Can you imagine life without emotions? Is that even possible? Would sports be so popular if we eliminated emotions from them?
Since we are only human, made of flesh and blood, emotions will always be present in any activity where people compete. However, managing those very emotions can sometimes cause significant problems for us on the sports field.
Let’s take a tennis player named Marko as an example. Marko’s issue is high anxiety (tension), which occurs before and during matches. How does this anxiety affect Marko’s game?
Marko’s arousal can lead to an increase in anaerobic power, which in turn can result in improved execution of simple tasks (e.g., hitting a harder shot). However, at the same time, this same arousal can increase muscular tension for Marko, negatively impacting his movements and making his shots less precise.
Impact on Focus
Emotions can also affect focus and decision-making. High arousal leads to a narrowing of attentional focus, which is undesirable if it becomes directed toward irrelevant cues (e.g., Marko focuses on a questionable call by the referee instead of his next serve). At the same time, we find it harder to make decisions in a state of heightened emotional intensity due to the impact emotions have on memory. For instance, an anxious Marko will more easily recall all the double faults he has made on his serve rather than the aces he delivered.
Ultimately, displaying emotions influences the judgment of other people, including the perception of our opponents. In this scenario, Marko’s opponent might conclude, for example, that Marko is insecure, thereby boosting their own self-confidence. What can we do then to manage our emotions and, consequently, our performance?
Emotional Regulation
We can manage emotions by utilizing various strategies:
- Goal Setting: By properly setting goals and prioritizing (e.g., “I will stick to the game plan and focus on executing my routines between points”), Marko can increase positive emotions, which will reduce anxiety and improve his play.
- Cognitive Reappraisal: Reappraising the situation occurs when, for example, Marko, playing against a much older opponent, views the situation as a challenge instead of perceiving it as a threat.
- Visualization: Visualization helps in learning new movements and refining old ones, but also in practicing positive emotional responses. Thus, during visualization of a tie-break, Marko practices his game while also trying to manage his emotional state to match how he wants to feel on the court.
- Positive Self-Talk: Through positive self-talk, Marko can replace negative thoughts with positive and/or neutral statements, thereby reducing the likelihood of unwanted emotions arising. For example, after every lost point in training or a match, Marko can choose not to read too much into that point, and instead tell himself something positive: “You are playing well; Take it easy; You’ve practiced this a thousand times; Believe in yourself…”
- Attentional Deployment Strategy: We can choose to direct our attention to things that contribute to making us feel better. For example, instead of focusing on analyzing the reasons behind his anxiety or judging himself, Marko can direct his attention to breathing, visualization, or the previously mentioned positive internal self-talk.
Ultimately, we can conclude that the goal of emotional regulation is to create a positive emotional experience. In fact, enjoying the task and the process is key to long-term persistence in achieving goals, both in sports and in life, because “You will play only as well as you enjoy the game, and not the other way around—that you will enjoy it only if you play well.” (I. Šarić).
