1. Level of Arousal “Arousal is defined as being in an energised mental state of alertness and preparedness for an activity”.

2. Level of Arousal is Impacted by ? Criticism Recovery from injury Mistakes Crowd Pressure Anxiety Excitement Dips in Form Intimidation by opponents 2 1 You have two minutes on the clock to come up with as many reasons for your level of arousal not being at its optimum.

3. Level of Arousal The key is to get “in the zone” and create a “performance bubble

4. Think of the catastrophic effect of over arousal https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0B5ioy3V Niw - Tim Henman, cartoon. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0B5ioy3V Niw

5. Elite Athletes can get it wrong and lack of mental fitness can impact performance https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pkmrEqJiS EEhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pkmrEqJiS EE - Stephan Feck Dive

6. And Again https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=scKTiWsh GcI - Usain Bolt False Start https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=scKTiWsh GcI

7. And Again https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXWbkbw DUr4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXWbkbw DUr4 Chelsea v Man Utd Penalties

8. Optimum Arousal EmotionalPhysical Mental At their Peak Sufficient adrenalin to create excitement Composure Maintained Cognitive processes at their most productive

9. Under Aroused Performer Over Relaxed Lapses in Concentration Training suffers due to a lack of motivation Not Hyped up enough Over Confident

10. Over Aroused Nervousness and surge of adrenalin resulting in unpredictable behaviour. Fear and anxiety consume a performer Lose of timing, balance, fluency and skill repertoire Over stimulation Missing important cues in a game Information processing system is impaired impacting judgements/ decisions Angry Distracted

11. Red Alerts Errors due to nerves Lack of drive to succeed Blame culture rather than reflect on self Dwell on the past rather than the future Anger (focus on mistakes) Impossible set goals Anxiety dominates play Concentration deteriorates Fatigue (negative thoughts) Psychological barriers

12. Impact Positively in badminton Lin Dan In badminton being able to control your level of arousal and get it to the right level gets you prepared to do your best. The performer can shut out distractions and make the right decisions throughout the match on shot selection and movement. They have confidence in their performance and are less likely to choke under pressure. They can control the match and react to the cues of the opposition to prepare early and counter attack. They use their experience to shake off any issues in their performance to regroup very quickly. For example if a player serves twice out of the court they quickly focus on past experiences and maintain concentration and correct the issue immediately and never dwell on faults. He is a two-time Olympic champion, five- time world champion, and five-time All England champion. Widely considered to be the greatest badminton player of all time,

13. Final Thoughts Performers often need to build or rebuild their arousal level to the optimum state. Here are a few examples https://www.youtube.c om/watch?v=_vlVvxypZ J4 – Bolt 200m World Record https://www.youtube.c om/watch?v=_vlVvxypZ J4 https://www.youtube.c om/watch?v=ebZVMc0 NKZs NZ Rugby Haka https://www.youtube.c om/watch?v=ebZVMc0 NKZs