There are two types of stress these are known as Eustress and Distress. Eustress is known as the better stress, the stress which provides us mental and physical energy which leads us in a direction to move forward and get things done. It also provides us with a sense of fulfilment and happiness when being challenged mentally or physically. For a footballer Eustress can be felt in an international game when they are singing the national anthem with a stadium full of 70,000 fans chanting it with them, this can provide the footballers great fulfilment knowing and having that feeling of all of those people behind them to do well.
Eustress in footballers can be felt right throughout all levels when their team scores a goal, this provides all of the teams players a sense of direction and energy to go on and win the game, this Eustress is necessary for footballers as this is what motivates players to win games the feeling of fulfilment. Distress is known as the bad stress it can provide performers with a sense of discomfort, which can then lead to illnesses and even worse depression.
Distress is at the state when the performer or person has come to the point when they have too much stress, for a long period of time distress can seriously damage a person’s health by causing coronary heart diseases, high blood pressure, ulcers, impotence, substance addiction, mental health problems even to the extent of suicidal tendencies. Distress in football can seriously affect their confidence within the game and their performance however it does depend on the experience, the importance of the competition, the quality of the opposition and the size of the crowds.
All of this can affect the footballer by causing them to “freeze” in the game, this is known as when a footballer avoids receiving the ball, dribbling the ball, striking the ball and just general interaction in play. This is because when footballers are stressed they do not have the motivation or fulfilment to perform or carry out the desired actions. From a sports performers view, psychological responses to stress can have the most affecting symptoms upon their game this is because if they relate a bad thought with their game they will find it difficult to carry out that activity positively.
For an example if a long distant runner had to compete at a competition where there were no supporters their wanting that individual to win, this individual will gain a negative vibe because usually they are used to having large amounts of supporters their chanting their name, however this time other competitors names are being chanted, psychologically the individual’s concentration is automatically reduced because they begin to think about the supporters instead of their competition, this also may make them feel a lack of enthusiasm because they do not feel motivated enough to run because they have no one to cheer with them if they win.
Behavioural Responses. Behavioural responses to stress occur in an individual when they carry out actions to either make them feel like it is helping them cope with stress or makes them feel more relaxed and comfortable.
For a sports performer they can carry out behavioural stress symptoms even within a game, for an example if a referee gives a unjustifiable penalty against a defender, this defender could become moody and angry towards the referee, and they even may bear a grudge against this referee for further matches, which will make the player even more stressed because before every game if the player knows that same referee if refereeing their game they are going to link it back to that incident.
Sports performers can even take up bad eating patterns whereby they are so stressed they cannot find the right time to eat, therefore they begin to loose muscle mass and weight and start to become lethargic and are unable to perform to their best ability. Causes of Stress
There are endless causes of stress for individuals and also very varied, this is because each stress is specific to that individual, and different types of people will react differently to stressful situations, for an example two sprinters in the Olympics walking up to their blocks, both will react differently, some tend to walk around their area shaking their legs bouncing on the spot, some carry out short specific movements to their activity, some may feel butterflies, some may feel very in their “zone”, some may feel less concentrated these are all ways of dealing with stress.
Sources of stress can be divided into four categories these are known as: ? Internal: These causes of stress are related to the past, memories or experiences, current injuries, past injuries and our own internal feeling of our own self-worth.
For a sports performer this type of stress can be triggered by previous injuries because that player remembered how stressful it was to come back from an injury, when they go back to the same location of where their injury occurred this may make them react differently and become stressed. ? External: These causes of stress occur in the environment of the individual, this can be competitions, the noise or chants of the crow, an individuals opponents, the weather, transport problems.
For a sports performer these can all be aspects of their game which can cause sever stress symptoms this is because they are causes of stress which are out of our control we cannot prevent them, it’s us or the individual just thinking them they are a problem which is generating a stressful process, for an example an opponent which you know is better than you can be a stressful process for a sports performer because feelings of self-worth can decrease you begin to feel you are not good enough and you feel why bother if you know they are better than you.
? Personal Factors: These causes of stress are related to the people we frequently share our lives with such as family, friends, partners, personal factors also include factors such as money, health and living accommodation. For a sports performer these personal factors could either be a death or a confrontation, these can have a severe affect upon sport performers especially if they depend on support from these close friends or family and if a stress occurs around them this will have a sudden impact upon their game and can sometimes result in the performer quitting due to the demand and stress it has on their surrounding close companions.
Occupational Factors: This is either the job, or studying we carry out, or for some people both these will include the people you work with or the team mates you are in a team with, and your relationship with coaches and managers.
For sports performers this can be the most stressful cause of stress this is because it is deemed to be the most important thing to have a good relationship with your surrounding team mates and coaches as you depend on these to perform well, and it can be stressful for a sports performer when they change clubs or if they generally cannot click with their team mates and this could cause their confidence to decrease making their performance lacking in enthusiasm making it appear from the coaches point of view that they do not want to play.
This can be very stressful for the performer because they just want to concentrate on their game however they can’t do this if they are unable to bond with their team mates and work well with them.