Dealing with Stress Some Lessons from Elite Sport

Dealing with Stress: Some Lessons from Elite Sport Lew Hardy

Mental Toughness The ability to resist the potentially disruptive effects of stress and produce best performances under most pressure

Mental Toughness Personality characteristics Coping strategies Mental skills Brain mechanisms

Personality Characteristics Associated with Mental Toughness Appraisal Anxiety, robustness, and resilience Stubbornness – fight and struggle Attributional style Dispositional optimism Sensitivity to threat

Appraisal “Men are disturbed, not by things, but by the views they take of them” (Epictetus, Ancient Greek Philosopher) Challenge Threat Loss

Spring time in in Paris

red

Crooked Thinking in Appraisals Catastrophising Over generalising Discounting the positive Mind reading Predicting the future /scare mongering Black and white thinking Taking things personally

“Pain is just weakness leaving the body” Parachute Regiment maxim

Anxiety, Robustness, and Resilience Intensity of symptoms Interpretation of symptoms Effects of anxiety – robustness and resilience (recovery) Smith et al (2001); Hardy & Hutchinson (2007); Beattie et al (2010)

Stubbornness Persistence in maintaining goal directed behaviour Willingness to fight and struggle Middleton et al (2004); Bull et al (2005)

“Ugly runs are worth just as much as beautiful runs” Tim Boon, Head Coach, England Cricket Development Programme

Attributional Style Reasons we give for events – e. g. , success and failure Attributional dimensions – controllability, stability, globality Impact on emotion and behaviour Elite performers attribute failure to controllable causes Gould et al (2002)

Dispositional Optimism Olympic gold medallists Hurricane victims Active not a passive state – opportunity to influence vs no need to do anything Links to attributional style Gould et al (2002); Carver & Sheier (1998)

“Every day is a fishing day, but not every day is a catching day” Adie Byrrell, U 17 Head Coach, England Cricket Development Programme

Some Cognitive Neuroscience Neural networks in the brain: Activation – readiness to act Arousal – response to new stimuli Coordination – make adjustments if necessary Reinforcement Sensitivity Theory Pribram & Mc. Guiness (1975); Gray (1970); Gray & Mc. Naughton (2000)

Mental Toughness and Reinforcement Sensitivity Mental Toughness Low Reward Sensitivity High Reward Sensitivity Low Hi Punishment Sensitivity

Coping Strategies Associated with Mental Toughness Active Coping Planning Suppress competing activities Vent or control emotions Social support: advice and emotional Positive reinterpretation and growth Acceptance Denial Disengagement: behaviourally or mentally

Coping Strategies Problem focused Coping – active coping, planning, suppress competing responses Emotional focused coping – venting/controlling emotions, social support Re-appraisal – positive reinterpretation, acceptance Avoidance – denial, behavioural, mental Gender differences Range of strategies

Demand-Support models of Coping Demands Supports Constraints

See all the Choices

Training Mental Toughness Punishment conditioned stimuli Practice Coping skills Inspirational delivery

Everything is good for you if it doesn’t kill you

Conclusions What we think influences what we do and who we are: appraisal, interpretation, and attributions Mental Toughness is not always pretty See danger early, find choices and positives later Wide range of well-rehearsed coping strategies

Every threat and loss is an opportunity