Psychology of sports competition
Psychological features of sports competition
The term sports competition is quite understandable for most people, denoting a phenomenon with characteristic features. However, from a scientific psychological perspective, it is considered far from unambiguously.
Sports competition is the subject of sports psychology as a mental phenomenon that has certain properties, multifaceted processes and specific states. Sometimes competition is considered as a special type of behavior, attitude or situation.
Attitude is an initial inclination, readiness for certain actions in relation to a specific situation or object, which arises when it is possible to predict this situation or the appearance of the object.
Often in sports psychology, the term rivalry is used as a synonym for sports competition (struggle for primacy, achievement of a certain result, comparison of one's level of training in some kind of sport, sports discipline, competitive exercise).
Sports competition is one of the main types of sports activity. The development of physical qualities, mastering the technique and tactics of the chosen sport, material and technical support and many other factors of an athlete's training, ultimately, find their expression in the competitive result. At the same time, competitions not only summarize the previous training, but also themselves are a fairly effective means of the athlete's mental development.
Sports competitions significantly affect the development of an athlete's motivation. Prizes, sports titles, the implementation of training efforts, self-affirmation and other incentives affect the formation and dynamics of the personality. Objective competitive situations are at the same time a way to achieve a goal, thanks to which motivation acquires a more specific, targeted competitive meaning. The formation of competitiveness as a whole group of motives that encourage a person to participate (or not to participate) in competitions and strive for victory is an important aspect of an athlete's training.
In sports competitions, quite responsible, sometimes life-threatening and health-threatening extreme situations often arise, which force athletes to act at the limit of their own capabilities.
An extreme situation is an unusual, unusual circumstance of life that requires special adaptation of the senses, which is associated with serious socio-psychological and informational limitations, with an increase in the risk factor.
Developing the correct reaction to successes and failures is one of the main tasks of personality formation, which is solved in competitive activity.
The social significance of both the competitions themselves and the sports result shown by the athlete is sometimes quite large and deeply affects the fate of the participants in the competitions, the status of sports and its types, and the assessments of the achievements of a particular country. Competitions are condemned and approved, less often remain indifferent. Sports competition is one of the generally accepted forms of socialization of children in the world, a powerful factor in preparing a person for success in modern society.
Socialization is the process and result of an individual's assimilation of social experience in the process of communication and activity. It is closely related to the active participation of the subject in social relations.
Sports competitions are the result of a certain period of preparation, the chosen methodology and strategy, the testing of various innovations, including psychological ones. At the same time, they allow us to outline the prospects and feasibility of further work.
It is also necessary to highlight a special volitional factor in the psychology of sports competition. The manifested will to win, which allows you to achieve the desired result (defeating a certain opponent, winning a championship title, improving your own achievement) is sometimes the main result that affects the assessment and self-esteem of an athlete. It is not for nothing that special prizes "For the will to win" have been established at many competitions, and these prizes are not always awarded to winners.
Finally, despite the constant improvement of the rules and other conditions of competitions, they have a fairly large share of unpredictability, uncertainty - both in determining the name of the winners and in the ways of achieving victory. It is unpredictability that is most appreciated by sports fans, which constitutes a special attractive background for them. The spectacularity of certain competitions is largely determined by this circumstance. There are few people who want to watch competitions whose outcome is not in doubt.
In all the variety of conditions of sports competitions have a number of common psychological features.
1. Sports competition has a stimulating effect.
2. The goal of the performance in the competition is to achieve victory or the best result. This creates an extreme situation in which the athlete must show the maximum of his capabilities, often in difficult conditions and with a shortage of time.
3. Sports competitions always have social significance, because their results become widely known, have a public assessment, affect the status of the athlete in society, bring him sports fame, are included in the assessment of life achievements.
4. The results of the performance in the competition always have personal significance for the athlete. They summarize a certain period of training, serve as a check of the correctness or incorrectness of the chosen path, the expediency or inexpediency of the time and effort spent.
5. Sports competitions are a specific factor that creates extraordinary emotional and volitional states that can affect both positively and negatively the process and result of an athlete's activity.
Emotional factors of competitive activity
Emotional experiences during competitions are characterized by significant saturation, speed of change of states, intensity of processes. The most important prerequisites for the dynamics of emotions during competitions can be considered the following:
Scale of competition. Major international competitions, Olympic Games, championships of countries and continents are characterized by a great intensity of passions, team and personal responsibility of athletes for the result of the struggle. As a rule, participation in large-scale competitions is associated with high ranks and titles, sometimes a fairly significant prize fund is played out, standards for admission to competitions are established, etc. The scale of the competition plays a role not only in itself, objectively, but also in relation to the level of training of the athlete;
Personal significance. Almost always the result of a competition (especially a large one) strongly affects the personal interests of the athlete, has a personal content, influences the course of the sports career, sometimes gives rise to deep interpersonal conflicts of individual participants of the competition, is a prerequisite for the formation of long-term rivalry. Successes and failures of performances cause violent emotions, which in poorly prepared athletes often lead to disorganization of competitive activity, and in strong athletes cause a rise in mood, self-confidence;
Composition of participants. Different levels of competence of competition participants (athletes, judges, coaches) are a condition for the emergence and dynamics of numerous emotional experiences.
Competence - preparedness, awareness, a set of knowledge and experience of the subject in something. In psychology, competence is considered a prerequisite for success in communication and joint activities.
Approximate equality of athletes and teams in terms of skill level creates optimal conditions for an interesting, exciting fight. The obvious advantage of one or more athletes causes negative emotions in less competent rivals. And the low level of training of all participants most often leads to unpredictable results and similar emotions;
Availability of experience. Experience of performances in competitions of a given rank, in a given composition, at a given stadium or in similar conditions generates great confidence in one's abilities, contributes to more effective control over the dynamics of emotional processes;
Level of training. Well-trained athletes are characterized by stenic (strong, effective) emotions, which create the prerequisites for mobilizing forces in the struggle for victory, for using the body's reserves, including the psyche. A poorly trained athlete (even one who previously had high results) is prone to asthenic (weak, passive) emotions;
Individual characteristics. During sports and throughout his previous life, an athlete develops his own special style of relationships with rivals, fighting, finds his own unique ways of ensuring motivation for activity, realizes the peculiarities of his temperament, character and abilities in a way characteristic of him. All this creates conditions for rich, meaningfully saturated experiences. On the contrary, the poverty of an individual emotional life leads to monotony, stereotyped competitive behavior, which makes it easier for the athlete's rivals to win. Most often, the problem of a traditionally difficult opponent lies precisely in the plane of individualization.
Speaking about the role of emotional states in competitive activity, it is worth recalling the laws of Yerkes-Dodson. According to the first law, there is an optimum of motivation for the high-quality performance of a specific action. A lower or higher level of motivation worsens the result. According to the second law, the higher the complexity of the action for a given subject, the lower the level of motivation is optimal for him. Increasing motivation leads to errors even in those actions that were previously successfully mastered with ordinary stimuli, under familiar conditions.
In sports practice abroad, the implementation of the Yerkes-Dodson laws in the so-called U-shaped inverted (inverted) curve, which resembles the shape of a dome, is much more often used.
Sports competitions, as one of the main components of sports activity, are distinguished not only by the great dynamics of emotions and feelings, but also by their significant diversity. Most often, sports psychologists distinguish the following emotional experiences of athletes:
Competitive excitement - characterized by high general activity of the athlete and sthenic (action) emotions. As a rule, successful performance at competitions is combined with the optimal level of competitive excitement for a given athlete;
Fighting spirit - accompanied by confidence in victory, readiness for energy expenditure, a high level of self-control of the athlete over his emotions;
Sports enthusiasm - accompanied by vivid emotional experiences, complete concentration on sports competition; mostly characteristic of game sports.;
Sports excitement - a negative emotional state, when enthusiasm for sports competition acquires an affective color, self-control of actions is partially impaired;
Affect - is a strong and rather short-term experience by the subject of life situations that are quite important for him. Most often occurs with an unexpected change in circumstances as a reaction to critical moments, which are regarded by the subject as a collapse of hopes and desires.
Sports anger - primarily arises as frustration - a short-term reaction to a situation of objective or subjective unattainability of a goal that seemed close; This means that the anger is directed at oneself, not at the opponent;
Competitiveness - is the most effective emotional state for fighting a certain opponent. The focus of competitiveness on a person forces him to use the assessment and self-assessment of many different factors of sports activity, to know and study the opponent well, who claims a similar result; as a rule, it is accompanied by respect for the opponent and his skill;
Aggressiveness - a negative emotion, also directed at the opponent, but accompanied by heightened hostility, the athlete's actions going beyond the limits permitted by the rules and ethics of sports; aggressiveness is often artificially fueled by fans and managers of professional sports, especially in martial arts; the nature of the origin of aggressiveness (social or biological) has not yet been fully studied by science;
Sports honor - is considered as a complex moral feeling, which is generated by the athlete's deep personal participation in solving fundamental issues of sports activity, cultural traditions of sports, knowledge of not only the letter, but also the spirit of sports rules; accompanied by a desire for objectivity in assessing competitive actions, high demands on oneself;
A sense of one's own superiority - manifests itself in narcissism, conceit, "star disease", when an athlete does not compare his emotions with the emotions of other participants in the competition, trying to move rivals with his past achievements, demands special attention to his person, puts his personal interests above all else;
A sense of duty and responsibility to the team, collective, company, country, whose interests the athlete represents at the competition - subjectively this feeling is associated with gratitude, recognition for help in preparation, for the opportunity to compete with other athletes; expressed in high self-sacrifice, in readiness to fight, to overcome obstacles, justified risk;
A sense of sports pride - arises as a result of a well-deserved victory in a difficult sports duel; is characterized by a sense of involvement in the achievements of the team, collective, personal contribution to victory in competitions, coincidence of interests of the team and the athlete himself.
All of the above types of emotional experiences of athletes rarely manifest themselves in isolation, in a "pure form". As a rule, they pass from one to another without noticeable edges, forming an organic unity, reinforcing or restraining each other. There is no doubt that they have a strong, deep influence on the athlete's personality.
Emotional arousal and anxiety
Competitions in many sports are associated with significant risk and danger. However, repeated performance of these actions in training dulls the sense of danger and develops a habit of risk. In this regard, it should be said that it is not objective danger or unforeseen circumstances in themselves that cause strong emotions in competition conditions. The fact is that the physical parameters of competitive actions are much easier to control than imperceptible mental changes. Of course, there are certain signs of the dynamics of emotions, but we can judge them only by the results of the athlete's actions, as a kind of "contribution" to the products of activity.
Hence the conclusion that, firstly, as sportsmanship grows, the share of unpredictability in competitive activity remains much greater for mental manifestations and less for physical parameters of movement; secondly, in the case of loss of control over mental processes, the athlete may encounter a rather significant growth of unwanted emotions. A simple sense of reasonable caution focuses the athlete's attention on himself, does not allow him to focus on other important factors of the competition, and forces him to make mistakes even in standard situations. Therefore, the athlete loses confidence in his abilities, begins to monitor his every movement, loses automatism, and at the same time the high speed of reactions and movements.
Another important reason for the emergence of anxiety during competitive activity is an inadequate assessment of his own actions and the actions of his opponent. Several successful attempts by the opponent - and the novice gives him the victory in advance. An experienced player will be able to weigh and assess the probability of such actions by the opponent in the further course of the match and will be able to overcome his own insecurity and anxiety.
If the athlete's sports abilities are clearly higher than the abilities of his opponents, then he may develop an inflated self-esteem, which will also bring a lot of worries to the athlete himself and his coach. Inflated self-esteem allows you to significantly reduce anxiety and insecurity, but it is combined with low criticality, which does not allow you to successfully solve the so-called problem of an unsuccessful start. An accidental or non-accidental advantage of the opponent at the beginning of the competition for a person with high criticality is the subject of analysis, while an athlete with inflated self-esteem will not look for the reason, and thereby increases his failure.
As a rule, the motivation of self-critical athletes has significantly less fluctuations, especially in the direction of reducing harassment. At the same time, an athlete who competes under the impression of his recent star performance and who has high demands on himself, can significantly overestimate his task. It is necessary to understand that even the most talented athletes after the peak of achievements need some stabilization or even lowering of the result in competitions.
In today's high-achieving sports, the volume and intensity of the intervention of various public and informational state structures during the training and competition processes is constantly increasing, and therefore, additional unpredictability and emotionality are introduced into the competitive situation.
Emotionality is a characteristic of a life situation, which is distinguished by the probability of the occurrence of emotions.
Therefore, there is a need to increase the psychological culture of competitive activity, master the methods of psychological training (psychoregulation, psychotraining), gain experience in psychological analysis of sports activities during competitions, and provide athletes with a favorable information climate.
Pre-start and post-start mental states
The central place in the psychology of sports competition is occupied by the study of pre-competition mental states. The most important characteristic before the starting state is the level of emotional arousal, which can contribute to both increasing and decreasing the effectiveness of the athlete's actions. This level may be optimal, but it is characterized by lability. Generally recognized in psychology, sports physiology, and sports medicine, there are three types of pre-start states: combat readiness, start fever, and start apathy. These states reflect different levels of emotional arousal. Its dynamics is nothing but the change of these states. Pre-start emotional excitement can occur even a few days before the start. It manifests itself more clearly on the day of the competition. At this time, as a rule, its variability and dynamics, which are schematically depicted on the graph, are also manifested.
In the absence of emotional situations, the level of emotional arousal is within a certain standard. Its fluctuations range from drowsy to active working states when performing everyday duties. This level of emotional arousal can be observed when the competition is not important for the athlete, and his preparation allows to be sure of a favorable outcome of the competition. However, at the same time, its reserve capabilities will not be used, which will naturally reduce the probability of a better result. Therefore, such a condition cannot be considered adequate for future sports activities.
As a rule, as the start time approaches, the level of emotional excitement increases. Performing the function of regulating energy streams, pre-competition emotional excitement prepares the athlete's body for future activities. In the most favorable cases, it reaches the optimal level by the time of the start. This is the state of combat readiness (on the BG scheme). It is characterized by the optimization of the functions of all body systems that ensure the athlete's activity in competition conditions. Psychologically, the state of combat readiness is accompanied by intense anticipation, general excitement, the desire to enter the fight and the effort to give all one's strength in the fight for victory.
However, the point of optimal level of emotional arousal may not coincide with the start time. An athlete can be in a state of combat readiness more or less time before the start. There may be unexpected changes in the start time, often delays that sometimes last tens of minutes. Rather, the acquisition of an optimal level of emotional arousal and the postponement of the start time are factors that negatively affect the dynamics of emotional arousal. In some cases, it will increase and can reach an extremely high level - then the athlete has a state of starting fever (SL). In other cases, it can change to a state of starting apathy (SA), which is characterized by a drop in the level of emotional arousal below ordinary. It is in such cases that they say about the athlete: "He burned out." A particularly sharp decline in the level of emotional arousal is observed in those cases when its extremely high level is replaced by excessive inhibition.
Athletes with a strong nervous system in relation to excitement can be in a state of combat readiness and even in a state of starting fever for a long time, and this will not prevent them from achieving a high sports result. Athletes with a nervous system weak in relation to excitement quickly lose their state of combat readiness, and their starting fever is replaced by starting apathy. This is the worst among the pre-start states - a crisis of the state of mental readiness for the competition.
It has been established that at the same competitions, the same athlete may experience all types of pre-starting state at different times and in different sequences. This is most often observed in those sports where the athlete starts not once, but several times (jumping, throwing).
Starting fever is characterized by strong excitement, partial disorganization of behavior, causeless excitement, rapid change of emotional states, instability of attention, lack of concentration, errors caused by weakening of memory processes (memorization, recognition, preservation, reproduction, forgetting). As a rule, starting fever is accompanied by a decrease in the control functions of the cerebral cortex over the subcortical cortex. There is an acceleration of heartbeat and breathing, shallow breathing, excessive sweating, a decrease in the temperature of the extremities, increased tremor, increased frequency of urination. All this leads to the fact that the athlete cannot use the acquired opportunities, makes mistakes even in well-learned actions, behaves impulsively, inconsistently.
Starting apathy is caused by the course of nervous processes that are opposite to those that cause starting fever: inhibitory processes in the nervous system are intensified, more often under the influence of severe fatigue or overtraining. There is some drowsiness, sluggishness of movements, general activity and desire to compete decrease, perception and attention become dulled. However, in some athletes, after some time (an hour or two), gradually, as the start time approaches, the state of apathy passes into an optimal state. Such a phenomenon is more often caused by the presence of some undesirable (or unknown) moments at future competitions. Starting apathy has a special variety - complacency, which occurs in cases where the athlete is confident in his victory in advance, underestimates the capabilities of his rivals. The danger of this condition lies in the reduced attention, inability to mobilize during sudden changes in the situation.
Post-competition mental states largely depend on the outcome of the competition.
A victory achieved in a difficult sports competition, as well as the achievement of the planned result (defeating a strong opponent, improving one's own record, fulfilling the master's standard) lead to positive emotional reactions: a stable feeling of satisfaction with oneself, pride in one's team, cheerful mood, self-confidence, desire to train. If victory or relative success is achieved easily, without much effort, then an overestimation of one's sports abilities, conceit, excessive self-confidence, insecurity, and neglect of training work may occur.
Defeat or relative failure, especially if the athlete failed to demonstrate his fighting qualities or encountered blatant injustice in assessing the result, can cause depression, self-doubt, disappointment, envy, unwillingness to train, and sometimes lead to giving up sports.
The emotional reaction to defeat can also be positive: there are sthenic emotions, a critical attitude towards one's shortcomings, increased performance in training, an increase in the number of willful manifestations, and increased perseverance in achieving the goal. The formation of a sports character is always combined with sthenic emotions in response to failure in the competition. The practice of sports activity shows that skillful selection of the scale of the competition, the level of preparation of opponents and other factors of competitive activity allows the coach and participants of the competition to maintain an optimal ratio of victories and defeats of the athlete or team. In outstanding athletes, the list of victories clearly outweighs the list of defeats. For example, international-class wrestlers and boxers lose no more than 10-15% of their matches. The numerical superiority of victories over defeats provides grounds for the formation of fighting qualities, and the obvious superiority of failures in competitions leads to the formation of a chronic loser who is ready to lose even at the start of the competition. In the event of another failure, he will look for the reasons for the defeat in various objective factors (chips on the ice, poorly greased skis, untimely increase in wind, poor quality of the lawn, biased refereeing).