Question

Relaxation as a Coping Strategy:

College Swim Team

Introduction:

In February of this year, the captains of both the men's and women's swim teams at my college met with a sport psychologist with a request to help them deal with some of the problems that they were facing in the competitive environment. With very little time to the target meets of the season (6 weeks to conference and only 8 weeks to the NCAA meet), the project took on more of a "fix-it" approach than an educational approach.

Intervention:

A "trouble-shooting" meeting was set up so that the athletes could help prioritize their concerns. A simple strengths/weaknesses chart was filled out by each swimmer. From this list a list of perceived weaknesses were used to develop the focus of the program. The most frequently occurring weakness responses were:

a . Lack of Confidence
b . Fear of Failure
c . Inability to Relax

Following the initial meeting, an impromptu meeting was scheduled to help the athletes put their perceived weaknesses into perspective. At this time, the progressive implementation strategy was explained. The strategies were implemented every Sunday evening until the target meets (with each athlete received a paper fully explaining the strategy at each session). The strategy meetings consisted of:

I . Troubleshooting Meeting
2. Self-led Relaxation
3. Visualizing Success
4. Affirmation
5. Mastery Rehearsal and Mastery/Coping Tapes

Each session lasted from 1-11/2 hours and were well attended. After completion of the Conference Swim Championships, the athletes evaluated their performances and the
effectiveness of the program on their performances. Eleven participants completed a survey asking for responses based on a Likert scale. We also asked for responses to open-ended questions and for comments on each section.

Overview:

Troubleshooting: The Likert scale indicated a very strong positive response to the troubleshooting section. Most respondents agreed with the question regarding whether this portion aided in identifying weaknesses and focusing, with only one person disagreeing.
Relaxation: The relaxation portion showed similar positive responses. The athletes found the guided exercise to be the most helpful, but seven athletes were able to successfully utilize this strategy independently two or more times each week. The athletes had the most difficulty implementing the relaxation strategy during the meet situation.

Imagery: Responses were also favorable for the imagery portion of the project, illustrating to the athletes and us that we all have the ability to visualize. The guided exercise was once again the most helpful section. The response to the independent usage was moderate. Visualization requires practice, and the time was limited for implementation, therefore, we assumed that the swimmers did not feel as comfortable using this strategy on their own. We inquired about the type of situation the athletes visualized. Ten respondents visualized their event at race pace. Many also used a combination of visualizing different speeds and particular points of their event as well as the total performance. Seven athletes visualized one or more times each week. Five utilized imagery daily or nearly every day.

Affirmation: The respondents felt that this section was very important. The written exercise to identify low confidence areas appeared to have been very helpful. Affirmation is a very personal tool and, as a result, is very subjective. The Likert scale indicated a positive response overall. However, the athletes felt that setting their own strategies was more helpful than the written exercise we provided. All respondents felt the affirmation exercises had a positive effect outside of swimming. The methods of positive affirmation most commonly used were talking to oneself and signs and notes in visible places. One respondent also commented that "Believing" was an important aspect of affirmation.

Mental Rehearsal and Coping Scripts: Most respondents felt that the guidelines we provided were helpful, although there were three requests for more detailed instructions and possibly samples of tapes and scripts. The responses to questions based on the Likert scale were more widely distributed than those for the other sections. It is our belief that the more moderate positive feedback is due to the lack of time necessary to become comfortable with the tapes.

The athletes concentrated on the areas of imagery most frequently. Affirmation and relaxation were commonly combined with imagery or used alone. One comment identifies an important feature of mental arousal, "And I was nervous, but was 'OK' about it." Arousal is necessary for performance as long as it is under control. Mental Rehearsal and Coping tapes help build the confidence necessary to attain this control.

Nine respondents answered affirmatively when asked whether our method of mental training was effective in helping to achieve their goals. One respondent answered negatively, and one was unsure. One swimmer responded that simply making the script and tape had a strong effect on her concentration level and performance, even though she only listened to the tape two or three times.
We also inquired as to how each respondent felt the program was effective. Relaxation, focus, and positive feelings helped the respondents believe they were capable. The aspects of the program found to be most helpful were the affirmation and relaxation phases. One respondent found the affirmation "extremely helpful." One respondent felt that the troubleshooting session was useless, but the overall response to this was positive.

When we asked if the athletes would recommend the program to another coach or athlete, eight participants responded positively. Comments included the assertion that the athlete must wholeheartedly believe in the method of it to work. Another felt that "even with limited involvement the method works." Five felt the program would be beneficial to sports other than swimming, cross-country and baseball specifically. Other comments included feelings of being rushed throughout the whole process, with which we fully agree. The program should be initiated during the first weeks of the season. Another respondent had difficulty with every aspect of the program and didn't feel it was especially helpful other than making him slightly more relaxed.

Overall, the responses to the program were positive. Very few respondents did not agree that the methods helped to some extent. The comments and open responses were positive and helpful. The comments expressing problems with the athlete or the program were enlightening and were taken into consideration when recommending changes for future use of the program.

(3) The swimmers in the case study above found it difficult to practice the relaxation during the actual swim meet. The four relaxation methods discussed in our text takes hours and weeks to master. How then could any of these methods be utilized by an athlete who must be able to bring on the relaxation response in a matter of minutes or even seconds? Be sure to support your opinion with research in the field.

Answer 1

Relaxation is of paramount importance to any athlete striving for peak performance. Here are a few ways the above mentioned four relaxation methods can be utilized by an athlete who needs to get relaxed in a matter of minutes or even seconds:

1. Guided meditations (including guided visualization): Meditation can eliminate stress and replace it with inner peace. It’s one of the best tools we have to balance our emotions, deal with physical and psychological distress, and promote peace in the present moment. But it can be tough to meditate without a teacher or guide, especially in a shorter time frame. Enter guided meditations. Meditating on our own requires time and effort, while guided meditations literally walk us through a meditation and help us find a calm and peaceful state—one step at a time.

2. Visualizations: As mentioned in the above methods, we can capitalize on the power of our imagination. We can close our eyes and picture a peaceful place or a happy event from our past. We can use all of our senses to create a vivid picture, and imagine stress flowing away from our body. In times of stress, particularly when confidence diminishes, it helps to visualize success. Athletes can spend few moments imaging themselves achieving success. Then when it comes time to compete, they can recall their stored images to calm their nerves.

3. Mantra meditations: A mantra is a syllable, word, or phrase continuously repeated during meditation. Mantras can be repeated, chanted, or whispered in the mind. Most mantra meditation techniques have two main components: mindfulness meditation and mantra recitation or chanting.

4. Recording and listening to affirmations: Affirmations can be recorded and listened to again and again or they can be simply accessed online; short recordings lasting only for a few minutes can be used for quick mental boosts. The words composing the affirmation, automatically and involuntarily, conjure up related mental images into the mind, which could inspire, energize and motivate. Repeating affirmations, and the consequent mental images, affect the subconscious mind, which in turn, influences the behavior, habits, actions, and reactions.

5. Using keywords: Another relaxation technique for lowering intensity is to use soothing keywords, such as calm, easy, and relax. These words act as reminders of what the athletes need to do with their intensity to perform their best.

6. Deep breathing: When we experience over-intensity, one of the first things that's disturbed is our breathing. It becomes short and irregular and we don't get the oxygen our body needs to perform its best. Hence, the most basic way to lower our intensity is to take control of our breathing again by taking slow, deep breaths.

7. Smiling: When we smile, it communicates to our mind that we're happy and life is good. There has been some interesting research looking at the effects of smiling on our brain chemistry. What these studies have found is that when we smile, it releases brain chemicals called endorphins which have an actual physiologically relaxing effect.