Stress Management

What Stress Management covers

Stress Management is examined in Component 02, Psychological factors affecting performance. It covers stress and stressors in sport, self-talk, thought stopping and rational thinking, mental rehearsal, imagery, goal setting and mindfulness and relaxation, biofeedback, centring and breathing control.

The 4 subtopics

Each one has its own page.

• Stress and stressors in sportStress, stressors, eustress and distress, competition, conflict, frustration, climate, spectators and injury as stressors, cognitive and somatic effects of stress, and cognitive and somatic management techniques.Open →
• Self-talk, thought stopping and rational thinkingPositive self-talk for a tennis server, instructional and motivational self-talk, negative thought stopping for a golfer, rational thinking and irrational thoughts, practising in training, and suiting a worrier.Open →
• Mental rehearsal, imagery, goal setting and mindfulnessMental rehearsal and the nervous system, internal, external and kinaesthetic imagery, relaxation imagery, the injured performer and the high jumper, goal setting to lower stress, and mindfulness exercises.Open →
• Relaxation, biofeedback, centring and breathing controlProgressive muscular relaxation, biofeedback and its measures, centring, breathing control, the penalty taker's racing heart, the gymnast the night before a final, and somatic against cognitive techniques.Open →

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

Take Stress Management further

The same content, four other ways.

Commonly confused

Pairs that lose marks when they are blurred together.

• Eustress vs Distress

  Eustress: positive pressure that challenges and motivates. Distress: negative pressure that causes anxiety and harms performance.

• Stress vs Stressor

  Stress: the body's response to a demand placed on it. Stressor: a cause of pressure such as injury or conflict.

• Thought stopping vs Positive self-talk

  Thought stopping: interrupting an unhelpful idea the moment it appears with a trigger. Positive self-talk: encouraging phrases a performer repeats silently to themselves.

Questions from this topic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

1. 1

   Define stress.

   Model answer

   Stress is the body's response to a demand placed on it. Stress arises when the demand seems to exceed the performer's ability to cope.

2. 2

   Define the term stressor.

   Model answer

   A stressor is anything that causes stress. Stressors can come from competition, other people, the environment or the performer's own thoughts.

3. 3

   What is the difference between eustress and distress?

   Model answer

   Eustress is positive stress that challenges and motivates a performer. Distress is negative stress that causes anxiety and harms performance.

4. 4

   Why can eustress improve performance?

   Model answer

   Eustress raises arousal to a helpful level and sharpens focus. Some performers actively seek the challenge of a pressure situation.

5. 5

   How can competition itself cause stress?

   Model answer

   Competition brings the chance of failure in front of others. Important events such as finals raise the stakes further.

6. 6

   How can conflict cause stress in a team?

   Model answer

   Disagreement with teammates or the coach creates tension. Conflict can distract a performer from the task.

What is inside Levo

Six ways to work the same material.

Stress Management revision questions

What does Stress Management cover in OCR A-Level Physical Education?

4 subtopics: stress and stressors in sport, self-talk, thought stopping and rational thinking, mental rehearsal, imagery, goal setting and mindfulness and relaxation, biofeedback, centring and breathing control. Each one has its own page with questions and model answers.

How is Stress Management organised?

By the OCR H555 specification, subtopic by subtopic, so it matches the order you are taught it in.