Category Archives: psychology

Olympic comedown’ is a common ailment after the games – here’s what it is and how athletes cope

By Helen Owton

Imagine hearing a crowd of roaring fans every time you make an appearance. Thousands of camera flashes follow your every move. Each moment of your life taken up with preparation for your big moment: training, performing, media interviews and photo shoots. Then imagine going back to your daily life again – acclimatising to the everyday mundanity of bills, returning to your day job and resuming household chores.

What happens when the crowds stop screaming and you have to deal with the shift back to ordinary life?

When the Olympic Games finishes on August 11, those of us who’ve been watching the excitement – and possibly experienced vicarious satisfaction – may also experience a sense of emptiness. But it’s nothing compared to the void Olympic many athletes will experience in the aftermath of the games.

For athletes returning home from the Olympic Games, their journey is usually accompanied by a radical change in environment and considerable physical and mental shifts. A different climate, sights and smells and the lack of excited echoes in anticipation-filled arenas. Suddenly the hype surrounding an athlete’s performance diminishes and their intense training schedule reverts to normal as their bodies recover.

For athletes, the build-up to the Olympic Games is a four-year cycle, demanding huge personal and professional sacrifices and bringing with it an enormous amount of pressure.

The event itself is an experience of sensory overload – the huge crowds and deafening noise. Add to that the pressure of performing on the global stage and – for a fortnight at least – the celebrity status that comes with being an Olympic athlete.

Some athletes thrive in such an environment, particularly on home turf. But for others, it can be a nightmare experience.

Even veteran Olympic athletes, such as US gymnast and 11 times Olympic medallist Simone Biles and former US swimmer Michael Phelps – the most successful and most decorated swimmer of all time – have opened up about their post-Olympic blues.

Looking back, Phelps said in May 2024: “2004 was my first taste of post-Olympic depression, you know, coming off such a high.” Nile Wilson, British artistic gymnast and Olympic bronze medallist has spoken publicly about his experience of Olympic comedown.

Comedown” is a term usually associated with withdrawal from stimulant drugs. But the feelings experienced by athletes are not so different. The high athletes get from their sport has been linked to the release of the hormone adrenaline. The Olympic comedown is a response to the “high” that is experienced from the release of adrenaline during the games.

Adrenaline addiction is often connected to extreme sportparticipants but studies have shown that addictive disorders – including alcohol, drugs and gambling – can affect athletes across a range of sports.

Success can become like a drug to elite athletes. And, unfortunately, for some the “high” from winning and attention may be replaced with other addictions once the competition is over. Athletes report feeling like “rock stars” – one professional wrestler commented that “there’s no better drug” than their sport.

Prolonged media attention can delay a bout of post-Olympic blues but for many athletes retiring from elite sport altogether, this transition from feeling like a celebrity to becoming a regular person again can present a significant risk to their psychological health and wellbeing. Replacing the sporting experience with something constructive can be a challenge.

Coping with post-event blues

Many athletes have a strong but narrow sense of identity – what they do is a huge part of who they are. Once athletes return from the Olympic games, they may experience an existential crisis, asking themselves “what now?”, or “what does all this mean?”

But this doesn’t have to be a negative experience. Studies have demonstrated that when athletes stop their sport it can be an opportunity for reflection, clarification of values, and a search for alternative ways of living.

Preparing the mind and body to wind down for one’s health is just as important as psyching up to perform. A 2022 studyreported that this sort of preparation and athlete support is still lacking.

Days before 800m runner Keely Hodgkinson won a gold medal in Paris 2024, she opened up about experiencing depression after coming second and “only” winning a silver four years earlier at the Tokyo Games, saying: “I didn’t realise Olympic comedown was actually a big thing.”

Post-event slumps don’t just affect Olympians, though. We can all experience depression after a long build-up to an important life event. While the following coping strategies were suggested by elite sportspeople to help other athletes ward off post-competition depression, they could be helpful for anyone trying to navigate our way through the blues after a big event.

The first step is to accept that you know the goal is finished, then take time off to enjoy and celebrate what you have achieved. Reflect on what went well, what didn’t go so well and what you enjoyed. Most importantly, make a list of the pleasurable things you missed out on while preparing for the event – so maybe going to the movies, having more free time to devote to hobbies, friends and family, or going to the beach. Then, during your time off after the event, make an effort to go and do those things.

Filling your life with meaningful activities after a big event can help all of us to deal with comedown – whether we’re Olympic rockstars or more ordinary folk.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Surviving the “Startle Effect” in Motorcycling

“The road south is awful. Choppy, narrow, bumpy concrete with a bad head wind, going into the sun and big semis going the other way. These roller-coaster hills speed them up on the downside and slow them up on the upside and prevent our seeing very far ahead, making passing nerve-wracking. The first one gave me a scare because I wasn’t ready for it. Now I hold tight and brace for them. No danger. Just a shock wave that hits you” (Pirsig, 1974)

Sport participants who engage in extreme activities (e.g., motorcycling, rock climbing, sky diving) often face intense fears where there can be high risks involved which could be experienced as stressful*. Whether an individual perceives an experience as negative stress is assessed by our bodies based on sensory input and stored memories (Vaughn et al., 2021). According to Herman et al. (2016), numerous factors can determine an individual’s response to acute or chronic stress, for example, genetics, early life experience, environmental conditions, sex, and age. Indeed, stress may not necessarily be negative, and the term eustress represents the positive side of stress (Quick et al., 2004). The feeling of eustress is akin to ‘runner’s high’ or being ‘in the zone’ whereby time feels suspended, and an individual is fully absorbed in the task (Quick et al., 2004).  Motorcyclists are often faced with moments of acute stress which requires the rider to “anticipate be cool under pressure be attuned to a constantly moving environment at speed, and position the body-motorcycle” (Owton, 2021, p.160). Motorcycling, like other extreme activities, enhances sensory processing, increases focus and visual attention which can increase epinephrine levels, increase heart rate, and decrease cortisol levels. This demonstrates that extreme activities can replicate the results associated with exercise and the reduction of stress levels (Vaughn et al., 2021). Nonetheless, there may be times when an individual is faced with something sudden, intense, and unexpected where the body-self has to respond to a threat to life.

Startle Effect

The concept of startle effect has been drawn upon in aviation to describe a stress response to a sudden, intense, and unexpected stimulus; an intense event violates an individual’s expectations where they are thrown towards a threat to survival. The startle reflex is an uncontrollable and automatic response to a sudden, intense stimulus (Field et al., 2015). In order to respond to the threat, there is an emotional component (Lang et al., 1990) and an involuntary physiological reflex (e.g., muscular tension, increased heart rate (Field et al., 2015; Koch, 1999).

“I lean in slightly as I swing round the next corner and am suddenly faced with a van speeding straight towards me on the same side of the road. “Oh s***!” I yell. For a split second, I stare at the van and stop breathing trying to judge the situation as quickly as possible. Instinct makes me release my grip on the throttle which starts slowing me down, then I grab the hand brake and step on the foot brake. I scan the road as swiftly as I can, judging whether the van will pass the car in time for me as I continue to slow down. The van swerves back across the road passing the car and passing me safely on the other side. As the van passes me, I breathe again “f***ing hell!” I mutter cursing under my breath and gently squeeze the throttle to speed up again. I feel my eyes have widened with the suddenness of hot fear that’s trickled through me and the immediacy of surprise and startle that I’ve just been faced with. By the time I’ve arrived home, I’ve recovered from the event, but the embodied memory remains in my sweaty body” (Owton, in press).

Feeling startled evokes an immediacy of attentional focus (cognitive) and actions (physiological) needed towards the task of surviving. Signals sent to the amygdala may induce a startle reflex, while these same signals will be sent to the sensory cortex for cognitive processing (Martin et al., 2016). During a threatening situation, part of the stimuli goes directly to the amygdala “emotional/irrational brain” while simultaneously the other parts are sent to the neocortex “thinking/rational brain” (Goleman, 1996). This can lead to a potential battle between the “rational” part of the brain and the “irrational” part of the brain which could freeze the body into inaction (LeDoux, 1994; 1995). The amygdala, however, can process the information milliseconds quicker than the neocortex which could be why someone might act irrationally and destructively before processing the threat appropriately (LeDoux, 1994; 1995).

“Amygdala Hijack”

The amygdala is central to the startle response; a structure in the limbic system that is related to survival and our emotions (Goleman, 1996). Also, it is responsible for processing emotions such as fear, pleasure, and anger. An amygdala hijack, exhibits three signs:

  1. Strong emotional reaction
  2. Sudden onset
  3. Post-episode realisation if the reaction was inappropriate (Goleman, 1996).

The thalamus can bypass the cortex which means that emotional reactions and responses can be formed without any conscious or cognitive participation with the amygdala acting completely independently of the neocortex (Goleman, 1996). Something like ‘corner rush’ that motorcyclists experience can elicit a startle response. In the following example, I know the corner is coming, but the speed at which I reach the corner startles me:

“On about lap 5, I’m speeding down the straight and lose focus for a second, I experience ‘corner rush’ and quickly brake as I feel the motorcycle wobble erratically before turning into the bend; I stare at the grass ahead but force myself to release the brake and throw it in, saving it – just a few breathless moments” (Owton, 2021, p.159).

The startle reflex can be accompanied with feelings of surprise, however, the startle reflex can be triggered without the notion of surprise (Ekman et al., 1985). A runner, for example, may know the bang of a gun is going to sound, but the runner will usually still have a ‘startle reflex’ resulting from the gun sound. Muscular activity can be inhibited by startle and a person may stop what they were doing, e.g., freeze (Koch, 1999). This disruption can last from 100ms to 3 second for basic tasks and up to 10 seconds for more complex motor tasks (Rivera et al., 2014). Cognitive processing, decision making and problem solving can be impaired between 30-60 seconds and increases as tasks become more complex (Rivera, et al, 2014). There are a multitude of additional cognitive responses, such as, confusion, loss of situational awareness, disorientation, impairment of working memory, impairment of problem solving & decision making (Field et al., 2015). Pilots are exposed to surprise and startle during training so they can cognitively develop ways to adapt and respond effectively and calmly under pressure. As LaConte (2017) suggests, this means that ‘facing’ a problem directly draws upon an assertive response, the most effective way of mitigating fear. These responses are commonly referred to as ‘fight or ‘flight’ coined by Canon in the early 1920s. Developments include consider ‘freeze’ responses to threatening situations and ‘facing’ the problem directly (Barlow, 2002; Schmidt, et al., 2007; Lang, 1994; LaConte, 2017).

Given the nature of extreme activities and sports and that understanding that motorcyclists are often “driven to conquer new challenges and soak up every experience life has to offer” (Carter, 2019), not all unexpected stimuli may lead to a negative stress response or produce an overtly physiological and emotional reaction. Whilst Owton (2021) demonstrated that intense feelings of pleasure and ‘flow’ (Csíkszentmihályi, 1997, 2002) means that one may not be able to attend to other things apart from the bodily ‘here and now’, this may also be true when experience intense feelings of fear; the mind-body-self is, in a sense, startled and thrown into the unknown (Heidegger, 1962; Mearleau-Ponty,1962). Exposure to intense moments during training might act as a buffer against future moments as well as against stresses of life (Psychology Today, 2021). It is essential for those involved in extreme activities and sports to be exposed to different scenarios during training (in a more controlled environment) in order to make choices that reduce risk and enhance personal control (Crust et al., 2019).

*Stress is a biological, psychological, and emotionally embodied response experienced when we perceive a threat under pressure (APA, 2018).

Details from this article were originally published: Owton, H. “Oh Shit!” moments: Motorcycling, ‘thrownness’ and the Startle Effect, Cultural Studies: Critical Methodologies, in press. Available: (17) (PDF) “Oh Shit!” moments: Motorcycling, ‘thrownness’ and the Startle Effect (researchgate.net)

References

Barlow DH. (2002) Anxiety and its disorders. New York: Guilford Press.

Carter, K. (2019). Buzz!: Inside the Minds of Thrill-seekers, Daredevils, and Adrenaline Junkies. Cambridge University Press.

Crust, L., Swann, C. & Allen-Collinson, J. (2019). Mentally tough behaviour in extreme environments:Perceptions of elite high-altitude mountaineers. Qualitative Research in Sport, Exercise and Health,11(3), 334–347

Csíkszentmihályi, M. (1997). Finding Flow: The Psychology of Engagement with Everyday Life. New York: HarperCollins.

Ekman, P., Friesen, W. & Simons, R. (1985). Is the startle reaction an emotion? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 49(5), 1416-1426

Field, J.N., Boland, E.J., van Rooij, J.M., Mohrmann, J.F.W. & Smeltink, J.W. (2015) EASA Research Startle Effect Managements Final Report. EASA Europe.

Goleman, D. (1996). Emotional intelligence: Why it can matter more than IQ. UK: Bloomsbury Publishing.

Herman, J.P., McKlveen, J.M., Ghosal, S., Kopp, B., Wulsin, A., Makinson, R., Scheimann, J. & Koch,M., 1999. The neurobiology of startle. Progress in neurobiology, 59(2), 107-128

Koch, M., (1999). The neurobiology of startle. Progress in neurobiology, 59(2), 107-128

LaConte, G. (2017). Definitions. LaConte Consulting. Available: Definitions – LaConte Consulting (Accessed 3/3/22)

Lang, P.J., Bradley, M.M. & Cuthbert, B.N. (1990). Emotion, attention, and the startle reflex. Psychological review, 97(3), 377-395

LeDoux, J.E. (1994) Emotion, memory and the brain. Scientific American, 270(6), 50-57.LeDoux, J.E. (1995). Emotion: Clues from the brain. Annual review of psychology, 46(1), 209-235

Martin, W.L., Murray, P.S., Bates, P.R. & Lee, P.S. (2016). A flight simulator study of the impairment effects of startle on pilots during unexpected critical events. Aviation Psychology and Applied Human Factors, 6(1), 24-32

Merleau-Ponty, M. (1962). Phenomenology of perception. London and New York: Routledge

Owton, H. (2021). Quest for Freedom: Intense Embodied Experiences of Motorcycling. Cultural Studies: Critical Methodologies, 22(2), 154-162. Available: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/354786229_Quest_for_Freedom_Intense_Embodied_Experiences_of_Motorcycling 

Owton, H. “Oh Shit!” moments: Motorcycling, ‘thrownness’ and the Startle Effect, Cultural Studies: Critical Methodologies, in press. Available: (17) (PDF) “Oh Shit!” moments: Motorcycling, ‘thrownness’ and the Startle Effect (researchgate.net)

Pirsig, R.M. (1974). Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values: Robert M. Pirsig: Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (1), Terebess Asia Online (TAO)

Rivera, J., Talone, A.B., Boesser, C.T., Jentsch, F. & Yeh, M. (2014). September. Startle and surprise on the flight deck: Similarities, differences, and prevalence. In Proceedings of the human factors and ergonomics society annual meeting, 58(1), 1047-1051). Sage CA: Los Angeles, CA: SAGE Publications.

Schmidt, N.B., Richey, J.A., Zvolensky, M.J. & Maner, J.K. (2008). Exploring human freeze responses to a threat stressor. Journal of behavior therapy and experimental psychiatry, 39(3), 292-304

Quick, J.C., Macik-Frey, M. & Nelson, D.L. (2004). Job stress. Encyclopedia of Applied Psychology, 467-474

Vaughn, D.A., Maggiora, M.B., Vaughn, K.J., Maggiora, C.J., Tavakoli, A.V., Liang, W., Zava, D., Cohen, M.S. & Lenartowicz, A. (2021) Modulation of attention and stress with arousal: The mental and physical effects of riding a motorcycle. Brain research, 1752, 147203

Abstract Call for 4th Annual OU Sport & Fitness Conference – My Child: The Athlete

My Child: The Athlete

Tickets are on sale now – Click here to register!

The 4th annual OU Sport and Fitness Conference focuses on youth development in sport with particular attention paid to contemporary issues such as:

  • Youth physical development

    E.g. Strength and conditioning, injury prevention, physical literacy, skill acquisition

  • Psychological development

    E.g. Building resilience, coping with and learning from failure

  • Parental support for talented athletes

    E.g. Research to support parents of talented athletes, effects on siblings and family members, family dynamics and youth development

  • Coaching considerations when working with children

    E.g. planning training and practice, coaching behaviours, managing expectations, managing the needs of each athlete

With three world-leading keynotes confirmed, this promises to be an illuminating and thought provoking two days:

Toni Minichiello – Coach to GB’s 2012 gold medal-winning Olympian Jessica Ennis-Hill. (Day 1 evening keynote presenter)

Dr Jean CôtéProfessor at Queen’s University, Canada and world-renowned researcher within the fields of youth sports and coach development. @JeanCote46

Dr Camilla Knight – Associate Professor at Swansea University and leading expert on the psychosocial experiences of children in sport, with a particular focus upon the influence of parents. @cjknight

Whether you’re an academic, a student, a coach, teacher or parent, we invite you to join us for two action packed days full of dissemination, discussion, and learning opportunities.

Call for Abstracts (Now Open for Submissions):

The OU Sport and Fitness Conference team invites the submission of abstracts for consideration as either an oral or poster presentation. Submissions may have either an academic or applied focus resonating with the themes of the conference (see above bullet points). We would also welcome submissions which report on research in progress or the initial stages of development.

Please download the abstract submission guidelines here:

Abstract Submission Guidelines

Delegates:

Click here to register!

Full conference packages:
Access to the whole two days – keynotes and breakout sessions
Three course conference dinner on day 1*
Lunch and refreshments on both days

*Please note – we have a limited number of tickets for the evening session – book early to avoid disappointment.

Evening only package*:
Access to the evening session on day 1
Keynote presentation from Toni Minichiello
Q&A Panel with Toni, Dr Jean Côté and Dr Camilla Knight
Three course conference dinner

*Please note – the evening session will take place at Kents Hill Park Training and Conference Centre, MK7 6BZ. There are a limited number of tickets available for this session so please book early to avoid disappointment. 

Twitter

Don’t forget to follow us for all the latest conference updates: @OU_SportConf and use the hashtag #OUSportConf to share that you’ve registered!

 

We look forward to welcoming you to My Child: The Athlete in March 2019!

For any conference queries please contact WELS-Research-Events@open.ac.uk

 

Sir Roger Bannister Dies

By Helen Owton

At the age of 88 years old, “Sir Roger Bannister, died peacefully in Oxford on 3 March 2018” his family said he was “surrounded by his family who were as loved by him, as he was loved by them”. He was best known in sport for breaking the four minute mile barrier (3mins, 59.4s) on 6 May 1954, nearly 60 years ago.

Something that he worked relentlessly to achieve remembering that, “I felt suddenly and gloriously free of the burden of athletic ambition that I had been carrying for years” (The First Four Minutes). He held the record for 46 days when John Landy, Bannister’s rival, ran a mile in 3mins, 57.9s in Finland on 21 June 1954. Indeed, breaking the four minute mile barrier was a giant sporting achievement particularly in light of the lack of training techniques, research and technology that currently exists today.

Life After Sport

Nonetheless, Sir Roger said, “None of my athletics was the greatest achievement, my medical work has been my greatest achievement and my family with 14 grandchildren. Those are my real achievements”.

For many, however, “Life after sport can be a challenging time, but it needn’t be. It’s a wonderful opportunity for reinvention.” (Richard Branson). Ending a career in sport can be a particularly challenging transition which can have cognitive, emotional and behavioural effects on individuals (Taylor and Ogilvie, 1994).  Many athletes struggle with life after sport particularly those who are ‘performance’ focused with a strong athletic identity whereas athletes more focused on ‘discovery’ tend to discuss life after sport more positively (Douglas and Carless, 2015). The transition from sport to life after sport can be even more disruptive if it was not planned (e.g. a career ending injury) (Allen-Collinson and Hockey, 2007). Regardless, if not supported, the dramatic transition can elicit stressful reactions and difficulty adjusting emotionally (Lavallee, Gordon & Grove, 1997).

Athletic careers have a short shelf life with athletes ordinarily retiring before their mid-late thirties, but Sir Roger was able to put his great sporting achievements in perspective and set his sights on other meaningful purposes enabling him to live a full life enriched by family and medical breakthroughs.

End of life

The irony of Sir Roger Bannister being diagnosed with Parkinson’s, a medical field he had worked a lifetime in, is not lost on me. My Grandfather was diagnosed with bowel cancer after his wife, Joan Bebbington, had dedicated so much of her life working for Mr Douglas Macmillan (now known as Macmillan cancer). Similarly, another sporting legend, Muhammad Ali, also developed the degenerative brain disease Parkinson’s and died in 2016 at the age of 74 years.

Sir Roger may have argued, as a neuroscientist, that the brain is the most critical organ but the loss of a loved one will be felt most critically in all our hearts.

UEFA Women’s EURO 2017: The power of ‘Home Advantage’

By Helen Owton

On Sunday 6th August 2017, the Netherlands stormed the final after a stunning 4-2 win against Denmark having knocked out the Lionesses in a surprising win. At the start of the tournament, however, they were ranked 9th with favourites Germany being knocked out by Denmark in the quarter finals. When the hosts win it adds weight to the argument that ‘home advantage’ is a powerful weapon, but surely, home advantage can’t be that powerful?

Home advantage
Firstly, the idea of home for an individual performer may be very different, however, and the concept of ‘home’ is thus one that differs for each sport and its performers. Nonetheless, home advantage is a phenomena which has been a hotly debated contentious issue but appears to be very real. Research on home advantage found that home teams are more likely to win 53-69% of the time (Courneya and Carron, 1992). Indeed, research shows that nations hosting international sporting events can improve their medal count by around 25% (UK Sport, 2011). For example, in London 2012, ‘Team GB’ achieved a 27.8% increase in medal count (47 in 2008; 65 in 2012).

Various reasons have been sought to explain this home advantage phenomena. The presence of a supportive audience appears to be the most critical factor (Cox, 2012) and the size, density and proximity are important aspects to consider when evaluating the influence a crowd has which can activate the autonomic nervous system producing physiological and psychological arousal. This of course could have positive or negative effects on both teams. For example, a home team might feel ‘overwhelmed’ by the pressure of such a momentous occasion but an away team may experience the pressure in a different way.

Other factors include the issue of travelling to distant venues for visiting athletes; the unfamiliarity of stadiums and changing rooms for away teams, for example (Pollard, 2006). Nonetheless, the home advantage is dependent on a number of factors, including the familiarity of surroundings, the effect of travel on the opposition, an evolved response to defend home territory and the impact of the belief that we are more likely to be successful at home. Additionally, some of these factors are interrelated because the home crowd’s support might indirectly influence the thoughts and actions of the referee as well as the opposing team.

Indeed, Lucy Bronze mentions that the game against Netherlands was ‘a different game’ and needed to ‘silence the crowd’ and that referee decisions didn’t go their way.

Referee bias
In the Lionesses versus Netherlands game there were some hotly debated referee decisions. Indeed, referee bias is one of the many factors that contribute to home advantage. The idea that there is an unconscious impact that the home crowd have on refereeing decisions is a contentious one and is obviously hotly disputed by most sporting officials. Nonetheless, it could be that the power and strength of the home crowd subconsciously encourages a referee to go along with a crowd particularly if the decision is open to interpretation.

I think what makes home advantage so impressive is that unexpected teams win and it’s always surprising to watch a low ranked team work their way to victory! There were indeed some other unexpected stories in this year’s women’s EURO 2017.

Unexpected stories
Out of the teams making their debuts in the final this year Austria (ranked 13) quickly became the team to watch as they built on their successes and got strong and stronger after each game until they lost against Denmark (ranked 12th) on penalties (3-0). A great experience for Austria! France were strong contenders but were knocked out by England. Whilst Germany (ranked 1st) dominated the tournament since winning in 1989 making it an impressive total of champions 8 times, they got knocked out by Denmark in the quarter finals opening up the way for a new champion team! The hope was on the England to win the tournament, possibly adding pressure to their game as they played Netherlands. With the large supportive home crowd, it wasn’t to be for England.

Media success of Women’s Football
The fact that there has been a possibility of ‘home advantage’ during this WEURO2017 indicates the large crowd sizes which have been approx. 30,000. Additionally, Channel 4 have shown all the matches and peaked 4 million audience sizes, beating Celebrity Big Brother and Panorama (Sweeney, 2017). A huge leap for women’s football and the misogynistic comments on twitter are becoming an old fashioned dying breed.

I’m sure the nation will be excited about the Women’s World Cup in 2019 which is to take place in France! It will be interesting to watch whether the ‘home advantage’ will have the same results for France.

*Home advantage is a topic covered in E313 Exploring Psychological aspects of athletic development. If you are interested in studying sport and fitness at the OU please visit the ‘study with us’ tab at the top of the page.

References
Corneya, K.S. and Carron, A.V. (1992) ‘The home advantage in sport competitions: a literature review’, Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, vol. 14, pp. 28–39.

Cox, R. (2012) Sport Psychology: Concepts and Applications, New York, McGraw-Hill.

Pollard, R. (2006) ‘Home advantage in soccer: variations in its magnitude and a literature review of the interrelated factors associated with its existence’, Journal of Sport Behavior, vol. 29, pp. 169–189.

Sweeney, M. (2017). England’s Lionesses smash TV audience record in Euro 2017 semi-final, The Guardian, [online, 4 August]. Available: https://www.theguardian.com/media/2017/aug/04/englands-lionesses-smash-tv-audience-record-euro-2017-semi-final-women-football

UK Sport (2011) ‘Home Advantage – The performance Benefits of Hosting Major Sporting Events’ [online]. Available at www.uksport.gov.uk/docLib/what-we-do/…/Home-Advantage.pdf

‘Super-human’ athletes are at risk from the post-Olympic blues – here’s why

Karen Howells, The Open University

As nations all over the world welcome their Olympic athletes home, many of us will take a moment to reflect on the whirlwind of psychological pressure, physical strain, elation and disappointment, which they have just experienced. But whether they’re revelling in the glory of hard-won medals, or recovering from heartbreaking defeats, Olympic athletes won’t have long before our attention shifts to the next spectacle.

So what happens to elite athletes when their moment in the spotlight is over? Sadly, it seems likely that many could suffer a case of the post-Olympic blues. Research following the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics found that the return home can be accompanied by confusion, depression, anger, resentment, abandonment and emptiness. We have only to browse the media or peer into the lives of Olympic athletes through their autobiographies to appreciate that dark times await many of these seemingly super-human beings – irrespective of their successes or failures.

Anecdotal reports suggest that the post-Olympic blues are common, with many athletes finding the return to normality difficult to handle. Some even appear to develop symptoms that are in keeping with a diagnosis of depression.

While there’s no consensus in the research that the incidence of depression is any different for elite athletes, research has identified that the public perception of athletes as being mentally tough means that athletes can find it harder to speak out about their struggles.

Even so, the stories of depression following previous Olympics serve as a warning to those leaving Rio; Amanda Beard, Ian Thorpe, Allison Schmidt and McKayla Maroney have all disclosed their experiences of depression. Cassie Patten, bronze medallist in the ten kilometre open water swim at the Beijing 2008 games said:

In the year after the games, I felt lost. I got really depressed … I would come swimming and just sit on poolside and just cry. It was horrible, because I loved swimming.

The curse of celebrity

Previously known only to the staunchest of swimming fans, Adam Peaty is now a household name after 57.13 seconds of record-breaking speed. In this age of social media, celebrity is easy to come by: within seconds of success or failure, the result has been interpreted and reported, and a celebrity is born.

Oh what a feeling – but can it last?
PATRICK B. KRAEMER/EPA

The notion that athletes are “great” is widespread throughout mainstream media, and for a golden moment in time that would positively impact on athletes’ sense of worth and self-esteem. But within weeks – if not days – of returning home, the harsh realities of life as a professional sportsperson will return.

No longer will the athletes be celebrities, who are loved and instantly recognised by their adoring fans. Instead, they will be at the start of another four-year cycle of gruelling training and fierce competition, working toward that distant goal of qualifying for Tokyo 2020.

The impact of this return to the daily grind on elite athletes has not been explored in depth. But it is likely that there is some negative impact on self-worth that may well contribute to the development of mental health issues.

The athletic identity

Issues surrounding identity – that is, someone’s sense of who they are – can also contribute to the likelihood of depression occurring, especially for those who are transitioning out of sport. Olympians whose identity as athletes to the exclusion of other roles may be at the greatest risk. For athletes who are used to measuring their success and worth in terms of their speed, strength and stamina, it can be very difficult to find fulfilment in other domains.

In an interview with NBC, US swimmer Michael Phelps spoke of his debilitating experiences with depression. Following London 2012, he said: “I thought of myself as just a swimmer, and nobody else.”

Phelps’ experiences highlight how important it is for all elite athletes – even those for whom sport remains their number one priority – to prepare for futures after their sporting careers.

Looking forwards

Sport psychologists and coaches stress the importance of setting process, performance and outcome goals in the years before the Olympic Games. Research has shown that the setting of goals can provide focus and markers of progress, as well as serving to maintain self-esteem and promote resilience throughout the difficult training schedules.

But when the Olympics are over, those goals become irrelevant. Accordingly, many athletes lose focus, feel lost and lack direction. As London 2012 gold medallist Victoria Pendleton stated:

You have all this build-up for one day, and when it’s over, it’s: ‘Oh, is that it?’ You’re relieved but kind of sad and numb. It’s over … people think it’s hard when you lose, but it’s almost easier to come second because you have something to aim for when you finish. When you win, you suddenly feel lost.

So irrespective of success or failure, it is vital that athletes re-evaluate their post-Olympic lives, and set new goals – whether they are remaining in sport or not.

As the public divert their attention to other events, and national sporting organisations shift their focus to the next four years, it is important that coaches and teams spend some time focusing on returning athletes, to address the negative impacts of sudden celebrity and dominant athletic identity. At the earliest opportunity, athletes need to form new goals, to move forwards into post-Olympic life.

Karen Howells, Lecturer in Sport and Fitness, The Open University

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.

Under Pressure again: Can the England team bring football home?

By Candice Lingam-Willgoss

Tonight sees England’s first fixture of this year’s UEFA Euro 2016. Roll back 2 years and 2014 saw the country gearing up for the biggest event in the football calendar, the World Cup. The 2014 World Cup saw huge amounts of pressure and expectation placed on Hodgson’s 23 man England squad. This pressure and expectation came from representing their country, the public and their manager who openly stated before the tournament that he felt he had a winning squad. Roll forward to 2016 and exactly 50 years since England’s iconic 1966 World Cup win, could this finally be England’s chance to shine?

So what could make the difference? Perhaps remarkably England still have Hodgson at the helm, although often following a poor tournament result the first person to go is the coach/manager. Just look at Stuart Lancaster’s departure following England’s disastrous Rugby World Cup performance of 2015 and football is often managed in the same unforgiving way. However, despite a contract due to run till after the France based tournament it seems that this isn’t the only reason Hodgson is still in place. He not only has the backing of the FA with Greg Dyke openly saying they would back Hodgson but also he appears respected and supported by his players, ‘we are proud to play for Roy Hodgson. He’s a great Manager.’ Match this with the fact that the team have some phenomenally talented players.  Where the 2014 World Cup squad could have been deemed a young squad, short on tournament experience, four years down the line a stronger team is most definitely evident with some new superstars emerging. Vardy has recently been termed ‘the most electric attacker in England’ with Kane called the ‘unconventional superstar’ and these are two players who were instrumental in stirring a comeback from 2-0 down to win 3-2 against Germany in March . Finally much has been made of new kid on the block Dele Alli, Hodgson himself has been quoted as saying he can do  ‘anything in midfield’. He is a player who in the England vs Germany game played in March was billed  ‘potentially the best young English midfielder for a generation left even the arch-technocrats of Germany envious of his talent’.

So while the team is stable and highly promising this doesn’t take away from the fact that any international football event carries with it huge amounts of pressure which generates an increase in anxiety and stress.  These are terms commonly discussed within all spheres of sport from school level to the global stage.  The competitive environment is designed to elevate the arousal levels of not just the players but the fans as well. Anxiety at its most basic level can lead to co-ordination difficulties, and problems with attention to detail, all of which can prove debilitating to performance. The need for the athletes to control their emotions will be greater than ever as the team will have something to prove following their early 2014 tournament exit.

However, with some solid performances behind the team in recent months and players who have faced some highly pressurized situations within the domestic game there is a hope that the team as a whole will be able to manage their anxiety and cope with the unique pressure that international events generate. Hodgson’s 2016 team is a stronger, more resilient and more experienced squad that the one that lost out in 2014 and one can surmise that such a significant defeat will have made them even more determined to lay to rest the ghosts of the last 50 years.

The psychology behind women footballers’ remarkable resilience

By Helen Owton

On Saturday night, England played a phenomenal game to beat Germany for the bronze medal at the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2015. Members of the team played with confidence, but the odds were psychologically against them after suffering such a cruel defeat to Japan earlier in the week, never mind the fact that they had never beaten Germany before.

In psychological terms, resilience is a process that involves coping with challenges and experiences of significant adversity in different contexts. This evolves into particularly individual ways of viewing of the world.

The American Psychological Association defines resilience as:

The process of adapting well in the face of adversity, trauma, tragedy, threats, or even significant sources of stress – such as family and relationship problems, serious health problems, or workplace and financial stressors. It means ‘bouncing back’ from difficult experiences.

In a group context, adapting to unpleasant experiences (for example, losing a game from an own goal in the dying minutes) is central to performing well in a team.

With this in mind, let’s look at the resilience of the England players.

Fara Williams grew up on an estate in Battersea, had a difficult upbringing and was homeless for seven years from the age of 17, while playing for England.
Karen Carney came back from injury, depression and self-harm. Fran Kirby has spoken honestly about her struggle to come to terms with her mother’s death, her battle against depression and her fierce return to Reading, scoring 33 goals in her first season back.

Katie Chapman is a mother of two, Casey Stoney came out in 2014 and suffered homophobic abuse on social media. At 26, Claire Rafferty suffered three anterior cruciate ligament ruptures and also works as an analyst for Deutsche Bank. Each of these journeys is personal, but a combination of factors contribute to team resilience.

Many studies show that the primary factor in resilience is having caring and supportive relationships within and outside the family that offer encouragement and reassurance. There is no doubt that it is possible for this to be found in a sporting team environment.

Together the team showed perseverance and trust in the ability of individuals, but also in their team’s ability and in the ability of the group of coaches, physiotherapists and psychologists.

Overcoming a cruel defeat

It is part of sport for athletes to make mistakes, as Laura Bassett did in scoring the own goal at the end of the semi-final against Japan. But many argue that resilience is key to overcoming mistakes in sport. A player who is not resilient will tend to mull over the mistake and it will affect their performance. A resilient player will use of the mistake as an opportunity to learn.

Everyone appeared to be heartbroken after the cruel ending of the semi-final game against Japan, but the team rallied round Bassett to bolster her resilience.

After the game, coach Mark Sampson said: “It’s ok to cry”. Being permitted to experience strong emotions (as well as recognising when you may need to avoid experiencing them) is important in recovering from an upsetting experience.

It was evident from the start that captain Steph Houghton was going to play her part in picking up the team to play formidably against Germany. Laura Bassett reflected on how hard it will be to move on from her own-goal heartache, but she captured the nation again by opening up, facing this head on and getting back on the pitch.

Teaching athletes to acknowledge, review and strategise after a defeat allows them to manage the emotional response which comes with making mistakes. Often, the most successful are those who have failed the most and after 21 attempts to beat Germany, it was England’s moment to finally claim victory.

The Conversation

Helen Owton is Lecturer in Sport & Fitness at The Open University.

This article was originally published on The Conversation.
Read the original article.