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As a tennis player, I used to show my emotion on the court but as time progressed I noticed the importance of controlling emotions and feelings. Competitive sports require athletes to experience high levels of stress and anxiety in order to gain results and achieve goals. Stress and anxiety is not a good feeling and competitive athletes experience this all the time, not just from school and responsibilities but from the sport they play. Some people think that these high levels of stress can lead to negative effects on the well being of an individual, however, I think the opposite. I think high levels of stress can lead to better performance in sports and everyday activities.
Competitive sports help athletes take pride and feel confident about their actions. They go through lots of anxiety but learn to cope with it and move on with it. Mohammad Ali Besharat conducted a study on 246 Iranian athletes to determine the relationship between sports anxiety and performance and wrote an article called “Moderating Effects of Self-Confidence and Sport Self-Efficacy on the Relationship between Competitive Anxiety and Sport Performance”, which was found on the database Gale Resources in Context. According to Besharat, “sport self-efficacy prepares athlete for active encountering with competitive anxiety through reinforc-ing efficient coping strategies.” With coping strategies athletes learn how to cope with their emotions and continue on with their life with confidence. Athletes become more confident in their decisions on an everyday basis. “Self-confidence as one of the most important variables re-lated to sport performance (Robazza & Bortoli, 2007) increases perceived ability to emotion management and provides possi-bility for athlete to control negative emotions more effectively” (Besharat). Athletes that experience high pressure may be more confident in everyday life and may also be able to deal with negativity efficiently. Athletes learn how to control their emotions and think positively in order to perform at their peak. If these athletes were to use these strategies in everyday life they might feel happier and more relaxed. Because sports cause extreme levels of stress, athletes might feel as though the stressful encounters they experience everyday are easier to cope with and control.
Future Question: Does sports anxiety have any good effects on the health and decision making of an athlete?
I feel like I agree about what you wrote about and that sports anxiety does have its benefits. What you said about anxiety having good effects on health had me wondering about its negative affects. Have you considered that?
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