Sports Anxiety

For many athletes, especially football players anxiety presents an unpleasant feeling caused by its symptoms. These symptoms affect them both from the physical and psychological aspects which can be so draining. Many athletes perform well during practice but unable to perform as expected on the real thing. Some football players are unable to perform better such as kicking the football far enough or able to make the pass despite the pressure from the defense.

When Pressure from Competition Causes Anxiety

Competitive anxiety is pushing athletes to shy away from the competition, and this is a bad kind of anxiety and stress. It is disallowing you to find out more what causes you to shy away from the competition at the same time. Push you away from moving towards better performance. And, this kind of anxiety is something that seems weird. Before the big game, an athlete may not have the appetite and may not be able to nourish his body. There is a possibility of inability to sleep or gain quality sleep before the game. These two factors may cause a decline in energy and become a reason for declining performance. Lack of nourishment and sleep will only make things worse for the athlete. Right before the game, some athletes may feel like throwing up, and this is never a good sign in any language.

Competitive anxiety happens when an athlete makes a negative response to the situation. It is like having butterflies in the stomach. It is more about the reaction of the person on the perceived pressure given by the opposition. Intimidation can be a factor why some athletes are nervous about going up against a vaunted competitor. How the odds are stacked against your team, adds more pressure and thus cause competitive anxiety.

Performance Anxiety among Athletes

On the other hand, there is another kind anxiety that happens on the field, and it is called performance anxiety. Performance anxiety is commonly called “choking” it is described as a decline in the expected performance of an athlete. It should not be misconstrued as having an “off-night” since the performance of the athlete can be off or on a given night. Performance anxiety reveals a steady decline in the ability of a professional athlete to carry out specific things expected by the team management or coaching staff. The perceived stress may be the one that is pushing the performance of an athlete down.

Perceived stress can also be caused by an expectant crowd rooting for or against you, and the extremely high level of expectation by people in and out of the team. Athletes may feel these two kinds of pressure causing the anxiety and stress leading to the decline in performance. In many cases, the external factor does not impact much the feeling of anxiety in an athlete. Rather, it is the way the athlete thinks about the situation that creates the stress and anxiety.

The existence of anxiety among athletes is not a new occurrence. However, not all of them voluntarily subjects themselves for anxiety test. Many athletes prefer to let anxiety accumulate in them thinking that it is a normal part of being an athlete. Unfortunately, anxiety brings about several adverse effects on one’s overall health. And, every athlete regardless of how physically active they claim to be is at risk of suffering from the dangers of untreated anxiety.