Emotions in Sports and their Impact
Many times during a sports contest between athletes or teams, we have all witnessed varying levels of emotions coming from those playing. Fans would have seen their favourite athletes breaking down after winning a match just as they do after losing a match. At other times emotions can actually dictate the outcome of a contest. Why do emotions play such a big part in sports and are there ways that athletes can learn to control their emotions during the most difficult times they face on or off the field?
Getting overcome by emotions is a human trait, we all get overwhelmed by something that then triggers an emotional response in us, but athletes are acutely prone to this effect. The nature of their chosen field is one that demands a high level of control and skill on the part of the athlete and with these demands come a high level of pressure. Most of the time people in normal jobs have a lot of stress to deal with but the pressures they face are at a micro level, athletes face pressures on a macro level. A lot of the time athletes are representing their countries and a huge number of people are depending on them. Hence they feel a lot is expected from them and they must deliver in order to meet those expectations. This can give rise to massive levels of stress which can then lead to emotional responses from the athletes.
A paper published in 2003 in The Sports Psychologist (17); called ‘Controlling Emotions in Sport’ by Marc V. Jones outlines the issues that take place in an athlete that can lead to an emotional response. “[It is] noted that emotion can lead individuals toward an object (eg. anger) or away from an object (eg. fear). Certain emotions could have either effect depending on the particular individual and the situation,” An example of this could be when an athlete makes a mistake during a game and then that situation forces the athlete to perform in one of two ways either anger can set in and the athlete feels angry with him/herself for making the mistake and tries to correct it, or they can experience fear and try to not make the same mistake by staying away from the ball or moving into the shadows. This one aspect of emotion can have a strong impact on the way an athlete starts to play after making a mistake. The paper goes on to say that, “[It is] suggested that optimal emotions for performance generate enough energy to initiate and maintain the required amount of energy for a task, whereas dysfunctional emotions result in an inappropriate amount of energy (too much or too little) being deployed,”. This shows that it is imperative for an athlete to show just the right amount and the correct type of emotion in order to win the contest.
Just how much does the emotional state of an athlete come into play during a sports match? It seems to be one of the biggest factors in determining a win or a loss situation. If an athlete can overcome his or her emotions and be able to elicit an emotional response from their opponent then they have a good chance of winning. It seems the top athletes and sports stars in the world know this all too well and they are very good at controlling their emotional states and pushing their opponents for a response. One of the best examples of this could be the ‘Haka’ performed by the New Zealand rugby team before the start of every match. It could be one way of intimidating their opponents and bringing out an emotional response from them by trying to scare them even before the match has started.
Varying techniques are used to control emotions during a match and before it. Things like meditation might be employed to calm the nerves of an athlete but even a simple thing like a word of encouragement from a family member during a game can have a huge impact on a person’s performance. It seems that if all athletes could control the negative emotions running through them, they would be much better at their chosen sport. Nevertheless the fact remains that even athletes are only human at the end of the day and one of the most difficult things for a human to do is to control their emotional state.
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