Highly Competitive Sports

Highly competitive sports are followed and enjoyed by many people around the world. Whether it is football, soccer, basketball, or tennis, there is always a lot of attention put on the players and their performance. Young athletes become famous as soon as they obtain a place in a well-known professional team, regardless of the sport. Most people would think these challenges could only bring growth for the athlete. However, very talented players who obtain the opportunity to debut in great teams or competitions often need to perform more adequately. Some players even face difficulties maintaining their life distractions from interfering with their professional careers. 

There have been many examples of this occurrence across different sports worldwide. In the United States, Johnny Manziel was a football quarterback that played exceptionally well during his college career. He was expected to become one of the best players in the NFL, but after he was drafted, he struggled to maintain a high level of performance. Manziel faced different personal problems, which led him to become a free agent and not play in the NFL anymore. Another example of this is Giovanni Dos Santos. He was a soccer player who won the world cup sub 17 in 2006. Also, he was given the most valuable player award for that tournament. Dos Santos was expected to become the next soccer superstar due to his talent and the European top-class team he was playing for. However, he never became a crucial player on the team and ended up being traded a couple of years later. These examples show how more than talent is needed to become the best player in a sport. Professional players need to find a way to deal with stress and anxiety caused by adverse outcomes or results to avoid failing as an athlete. 

Stress plays a vital role in sports. Some athletes can suffer from work overload, whether they spend too much time in practice, work at school, or a mixture of the two; it can have serious consequences such as burnout. In a study by De Francisco, Arce, Vílchez, and Vales (2016), four hundred and fifty-three athletes participated to show the effects of burnout in sports. De Francisco et al. (2016) used the Athlete Burnout Questionnaire to measure the participant’s levels of exhaustion. The data suggest that prolonged stress leads to burnout, which turns into physical symptoms such as headaches, negative self-talk, depression, etcetera (De Francisco et al., 2016). These stressors could impair an athlete’s mental and physical ability during a highly stressful situation such as a final or playoffs. Another stressful situation is when an athlete gets injured. Athletes face frustration and devastation from being unable to play due to injury. This also raises stress levels, and athletes often do not realize it. Some do not receive the proper support in times of injury, which affects athletes emotionally.

Coping mechanisms are helpful whenever there are high-stress situations in sports. Young athletes need to learn how to cope with stress and anxiety to succeed during competitions, especially, when they are required to improve their performance at a higher level. Anshel, Williams, and Williams (2000) conducted a study with 649 athletes. They were all involved in highly competitive sports and made them complete the Coping Style in Sports Survey (CSSS). This survey asked the participants about stressors, such as making errors, being criticized by the coach, or experiencing a bad call by the referee (Anshel et al., 2000). The results supported the idea that a strong coping mechanism was of great help to athletes. They argued that an approach or an avoidant coping style could have a better impact on performance than not having a coping strategy. A young athlete starting his or her professional career should acknowledge how important it is to work on ways to deal with stress and anxiety. 

Written by: Yamid Montalvo, MA, LPC

Anshel, M. H., Williams, L. T., & Williams, S. M. (2000). Coping Style Following Acute Stress in Competitive Sport. The Journal Of Social Psychology, 140(6), 751-773

De Francisco, C., Arce, C., Vílchez, M. P., & Vales, Á. (2016). Original article: Antecedents and consequences of burnout in athletes: Perceived stress and depression. International Journal Of Clinical And Health Psychology, 16, 239-246. doi:10.1016/j.ijchp.2016.04.001