Anxiety can be described as a natural human reaction that involves the body and mind. Anxiety functions as an alarm threat which is activated when a person encounters a threat or danger. While anxiety can be beneficial in dangerous encounters, it can be a negative emotion that affects the functioning and perception of a person. In sports, anxiety can impact an individual from functioning at their optimum levels. The movie “Invincible” analyzes the issue of anxiety in sports. The movie is an American sports drama film based on the true story of Vince Papale, acted by Mark Wahlberg, who played for Philadelphia Eagles between 1976 and 1978. The movie highlights how Vince Papale ran out of luck after losing his job and his wife gives up on him. He later joins the Eagles but has a poor start as he encounters problem with anxiety. However, he becomes motivated and faces his issues with anxiety. He achieves success and plays for the Eagles for three seasons. The movie “Invincible” highlights the issue of anxiety within sports, techniques for reducing anxiety for athletes, and how motivation can be used to reduce anxiety and realize success within sports.
The Issue of Anxiety Within Sports
Anxiety in sports can also come about when one does not have any confidence and others do not show adequate support. This was apparent in the movie where Papale where his wife left him and many around him did not believe that he could be a success in sports. Vince Papale had been fired from his job and his wife divorced him. She leaves a note which states that he will never amount to anything, he will never make any money, and that he would never make a name for himself. This made Vince anxious as he begun to doubt his ability to perform adequately in anything. When he joins the Eagles, he is not sure about himself and he feels that he is going to be cut. Coach Vermeil calls Vince to see him and his certain that he is going to be cut from the team. There are also several naysayers that wait for his failure. His teammates especially those that are challenging for his sport want to prove that he is not worthy of being in the team. With other people showing disbelief in his abilities, Vince has a hard time to believe that he could amount to success at the Eagles and this makes him anxious.
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The fear of failure and negative evaluation can make one to be anxious and this is seen in the film when Vince is anxious and fails to perform. Sports is a highly competitive venture and this can make one to experience stress. The anxiety can come about as a result of the perceived stress since athletes have to perform before an audience and people would have extreme expectations of their success. One of the specific encounters of anxiety with Vince was when he was playing the game against Dallas. He had gone to the restroom where he threw up as a result of the anxiety he was experiencing. Later during the game, he had a drop on the kick returner for the Dallas but he froze as a result of anxiety. He was then taken out by a Dallas blocker. His coach Vermeil was not happy with him and the entire team was not happy about the situation. The incident in the film shows how anxiety can impact the mental state of an individual and thus reduce the ability to perform at their optimal level.
Techniques for Reducing Anxiety for Athletes
One of the strategies that Vince used to overcome anxiety is having an adequate support system which leads to the building of one’s self-confidence. This is based on the social cognitive model which observes that people’s perception or spontaneous thoughts can influence the emotional and behavioral reactions (LeUnes, 2008). By having others or oneself believe in one’s abilities to perform, this can elevate the confidence levels of an individual and thus reduce anxiety. Vince had a strong support of individuals such as his father and Coach Vermeil that assisted him to believe in his ability and this reduced the anxiety. His father was a constant source of support and he advised him to go to the tryout for the Eagles stating that a man can take so much failure one at a time. The comment motivated Vince to go to the tryout and do his best. Coach Vermeil also believed in Vince’s abilities because of his character and he decided to have him in the team. Even though Vince had messed up in some of the games at the start, Coach Vermeil does not give up in his abilities but is willing to give him another opportunity. This reduces the anxiety that Vince experiences throughout the game.
One of the apparent strategies that Vince used to overcome his anxiety was through training in a relaxed environment. When starting to play for the Eagles, Vince experienced severe anxiety and freezes but his experience for the Eagles appears disastrous. He experiences a significant change after he is invited to play with some of his friends. He objects this at first but later decides to play. Playing with his friends makes him to become happier and this works to reduce his anxiety when he later plays for the Eagles. Performance in a friendly environment is a form of behavioral rehearsal where one learns to perform well without the extreme pressures in the real environment (Meichenbaum, 2017). For Vince, such an experience reduces his anxiety and he can play and perform well with reduced anxiety.
How Motivation Can Be Used in Sports
Motivation can be used in sports through the use of optimism that is used to improve one’s perceived competence. The attitude that Vince adopts when playing motivates him to perform at his. He states that “what will be will be” (“Invincible”, 2006). This reduces the anxiety he experiences when playing and it motivates him to put his best. Such an attitude eased the pressure that he had experienced to perform and his performance in the field improves significantly. Vince shows that one’s mental attitude can be used to overcome anxiety and be used as a tool for motivation.
Showing courage and playing despite the anxiety one experiences can also be used as a motivation strategy. Even though many people questioned the ability of Vince to perform well, he still plays and he makes a good play. When playing for the New York Giants, he experiences anxiety but chooses to control his mind and try to perform at his best. By concentrating in the game, he managers to pick up a clue that the Giants were not going to rush the punter, he then slips past the Giant’s players and runs at full speed down the field. He then hits the Giants kick receive who fumbles with the ball and he scoops it up and goes for a touchdown. He becomes the hero of the game and his successes begin from that point. The encounter of Vince showed that one should continually act even when they face anxiety. This is based on the Inverted U-Hypothesis which observes that optimal level of performance occurs at an intermediate level of arousal while high and low levels of arousal can lead to impaired performance (Ford et al., 2017). Vince experienced an intermediate level of arousal and this helped him to perform at optimum levels.
In conclusion, the movie “Invincible” explores about how athletes encounter anxiety, the techniques that can be used to reduce anxiety, and how motivation can reduce anxiety and realize optimal performance. Vince starts playing for the Eagles and he experiences high levels of anxiety which impedes his performance. However, he manages to control his anxiety when he plays with his friends and this is seen through improvements when he later plays for the Eagles. He maintains a positive attitude and plays even when he is anxious but controls his mind and this makes him successful.
References
Ford, J. L., Ildefonso, K., Jones, M. L., & Arvinen-Barrow, M. (2017). Sport-related anxiety: current insights. Open access journal of sports medicine , 8 , 205.
“ Invincible”. (2006). Retrieved from https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0445990/
LeUnes, A. (2008). Sport psychology . Psychology Press.
Meichenbaum, D. (2017). Stress inoculation training: A preventative and treatment approach. In The evolution of cognitive behavior therapy (pp. 117-140). Routledge.
