Management of Competitive Stress in Elite Sport

One of the most studied and frequently cited areas within the fi eld of applied sport psychology is that of competition stress and anxiety. This prominence is undoubtedly linked to the stressful nature of elite sport, and the demands associated with the competitive environments that surround the modern day performer. As a direct consequence, a core component within many athletes’ competitive preparation programs includes some form of stress management focused on the achievement of an optimal pre-performance mental state. This chapter, which contains six sections, attempts to explore these programs and provides an insight into treatment frameworks that underpin practical work with elite athletes. The opening section clarifi es and places into context the key terms used within this area and outlines their importance for applied work. The second section provides an overview of the stressors (i.e., demands) that performers commonly encounter, and illustrates the types of anxiety responses athletes may experience following exposure to these demands. The third section summarizes contemporary thinking on how sport psychologists believe anxiety can affect sport performance, and also illustrates how practitioners may attempt to evaluate the athlete before recommending an intervention strategy. The fourth section provides an overview of stress management interventions in elite sport that have been designed to reduce the intensity of anxiety symptoms that performers commonly encounter in stressful situations. Section fi ve then details an approach to combating stress that focuses on programs that are designed to restructure the performers’ interpretations of anxiety symptoms from negative to positive. The concluding section highlights these treatment approaches with two case study scenario.