Stress and coping among competitive
Baseline 6 months 12 months Adaptive coping
Planning 3 3 4
Positive reframing 2.5 3 3
Instrumental support 3 3.5 3.5
Acceptance 2.5 3 3
Active coping 3.5 3.5 3.5
Maladaptive coping
Venting 2 2 2
Denial 2 1.5 1.5
Distraction 3 2.5 2.5
Behavioural disengagement 1 1 1
Table 5.3 Use of maladaptive and adaptive coping strategies by Ellis over the duration of The Mentor Programme.
Regarding Ellis’s use of maladaptive coping strategies (Table 5.3), she evidenced a decrease in the use of denial ( .5) and distraction ( .5). Her use of venting and behavioural disengagement remained unchanged. Results of the questionnaire representing her use of behavioural disengagement translated as ‘I haven’t been doing this at all’. As such, the lack of change represented the floor effect whereby it is not possible for the score to be any lower.
Having qualitatively explored the views of Ellis regarding each of the coping packs, she felt they all offered benefits. Ellis set goals to improve her communication on court. These goals were agreed by mentor and mentee, having established during the emotional intelligence pack that her emotional regulation could be improved. Both Ellis and her mentor commented that the resultant improvements had accrued positive effects for her on-court performances. Regarding the planning and time management pack, Ellis surmised ‘the wall planner was good … Jasmine (mentor) set out agendas for me, like we’d do titles of what I wanted to achieve, when by, what I had on that month and how I could sort out what I wanted to achieve and things like that’.
When reflecting on the problem-solving pack, Ellis felt this pack structured thinking and increased options, ‘she just used to branch off with all these different options and it made me kind of understand like a wider picture’.
Finally, regarding the communication pack, Ellis and her mentor would use it to work through ‘different scenarios, and also outside of netball things, like how will it affect me? what will I do? … that was quite good it made me put things more in perspective’. Ellis concluded that The Mentor Programme had been beneficial for her because ‘I think I’m a lot more organised … and again that’s
‘cause of mentoring where I just had to organise myself and think what am I going to achieve and things like that’.
When considered collectively, the qualitative and quantitative results of all nine participants were complementary. Qualitative results indicated that participants perceived gains to coping, social and emotional competencies following completion of the coping intervention. Quantitative results indicated that the use of four adaptive coping strategies – positive reframing, interpersonal skills, active coping and adaptability – increased, and two avoidance coping strategies reduced over time. Players not on The Mentor Programme demonstrated minimal or no change in their use of coping strategies and socio-emotional competencies over the same timeframe. All participants interviewed recommended that The Mentor Programme be offered to junior national netball players. This view was exemplified by Ellis, ‘You’re at that level where if you don’t plan … you can find it a bit too much. I think it needs to be asked like individually whether they need it’.
The partially scripted coping intervention devised and applied by Devonport et al (2005) provided a longitudinally supportive environment for the development of coping skills. A key focus, and consequently benefit, of the coping intervention was the generalization of coping skills. In working towards the development of coping competencies, personal goals and the appraisal process were central to intervention activities. This enabled an individualized coping programme to be developed and maintained. The success of the
88 | Stress and coping among competitive athletes in sport
programme was partly attributed to the consideration and implementation of these factors. As such, future coping interventions should strive to devise longitudinal coping interventions, taking into consideration personal idiosyncrasies.
The final activity for this chapter is designed to pull all the preceding information together. Read through the task presented in Activity box 5.3, and then re-read the chapter as necessary, identifying the information that will assist you in its completion.
Conclusions
There is a wealth of anecdotal and empirical evidence to suggest that athletes commonly experience the debilitating effects of stress on performance (Hoar et al, 2006). Research has sought to identify the sources of stress typically encountered by athletes, and explore those coping strategies that appear to be effective in the management of such stressors. This chapter has attempted to summarize the stress and coping literature, and explore the coping interventions that have resulted from such research. The main implications for the construction and implementation of coping interventions have been highlighted as the chapter draws to a conclusion. The tasks that have been set are designed around the main contentions of Lazarus and Folkman’s transactional model of stress and coping (1984). It is hoped that this will facilitate understanding and subsequent application of this model.
Consider the potential sources of stress, and coping options, for an individual in the following situation:
An athlete is about to play in their first rugby game having returned from injury. What are the possible sources of stress for this individual? What can be done in the months, weeks, days and minutes leading up to the competition to prevent or cope with these potential stressors? What coping strategies can be utilized during and post performance to manage stressors that may occur?
Bear in mind that individuals may use more than one coping strategy at any point in time, and each strategy may have a different purpose. For example, positive self-talk may be used to deal with the emotions of the situation, whereas seeking advice may be used in a direct attempt to change the situation. The combination of coping strategies used may vary accordingly as the event unfolds (e.g. immediately post injury, when discussing rehabilitation, various stages during rehabilitation).
Activity 5.3
Cognitive appraisal Coping
Stress
Key concepts and terms
90 | Stress and coping among competitive athletes in sport
Sample essay titles
■ To what extent can the transactional model of stress and coping predict coping behaviours in sport? Discuss with reference to relevant literature.
■ Discuss, with reference to relevant literature, those factors that determine the effectiveness of coping.
■ In developing a coping intervention for athletes, what considerations should the practitioner make? Explore each consideration with reference to relevant literature.
■ With the use of relevant literature, identify the influence that personal and situational factors may have on the appraisal of stress.
Further reading
Books
Frydenberg, E. (2002). Beyond Coping: Meeting Goals, Visions, and Challenges.
Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Hoar, S.D., Kowalski, K.C., Gadreau, P., and Crocker, P.R.E. (2006). ‘A review of coping in sport.’ In: S. Hanton, and S. Mellalieu (Eds), Literature Reviews in Sport Psychology. Hauppage, NY: Nova Science Publishers, 53–103.
Lazarus, R.S. (1999). Stress and Emotion: A New Synthesis. New York: Springer.
Journal articles
Ntoumanis, N., and Biddle, S.J.H. (1998). The relationship of coping and its perceived effectiveness to positive and negative affect in sport. Personality and Individual Differences, 24, 773–778.
Rees, T., and Hardy, L. (2004). Matching social support with stressors: Effects on factors underlying performance in tennis. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 5, 319–337.
Woodman, T., and Hardy, L. (2001b). A case study of organisational stress in elite sport. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 13, 207–238.
6
In relation to the sport you are currently playing, identify the key attributes or skills that help you to perform in that sport. What are the physical, technical, attitudinal, mental and tactical skills that enable you to play well?
It may help to reflect on a recent best performance. What skills/qualities helped you to perform to a high standard during that performance?
Alternatively, reflect on an elite athlete in your sport/position. What skills/qualities/attributes do they possess that enable them to consistently perform at the highest level?
Write down these qualities in the table below:
Activity 6.1
When you have completed this chapter you should be able to:
1. Describe the traditional performance profiling technique and adaptations to this procedure.
2. Describe and explain the theoretical roots of performance profiling.
3. Critically evaluate the profiling literature and outline the uses, impacts and limitations of the technique.
Learning outcomes
This chapter provides a comprehensive overview of the performance profiling technique (Butler and Hardy, 1992). Performance profiling is a client-centred assessment procedure that encourages athletes to identify qualities they deem important to performance and then rate their ability on each of those qualities.
The sporting and theoretical origins of profiling will be presented followed by a description of the ways in which profiling can be delivered with individual athletes, coaches and teams. A critical evaluation of the profiling research will then be detailed including a summary of the uses, benefits, impacts and limitations of the technique. The chapter should provide the reader with an insight as to the usefulness of profiling within sports settings.
