So, what is stress?
Stress is commonly thought of as a negative experience or feeling, however it consists of many stages that occur one after the other, creating a whole process (Fletcher & Arnold, 2017).
Let’s explore the stress model during a competition, typically a stressful time for both athletes and coaches.
In this situation there could be several different sources of stress (stressors). These could include:
- arriving late at the venue
- forgetting an item of kit
- bad weather conditions
- feeling muscle tightness/pain during the warm-up.
To better manage this form of stress, you (or your athlete) would recognise this ‘stressor’ and have an idea of its impact.