are likely to experience a reduced sense of self-accomplishment. And most notably, the physical and emotional drain may lead to the young athlete quitting and withdrawing from their sport, as suggested by a 2007 study.

Early sport specialisation vs. early sport diversification 

Let’s start with what is thought to be the biggest risk factor for burnout in youth athletes…

Early sport specialisation involves a youth athlete focusing — or as instructed by a coach — on one sport. The two main sports culprits that come to mind are swimming and gymnastics. Although, it can be virtually any sport out there, from tennis to ping pong. 

The main problem, however, is the risk factors that come with specialising in one sport. And yes, you guessed it correctly, burnout is a part of it.

Anyways, risk factors of early sport specialisation may include:

  • Excessive training 
  • Balancing school/work demands becomes difficult and energy draining 
  • Lack of recovery between training sessions
  • Social constraints 

These risk factors are taken from the integrated model of athlete burnout. Other risk factors around various personality, coping, and environmental factors exist, too. But the above factors appear the most relevant for youth sports.

So, this poses the question: should youth athletes specialise from a young age, or should they play a mix of sports (sport diversification)?

Well, this debate has been going on for years. But researchers have provided guidelines to prevent overtraining and burnout. These guidelines are as follows:  

  • Keep workouts interesting — add games and keep it fun.
  • Allow at least 1 to 2 days a week for rest — participation in other activities is allowed.
  • Add longer scheduled breaks from training every 2 to 3 months — focus on other activities or cross-train to prevent a loss of skill and/or conditioning.
  • Teach athletes wellness and how to be in tune with their bodies — this will help reduce overtraining and the risk of injury. The Rewire app has numerous mindset recovery sessions that can help young athletes sleep better, improve focus and concentration, and even enhance recovery. 

A few tips on how to recognise burnout 

Burnout and overtraining go hand in hand. And although the research on youth athlete burnout is not as well publicised, we can take research from the adult population to help recognise common overtraining and burnout signs, as suggested in a study by the National Library of Medicine.  

Overtraining and burnout signs to look out for include:

  • A loss of appetite 
  • Muscle soreness 
  • Difficulty sleeping/sleep disturbances
  • Muscle twitches
  • Decreased motivation
  • A lack of concentration
  • Decreased self-confidence 
  • Common colds, sniffles, and coughs

These are a few of the main signs of overtraining in athletes. Recognising these early and introducing rest, recovery, and a period of less intense training is one of the best ways to reduce the risk of burnout and overtraining syndrome. 

To summarise  

Increasing awareness of the risk factors associated with burnout and overtraining in youth sports is key to preventing burnout. 

Coaches, parents, teachers, and others should have an understanding of what causes burnout to reduce the risk. Also, those in a coaching position should strive to keep workouts fun and interesting, allow a minimum of 1 to 2 days of rest a week, and should schedule longer breaks from training every 2 to 3 months — perhaps during seasonal holidays, to further reduce the risk of burnout.

And finally, the argument against early sport specialisation should not be ignored. 

If a young athlete does not want to specialise in one sport, then they shouldn’t exclusively focus on that one sport. Instead, coaches, parents, and teachers may wish to consider encouraging multiple sport participation. Sport diversification keeps things fun and interesting, and may lead to enhanced skill development. And all the while potentially reducing the risk of burnout.

If you’re interested in reading more about burnout, you can read our blog post on athletic burnout and stress.

If you’re a coach reading this, check out Rewire for Teams – our platform that helps coaches train their athletes more effectively by prioritising mental wellness and preventing burnout. Book a free consultation here


References:

Brenner, J.S. and Council on Sports Medicine and Fitness, 2007. Overuse injuries, overtraining, and burnout in child and adolescent athletes. Pediatrics, 119(6), pp.1242-1245.

DiFiori, J.P., Benjamin, H.J., Brenner, J.S., Gregory, A., Jayanthi, N., Landry, G.L. and Luke, A., 2014. Overuse injuries and burnout in youth sports: a position statement from the American Medical Society for Sports Medicine. British journal of sports medicine, 48(4), pp.287-288.

Gustafsson, H., Kenttä, G. and Hassmén, P., 2011. Athlete burnout: An integrated model and future research directions. International Review of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 4(1), pp.3-24.

Gustafsson, Henrik. “Burnout in competitive and elite athletes.” PhD diss., Örebro universitetsbibliotek, 2007.
Winsley, R. and Matos, N., 2011. Overtraining and elite young athletes. The elite young athlete, 56, pp.97-105.

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5 Ways to Improve Emotional Distress

Five Ways to Improve Emotional Distress

According to a 2020 study by the National Institute of Mental Health, around 14.2 million Americans routinely suffer with emotional distress, a number that continues to rise to this day. Considering this is an affliction that impacts so many on a daily basis, it is important to understand ways in which you can combat this stress. 

Understand your Situational Emotions

This point emphasizes that you need to understand what might put you in a position of stress or unhappiness. If you can identify what sort of situations make you feel this way, it will be much easier to distance yourself and thus create a more stress-free environment. Understanding yourself and what may trigger you is crucial to improving your emotional wellness. 

Connect Socially

Positive connection with others is very helpful when trying to create a stress free environment. In today’s world, it seems like we are constantly moving, never taking a break to appreciate what’s around us. The easiest way to slow down is to meet with friends or a loved one. Something as simple as grabbing a quick lunch or coffee can be a great way to take a step back and relax for a bit. 

Take Care of your Physical Health

Physical fitness and taking care of your body is crucial to maintaining a healthy mental state. According to the UK mental health foundation, “Physical health problems significantly increase our risk of developing mental health problems, and vice versa.” This shows how important physical health is in relation to mental health, and how one cannot fully function without the other. In order to improve emotional distress, consider incorporating physical activity into your daily regiment, with something as simple as a short walk. 

Maintain a Positive Outlook

One of the most important things that you can personally do is focus on the positive things in life. Though cliché, if you are always concerned with the negative parts in your day, you will never take advantage of all the good times involved in your life. Focusing on the good rather than the bad will generally lift your daily mood, and alleviate some of the stress associated with day-to-day life. 

Download the Rewire App!

The Rewire Fitness app Mindset Recovery System allows for users to improve their mental resilience through a series of different scientifically proven methods. Our procedures have been proven to help our average user reduce their stress by 70% after a 2 minute mindset recovery session. Guided breathwork, self-talk, and visualization are all helpful when attempting to manage stress, and are made easier by the Rewire app. Try our Guided Mindset Recovery Session for stress relief here.

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References

Mental Health Foundation. (2015). Physical health and mental health. [online] Available at: https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/a-to-z/p/physical-health-and-mental-health#:~:text=Physical%20health%20problems%20significantly%20increase.

National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). (n.d.). Mental Illness. [online] Available at: https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/mental-illness#:~:text=In%202020%2C%20there%20were%20an%20estimated%2014.2%20million%20adults%20aged [Accessed 10 Jun. 2022].‌

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