A recent study conducted on Elite Volleyball players found athletes had increased cognitive abilities compared to non-athletes. The findings revealed athletes had increased speed identifying things in their peripheral vision, enhanced memory recall, and were better able to ignore irrelevant information from distracting them from the task at hand. One particular finding showed a significant advantage women athletes had over non-athlete women at being able to detect changes in background scenes.

This study sheds light that athletes may have a distinct benefit of being able to manipulate their cognitive abilities to either aid or deter their behavior based on what is advantageous in the moment. Identifying your skill set and applying how to take advantage of it as an athlete is key to reaching peak performance. Contact Premier Sport Psychology to let us assist you in doing just that!

Is performance anxiety getting the best of you? Are you overwhelmed with panic at the thought of competing in front of others? Do your limbs become a bundle of nerves and your stomach a knot of butterflies come game time? We know the feeling. And we’re here to help! In this three-part series, we’re sharing our best tips to help you navigate those meddlesome feelings of self-doubt and fear, and reduce your anxiety when you’re under pressure.

Follow us here on the blog or on Facebook / Twitter for three tips on managing anxiety during the month of April. In case you missed our first two tips, find Tip #1 (Focus on What You Can Control) here and Tip #2 (Embrace Anxiety) here.

Now for the third and final one this month, Tip #3!

Tip #3: When In Fight or Flight Mode, Take a Few Deep Breaths

As humans, our brains are hard-wired to prepare us for unexpected threats or dangers in the surrounding environment. This evolutionary instinct is known as the “fight or flight” response, which dictates your body’s immediate reaction to a perceived threat or stressor. As a result, our brains are constantly scanning our surroundings for these dangers in order to protect us and help us. Thousands of years ago, when a fight or flight response was necessary during, let’s say, an encounter with a predatory animal or a true, serious threat to our survival–not having to wait for the body to prepare to run away or fight the animal was a huge advantage to our species! These days, though, we very rarely encounter true threats to our survival like we might have in ancient times. However, our brains have yet to adjust to twenty-first century living.

Despite the drastically-changed environment we live in now, the brain still relies on the fight or flight response as a survival instinct. Consequently, when the brain perceives a situation as threatening, whether or not it actually is, our automatic emergency response is triggered, leading to a series of physical reactions, such as accelerated heart rate, increased and more shallow breathing, nausea, high blood pressure, sweating, adrenaline and cortisol secretion, tunnel vision, increased muscle tension, and a host of other physical reactions. For instance, if you’re just feeling extra nervous before an important speech in front of a large audience, your brain will likely detect this as a “threat” and engage your fight or flight response automatically. It’s important to understand this reaction when we are anxious because it can help us better manage our nerves.

To help, first recognize your body’s natural response, and then do your best to slow down your breathing and take deep inhales. In doing this, you’re effectively telling your body to turn OFF the fight or flight response, to slow your heart rate and communicate that the perceived “threat” is not actually a life or death situation. That upcoming final exam you’re dreading? The pressure-filled, high-stakes competition coming up? Take a moment to calm your mind and body with deep, slow breathing and tell yourself: “This game is not a threat. I’m going to be ok. Calm down.” Recognizing your body’s response to an immediate stressor or threat can help you react accordingly. Maintaining steady breathing is the most powerful way for you to manage the fight or flight aspect of performance anxiety.

Is performance anxiety getting the best of you? Are you overwhelmed with panic at the thought of competing in front of others? Do your limbs become a bundle of nerves and your stomach a knot of butterflies come game time? We know the feeling. And we’re here to help! In this three-part series, we’re sharing our best tips to help you navigate those meddlesome feelings of self-doubt and fear, and reduce your anxiety when you’re under pressure.

Follow us here on the blog or on Facebook/Twitter for three tips on managing anxiety during the month of April. In case you missed Tip #1, click here to learn how to focus on what you can control instead of what you can’t. Now for Tip #2!

Tip #2: Embrace Anxiety

As uncomfortable as it can feel, anxiety plays a critical role when it comes to performance—on the field, in the pool, on the track, or on the stage—and different levels of anxiety can both help or hinder that quality performance. Let’s say, for example, you’re minutes away from the starting buzzer of the biggest game of the year. Would you want to feel pumped up for the competition with adrenaline racing, ready to get out there and tackle your opponent? Or feel a more subdued, concentrated sense of calm readiness? Every athlete is different in what they prefer and different sports require different degrees of anxiety or what’s sometimes called “activation.” All types of performances, both sport and non-sport, require varying levels of activation in order to achieve optimal performance. This theory, called the Yerkes-Dodson Law, dictates that performance increases with physiological or mental activation (arousal), but only up to a point. When levels of arousal become too high, performance decreases.¹ Different tasks require different levels of arousal for optimal performance. Difficult or intellectually demanding tasks may require a lower level of arousal (to facilitate concentration), whereas tasks demanding stamina or persistence may be performed better with higher levels of arousal (to increase motivation). When activation levels rise too high, feelings of panic and stress can emerge, leading to too much anxiety, poor problem-solving skills and “tunnel vision,” which is not conducive to peak sport performance! On the other hand, in the absence of any anxiety at all, a mellow, low-pressure response does not elicit optimal performance either…an athlete can be too flat. Therefore, some nervousness is helpful and it’s important to embrace those nerves and use them to your advantage. Finding the right amount of anxiety/arousal/activation for you and your sport can be difficult and takes practice. Try deep slow breaths or listening to relaxing music (to decrease activation) or upbeat music (to increase it). Most importantly, embrace anxiety as a natural part of performance and that it can be useful in many situations at the appropriate level!