This blog post will be exploring the different techniques that can be used for athletes who need to control their arousal levels, whether this be raising them or lowering them. It will look at different techniques that fall under the categories of ‘Mind to muscle techniques’ which focus on using the brain to overcome responses from the body and ‘Muscle to Mind techniques’ which use the body to overcome what is happening from the brains responses. The three techniques that will be looked at are Progressive Muscular Relaxation (commonly known as PMR), Music and Affirmations.
The first technique of PMR is used for athletes to lower their arousal levels and become more relaxed so that they are ready for their game and can perform at their optimum level. PMR focuses on relaxing specific muscles by tensing those muscles and then relaxing them. The athlete practises tensing the muscles in particular muscle group and then relaxing them again. By doing this they are allowing themselves to relieve the tension from their muscles which could lead to them being over aroused. The technique is carried out by the athlete being placed in a dark room and lying down. The athlete is then required to close their eyes and just relax. After this has been done, they are told to tense one particular muscle group. They then tense this muscle group and hold it for a couple of seconds and then relax again. The athlete is told to repeat this a couple of times and eventually be able to do it with all the muscle groups in the body. They eventually will get better at this process and once they have mastered the technique they will be able to do this before a sporting situation e.g. before an important tennis match on the court. They will be able to do this on court because they will have practised the technique over and over again. This technique once it has been learnt can be used as part of a pre performance routine in order for the athlete to feel comfortable and get into their optimum state of arousal. Another time where this technique can be used is when the performer is under pressure and needs to score an important point for themselves or team. An example of this could be penalties in football. When the player is waiting to take their penalty, they can use this technique to lower their arousal levels which would allow for them to perform to the best that they can. By using the technique it will relax the player and therefore allow them to be ready when they need to score that important goal.
The second technique that is going to be looked at is the use of music to raise arousal levels for athletes. The use of music is something that a lot of athletes use in terms of getting them aroused and ready for their games. Music is a technique which allows athletes to become motivated and begin to visualise part of their game through hearing things which in turn increases their levels of arousal by allowing both emotional and physical changes to take place on the body. Some types of music e.g. fast tempo music can allow for the athlete to get excited and become more aroused by changes in their heart rate and breathing rate (both becoming higher, ready for performance). In order for this technique to work, it is important that the music corresponds to the exercise/ sport that is being taken part in. The Brunel music rating inventory is something that has been produced which allows athletes to know which music to listen to, to make their arousal levels increase. This will then allow for the right emotions to come through from the song which will influence the athlete and their feelings. It is also important that the music should fit the athlete’s personality otherwise it will have no effect on them and in consequence there will be no effect to their arousal levels. An example of a song that has been shown to work is the theme tune of the film Rocky. This allows athletes to visualise what the character was doing and this then has an effect on them and gets them hyped up and ready for performance like it did for the character. This technique should be used when players are getting ready for a game which could be in the changing rooms or even when they are on the way to venue of the event. This will help them get into the right frame of mind and ready for the game. It will focus their attention on the game and remove any negative thoughts that they may be having by just focusing their attention on the game. The music that they might choose to listen to might be of a fast tempo which will get them pumped up and ready to go out and do what they have to do. It can be used for visualisation, pre-performance motivation and can also be used post-match as a relaxation technique.
The third technique that can be used is Affirmations and these are used for increasing arousal levels of athletes. Affirmations are small, positive quotes and sayings which aim to increase the arousal of performers through their meanings. In order to make affirmations effective, it is important that they are made and produced in the correct way to really have an influence on the athlete and get them pumped up for the game by raising their arousal levels. The first thing to do when making an affirmation is to use the first person e.g. I or Me. This allows the affirmation to be targeted directly at the individual and no one else. As the affirmations are positive sayings, it is important to make sure that they do not have any negativity e.g. mentioned the word ‘No’. If the athlete reads these negative words, they will automatically start to think in a negative way. They should be in the present tense as well as being short and snappy- this will increase the chances of it sticking in the athlete’s mind. When the athlete reads the affirmations, they should be said out loud in order for them to have a deeper connection with the saying as well as being able to hear it out loud. Once the athlete has begun to use affirmations, they need to make sure they are saying them regularly in order for it to stick in their mind. This technique can be used for the athlete before they leave for their game e.g. at home staring into the mirror and saying the affirmations over and over to themselves in order for it to sink in and make it stick in their head, so that even in game situations they can remember it and this will enable them to increase their arousal levels even in game play. The affirmations can also be stuck on the walls in the changing rooms; this means that when the players are in the changing rooms they are reading the affirmations without even probably realising it. An example of this is Liverpool FC where they have the affirmation ‘You’ll never walk alone’. This is something that the players are reading over and over again and therefore it sticks in their mind.
Athletes of all sports can use PMR as a technique to lower their arousal levels; some of those athletes include Cristiano Ronaldo and Johnny Wilkinson (Knight, 2014). This tells us that this technique can be used in football as well as Rugby and another sport is Golf which we will explore further in the blog with research that has been done. Although these techniques can be used for arousal levels. What evidence is there that they work? If we look at PMR, it has been said that although it works, it works when it is used with another technique; ‘Cox (1998) reported no studies showing that PMR alone improved performance, although several studies showed that PMR combined with other techniques was successful in enhancing performance’ (Jarvis, 2006). This tells us that using PMR with technique e.g. centred breathing will prove to be effective rather than just using PMR by itself. A study conducted by Janet Ortiz showed that by using PMR, putting in female golfers improved (Knight, 2014).
Research and studies have been done to show that music does have an effect on arousal and helps performance. Wales, 1986 found that music that had an upbeat tempo enhanced performance by being able to lower anger and depression. (Athleteicsinsight.com, 2014). This tells us that music really can make a difference to our performance. Karageorghis and Terry, 1997 also found that the type of music that gets listened to synchronises our movements to the beat of the song (Athleticsinsight, 2014). Professor Peter Terry tells us what he has found from the use of music “If you synchronise whatever activity your engaging in to the tempo of the music there’s a very clearly energetic effect,” Studies have also shown that there is a 10% reduction in perceived exertion of an athlete because the emotional state of the athlete gets turned into a physical reaction. (Performance.fourfourtwo.com, 2014). This clearly shows us that music does work in bringing up arousal levels and therefore enhancing performance.
An example of somewhere affirmations have been used is the great boxer Mohammed Ali. Mohammed Ali used the affirmation of ‘I am the greatest’. This proved to be successful for him as it allowed him to win titles and have the great career that he did. This shows us that something as small as four words can make a huge difference to an athlete and their thoughts. It allows them to become more aroused and therefore has a positive effect on their performance which in turn enhances it.
Performance.fourfourtwo.com, (2014). Music to improve your performance | FourFourTwo Performance. [online] Available at: http://performance.fourfourtwo.com/health/psychology/music-to-improve-your-performance [Accessed 14 May. 2014].
Knight, C. (2014). Relaxation – The Sport In Mind – Sport Psychology. [online] Thesportinmind.com. Available at: http://www.thesportinmind.com/articles/relaxation/ [Accessed 14 May. 2014].
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Sport and Exercise Psychology 