What is anxiety? What different forms can anxiety take? Revision Video- Part 1 2.1 Types of anxiety What is anxiety? What different forms can anxiety take?

Anxiety Defined as the negative aspect of experiencing stress The worry The unpleasant feeling The fear of failure

Causes of anxiety Causes vary greatly from individual to individual Audience might cause inexperienced performers to become anxious Performing in front of your peers Perceptions of a high expectation can add to anxiety Known as Evaluation apprehension

Cognitive anxiety... Psychological aspect Negative thoughts, expectations or concerns “I can’t do it” “I’m not good enough” “What if I let my team-mates down?” “I’m going to lose”

Somatic anxiety... Somatic anxiety Physiological aspect Your perception of changes “I feel weak” “I feel tense” “I’m sweating too much” “I’m going to get dehydrated”

Trait anxiety... Personality trait to tend to react to situations in an anxious way. Acquired behavioural disposition to perceive objectively non-dangerous objects as threatening. Respond with state anxiety reactions which are disproportionate to the magnitude of the situation. 2 rugby kickers who normally kick with equal technical skill have to kick a last minute goal… One has lower levels of trait anxiety and so is less likely to perceive the situation as threatening.

State anxiety Emotional reaction to a situation they are experiencing as threatening Characterised by subjective, consciously perceived feelings of tension Accompanied by activation of arousal within autonomic nervous system During a Basketball match levels of state anxiety will change… Elevated before the start of the game, Drop when they settle into the game Peak in the last few seconds.

Anxiety linked to arousal People with high levels of Trait anxiety perform best at lower levels of arousal. whereas People who have low levels of Trait anxiety require higher arousal to perform their best Better performers are able to control arousal in anxiety-producing situations Predominantly Cognitive- controlling their negative thoughts These performers can easily control anxiety with simple techniques Others however have considerable difficulty in controlling their anxiety Jonny Wilkinson