This paper regards a research proposal about the possible actions that may be taken to mitigate stress and anxiety among the athletes. Competitive sports may pose unbearable stress and anxiety to both the participants and the coaches due to the mounting pressure to excel. In this regard, psychological interventions play a critical role in enabling both the athletes and their coaches to manage their stress and anxiety; not only at the times of defeat, but also during a shocking win in the athletics. A defeat that leads to a loss of high stakes may adversely affect the psychological well-being of both the coaches and the participants. Similarly, a shocking win may also cause high levels of anxiety to both the participants and the coaches. There is, therefore, the need for the athletes and their coaches to be prepared psychologically for any outcome of their participation in athletes to help them effectively manage both their stress and anxiety before, during, and after the competitions.
Research Questions
This research proposal is designed to answer the following research questions:
What factors cause or increase stress and anxiety among the athletes and coaches?
What are the psychological effects of stress and anxiety?
What are the effects of anxiety and stress on the performance of athletes?
What are the best strategies for preventing or mitigating stress and anxiety among the athletes and coaches?
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The answers obtained from these research questions will play significant roles in the field of psychology. First, these research questions will influence all the other steps needed for conducting a credible and meaningful research ( Kross & Giust, 2019 ). For instance, these research questions will act as catalysts to determine where the research starts and where its ends. Secondly, these research questions will play role in resource allocation and funding of the research ( Kross & Giust, 2019 ). When these research questions are presented to stakeholders, such as athletes, coaches, people involved in the athletes’ fitness and well-being, such stakeholders will know the significance of the research in their areas of operation and possibly fund the research.
Thirdly, these research questions act as catalysts for making critical discoveries regarding the management of stress and anxiety among athletes ( Kross & Giust, 2019 ). For instance, these research questions are likely to drive the research to conduct a both extensive and intensive research, and subsequently come out with the best strategies for the management of stress and anxiety among the athletes and their coaches. Finally, the research questions will give the reader of the article written after this research an instinct of what they expect from the research ( Kross & Giust, 2019 ). Thus, the research questions will play a critical role in attracting the readers and making them eager to read the article to the end.
Summary of the Literature
This research proposal uncovered five main sources in relation to stress and anxiety management among the athletes and coaches. These sources are:
Bali, A. (2015). Psychological factors affecting sports performance. International Journal of Physical Education, Sports and Health , 1 (6), 92-95.
Khan, K., Khan, A., & Khan, S. (2017). Effects of Anxiety on Athletic Performance: Res Inves Sports Med, 1 (1): 1-5.
Rumbold, J.L., Fletcher, D., & Daniels, K. (2012). A systematic review of stress management interventions with sport performers: Sport, Exercise, and Performance Psychology, 1 (3): 173–193.
Thelwell, R. (2012). Coping with stress as a sports coach: Putting theory into practice, p. 77-100.
Vanderhoof, J. (2017). An Analysis of Factors Contributing to Anxiety in Athletic Performance: Kinesiology, Sport Studies, and Physical Education Synthesis Projects, 31 : 1-32.
The consulted sources focused on the factors contributing to stress and anxiety among the athletes, their effects on the performance of the athletes, and the best coping strategies to stress and anxiety. For example, Vanderhoof (2017) directed his research on the analysis of factors contributing to anxiety in athletic performance; Khan, Khan, and Khan (2017) majored on the effects of anxiety on athletic performance; while Rumbold, Fletcher and Daniels (2012) conducted a systematic review of stress management interventions with sport performers.
Overall, all articles consulted acknowledge that there is a strong relationship between cognitive and somatic anxiety and athletic performance. Thus, sometimes stress and anxiety reaches critical level and affects the individual performance of the athletes. The level of stress and anxiety is usually increased by the mounting pressure of the athletes to excel, especially when there are high stakes and expectations attached to the competition. Therefore, coaches and athletes need to be fully prepared for any outcome of their performance to avoid stress and anxiety before, during, and after the competitions.
Resource Assessment
Bali (2015) acknowledges that success in athletics performance is 90% dependent on the psychological well-being of the athlete. In this regard, coaches should not only emphasize on the physical well-being, but also on the mental well-being of their athletes for good results of their performance. Rumbold, Fletcher, and Daniels (2012) carried a research on a systematic review of stress management interventions with sport performers. According to Rumbold, Fletcher, and Daniels (2012, the most effective management of stress is the one that is moderated by diverse design features, such as treatment adopted and stress component outcome measured.
Thelwell (2012), on the other hand, asserted that stress and anxiety have high impacts on the performance of the athletes. Therefore, coaches need to instill stress and anxiety coping strategies, such as dealing with the athlete’s personal issues, mentoring athletes, and working with parents and guardians, to reduce stress and anxiety to a level that may not negatively affect the athletes’ performance. On their research to establish the effects of anxiety on athletic performance, Khan, Khan, and Khan (2017) concluded that anxiety negatively affects the overall sports performance of a player. Besides, Khan, Khan, and Khan (2017) assert that players need to be educated on anxiety and its effects, and the best coping strategies, such as meditation, psychotherapy, and medication. In summary, all the sources gathered for this research proposal are credible and will play a significant role in accurately answering one or more of the above research questions.
Resource Analysis
The articles used in this research proposal were obtained online using internet search method. Key words and phrases, such as stress and anxiety, athlete performance, and stress prevention, were used to locate the various desired articles regarding stress and anxiety management among the athletes and coaches. Consequently, numerous articles were discovered during the online search. These articles needed a thorough screening to establish the most credible sources for use in this research. Apart from answering the research questions stated above, all the sources selected must have met various factors to determine their strengths and weaknesses.
One of the factors considered during the source selection was the author(s) credentials. All articles selected were academic journals written by professionals in the field of psychology. The second factor considered was the year of publication. All articled selected for use in this research were not more than ten years old. The third factor considered was the relevance of the article to the research. All articles selected were related to stress and anxiety management among the athletes. Another factor considered was the structure and the contents of the article. Thus, the articles selected had important components of a science research paper, such as introduction, literature review, methodologies, data collection and analysis, recommendations, and conclusion. The final criterion used was the type of sources used to reference each article. Thus, all the articles selected had their own credible sources listed on the reference sections.
Conclusion
With the increased interests in the global athletics’ competition and the superiority attached to excelling in athletics, various participants experience unbearable stress and anxiety before, during, and after the competitions. Researchers have, therefore, embarked on a concerted research to establish the stressors experienced by both athletes and coaches, and how to best mitigate them. Most of the literature consulted in this research field provides a firm theoretically and conceptually appropriate insight into the topic. Thus, literature review shows that many scholars have recently focused their research on the factors contributing to stress and anxiety among the athletes, their effects on the performance of the athletes, and the best coping strategies to stress and anxiety. The literature gathered for use in this research proposal will, therefore, offer reliable answers to the research questions, and subsequently make the research findings critical for use by various stakeholders, such as athletes, coaches, and individuals involved in the athletes’ fitness and well-being, to not only mitigate stress and anxiety among the athletes, but also to foster their performance.
References
Bali, A. (2015). Psychological factors affecting sports performance. International Journal of Physical Education, Sports and Health , 1 (6), 92-95.
Khan, K., Khan, A., & Khan, S. (2017). Effects of Anxiety on Athletic Performance: Res Inves Sports Med, 1 (1): 1-5. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/320893282_Effects_of_Anxiety_on_Athletic_Performance
Kross, J., & Giust, A. (2019). Elements of Research Questions in Relation to Qualitative Inquiry. The Qualitative Report, 24 (1), 24-30. Retrieved from https://nsuworks.nova.edu/tqr/vol24/iss1/2
Rumbold, J.L., Fletcher, D., & Daniels, K. (2012). A systematic review of stress management interventions with sport performers: Sport, Exercise, and Performance Psychology, 1 (3): 173–193. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/216598350_A_systematic_review_of_stress_management_interventions_with_sport_performers
Thelwell, R. (2012). Coping with stress as a sports coach: Putting theory into practice, p. 77-100. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/287309686_Coping_with_stress_as_a_sports_coach_Putting_theory_into_practice
Vanderhoof, J. (2017). An Analysis of Factors Contributing to Anxiety in Athletic Performance: Kinesiology, Sport Studies, and Physical Education Synthesis Projects, 31 : 1-32.
