How To Maximize Performance At Any Age
Arousal Regulation Techniques In Track And Field

By Kathryn Zackowitz, ATC

    Zackowitz, a certified athletic trainer now in a graduate program at the University of South Carolina, found research in sports such as shooting and swimming that can be applied to track & field athletes, particularly in the areas of biofeedback and autogenic training-all applicable to developing an athlete's mental preparation routine.

    Nerves can affect performance in everything from a test to a job interview to athletic performance. As we mature most people become better at handling these stressors and become less affected, but is the passage of time the only thing that will allow a person to handle stress better?     There are many techniques in dealing with stressful situations, and many of them are specifically directed toward athletic competition. Track and field, like all other individual sports, requires a completely different preparation for competition than sports such as football or basketball. Instead of a team doing a cheer together and psyching themselves up as a large group, each athlete must get him or herself mentally prepared to race, jump or throw. The butterflies must be quelled yet the adrenaline still rushes through the muscles. It's a balancing act between being nervous and not being excited enough to compete at a personal best.
    Although track and field still is something of a team sport and the team's collective score is what wins championships, the events are staggered throughout the day and each event lends itself to its own unique ideal arousal level. Sport competition can generate much anxiety and worry, which in turn can affect physiological and thought processes so dramatically that performance often deteriorates (Williams & Harris, 2006). So how do we teach our runners, throwers, and jumpers how to reach the personal ideal level for themselves?

AROUSAL AND PERFORMANCE  MODELS

    Gould and Udry (1994) identified five major models to describe the relationship between arousal and performance. The first and most widely known is the inverted U hypothesis. In this model, there is a direct relationship between arousal and performance. Performance increases linearly until an optimal level of arousal is reached. At this point there is a temporary plateau in performance and, if arousal continues to rise, there is a dropoff in performance. This would be a state of over arousal. An athlete is looking to achieve this plateau, also sometimes called "flow state" or being in "the zone" (Singer, 2002).
    A second popular model of arousal and performance is the catastrophe model. This model is very similar to the inverted U hypothesis except that it is a 3 dimensional model that also considers cognitive anxiety. As cognitive anxiety rises, the drop off sustained by over arousal becomes more and more drastic (Gould & Udry, 1994). This model seems applicable to track and field, since not only is arousal level important, but anxiety really does make or break a performance because of its effect on technique. A breakdown in technique will destroy an otherwise successful performance.

PHYSIOLOGICAL MEASURES

    How can we measure arousal levels in order to do this research and come up with ways to help our athletes? There are several physiological measures used including generalized bodily activation or arousal state, biochemical measures such as epinephrine or norepinephrine in the blood as well as a variety of corticosteroids associated with stress, and questionnaires distributed to the athlete immediately before or after competition (Landers, & Arent, 2006).
    Physiological measures can be recorded using heart rate monitors, EEG, EMG equipment that measures muscle activation, skin temperature or sweat rate. Biochemical measures can be made through blood samples or urine, although it may be argued that urine would have a delayed output, whereas blood concentrations would be accurate at the time the sample is taken. Finally, some of the major questionnaires used include the Activation-Deactivation Adjective Checklist and the Somatic Perception Question (Landers & Arent, 2006).

ACHIEVING THE QUIET MIND

     Is there one ideal mental state for all track and field athletes to strive for? Lawton et al. (1998) stated that they believed that there are mental states that distinguish individual athletes from one another and distinguish the performances of a single athlete at different times. Because the hammer throw is so different from the steeplechase and the high jump varies from the 100m hurdles or 4x400 meter relay, each individual event requires a different ideal emotional state.
    There is one common moment, however, and that is the moment before it begins. A javelin thrower pauses at the head of the runway before the. throw and this can be compared to the moment the sprinter holds still in the blocks before exploding when the gun fires. Although not much published research has focused on these exact situations, much research has been done with skilled marksmen. The calm they strive for before pulling the trigger can be compared to the calm before the gun goes off at the start of the race or as you walk into the circle before a throw.
    Research on these skilled marksmen by Hatfield, Landers, and Ray (1984) has shown that the brain wave activity of these shoot­ers can be accurately measured by use of an EEG. These EEG results showed that there is an initial increase, flowed by a decrease in left-brain activity as the shooter settled in for a shot. This is signifi­cant because not only is anxiety is thought to be a left-brained phenomenon, but the left hemisphere is also responsible for self-instruction and covert verbalizations. This would suggest that after an initial thought pattern reviewing the goals of the performance, these skilled marksmen are able to quiet these voices and relax before taking a successful shot.
    This knowledge can be applied to track and field by teaching ath­letes to take a moment and think about coaching cues before taking the "set" position, and then learn­ing to quiet their mind and clear their head. For the throws, this would equate to mentally rehears­ing the throw before stepping in the circle, clearing the mind, and executing the throw.
    Williams and Harris (2006) present a skill called momentary relaxation that may help achieve this quiet mind immediately prior to competition. They suggest that the more anxious an athlete is, the longer the moment of relaxation should be. Having the athlete focus on breathing, such as a rhythmic breathing technique where the athlete breathes in for a count of 4, holds it for a count of 4, exhales for a count of 4, and then pauses for 4, is useful for achieving this moment of relaxation. Also, focusing on a key word, such as "calm" or "peace" can be helpful. The word should be very individualized to the athlete and the event. This also allows the athlete to take ownership of the relaxation.

PSYCHING UP

    Not every athlete needs to calm him or herself down for competi­tion, however. Although the major­ity of athletes suffer from over­whelming anxiety and have to calm themselves down, there is a large group of athletes who have trouble getting themselves "psyched up"
for competition. Gould and Udry (1994) found that the research done in this area has focused on identifying and describing mental preparation methods used by athletes and whether these techniques could enhance performance in a laboratory setting. Unfortunately for track and field athletes, these techniques were not found to be effective on motor tasks requiring more skill and timing.
    Some arousal techniques that may be effective in track and field involve breathing, imagery, and energizing verbal cues (Williams & Harris, 2006). Have an athlete increase the rate of breathing and imagine themselves as machines capable of generating energy at will. Have him picture the feeling of crossing the finish line or achieving that maximal jump. Words such as explode, charge, psych up, and go are good cues as well (Williams & Harris, 2006).
    Other things that Williams found may be effective include drawing energy from the environ­ment, such as a cheering crowd or the smell of the rubber from the track or listening to music to get ready. Finally, if the athlete is in need of an increase of arousal due to fatigue, distraction can be a great way to deal with it (Williams & Harris, 2006). Having the athlete focus on what is happening and about to happen in the competition can distract them from the exhaustion or fatigue they are experiencing.

BIOFEEDBACK

    For the athlete to compete at his best, he must learn how to repeat­edly achieve the ideal emotional state. Singer (2002) theorized that the ability to self-regulate arousal level, expectations and confidence, and attention immediately prior to and during performance may be as critical as becoming skilled in carrying out the act itself. One method of making a person more aware of his physiological state is with the use of biofeedback. Biofeedback involves the use of instrumenta­tion that provides individuals with information not ordinarily available to them about their physiological states (Gould & Udry, 1994). This information has been used to reduce anxiety, increase muscle strength, reduce pain and fatigue, increase flexibility, and regulate heart rate (Bar-Eli, et al., 2002). In track and field, biofeedback devices such as heart rate monitors are routinely used to achieve optimal results during workouts. The use of biofeedback during training sessions to regulate emotional and mental states, however, is new.
    All the research done with biofeedback and mental training in sport, for the most part, has focused on adults. However, most track and field athletes begin running during childhood. With the growth of youth track programs in the United States, the number of youth athletes competing should only continue to grow. There is newer research now being published that supports the idea that these mental training techniques are just as effective with youths. Bar-Eli, Dreshman, Blumenstein, and Weinstein (2002) used biofeedback and mental train­ing with competitive swimmers between the ages of 11 and 14. They adapted the techniques to be age appropriate, and the results were remarkable. Considering the many parallels between swimming and track and field, including the variation in length of events and importance of technique as well as the individual nature of a team sport, the crossover implication of this study is very promising.
    Biofeedback in track and field doesn't need to require expensive EEG equipment or sweat/tempera­ture monitors. Heart rate monitors, as mentioned earlier, can be used to help the athlete recognize arousal levels. They can be used in con­junction with breathing techniques, like those discussed earlier. Other breathing techniques that can in­duce relaxation include sighing with exhalation, where you breathe in slowly and then exhale through the mouth, letting out a small sigh or concentration breathing, where the athlete focuses only on breath­ing, and nothing else. If thoughts wander, the athlete is instructed to consciously bring all thoughts back to breathing as soon as a deviation is noticed (Williams & Harris, 2006).
    Blumenstein, et al. (1995) looked specifically at the effect of breathing patterns on the regulation of mental states and biofeedback techniques and found that changes in breathing pattern were within the same realm as the changes in heart rate and other measurable biological reactions. This is validation in the power of respiratory regulation in arousal regulation.
    Another biofeedback device that is quite inexpensive is a video camera. Bar-Eli, et al. (2002) used a video camera to analyze swimming strokes to make athletes more aware of what they needed to focus on and help make visu­alizations more vivid. Visualizing competitions can reduce cognitive anxiety which can help improve performance, as the catastrophe model (Gould & Udry, 1994) showed earlier. Steven Ungerlieder (1996) stresses the importance of becoming aware of the competitive environment before competitions. A video camera can be used to walk through the cross country course or around the track, circle, or runway so that even when a competition is far away from the regular practice environ­ment, the athlete can desensitize himself to the environment and visualize competing in that environ­ment. This reduction in fear of the unknown can make all the difference between a successful performance and choking.

COMBINING WITH AUTOGENIC TRAINING

    Blumenstein, et al. (1995) found that the combination of biofeedback with autogenic training is one of the most effective relaxation techniques in terms of well-being and performance. Autogenic training is a technique consisting of a series of exercises designed to produce warmth and heaviness (Williams & Harris, 2006). It is a type of self hypnosis where you progressively focus on each body part feeling very heavy. Each body part is repeated six times. The next stage involves telling yourself you are at peace or quiet once, and then feeling each body part as very warm six times. Autogenic training was developed by Johannes Schultz in Germany in the early 1930's and has been used extensively with European athletes (Williams & Harris, 2006).

PREPARATION ROUTINES

    While this type of relaxation may not be appropriate immediately prior to competition or even during the event itself, it can be used as part of warming up or even during transportation to the meet or in bed the night before. This autogenic training can be used to get into a highly relaxed state before going into visualizations of the performance which could be considered ideal. In this highly relaxed state, the body can begin to equate peak performance with relaxation.
    While visualization and breathing techniques as well as biofeedback are all useful tools, in order to routinely achieve a state of optimal emotional arousal, many athletes are turning to pre-participation routines used before both practices as well as competitions. Ungerlieder (1996) stresses the importance of following a prerace ritual. These mental preparation routines are defined by Gould and Udry (1994) as systematic, routinized patterns of physical actions and preplanned sequences of thoughts and arousal related clues.
    Gould and Udry (1994) also suggest that these routines facilitate performance by helping athletes divert their attention from task irrelevant to task-relevant thoughts and by assisting them in achieving optimal arousal levels. These routines can consist of eating a specific breakfast, tying shoes in a specific pattern, going through a specific pattern of stretching exercises, and even reviewing specific key words prior to competing or practicing. If an athlete routinely experiences excessive anxiety, then incorporating some of the relaxation techniques discussed earlier could be an essential part of the mental preparation routine.
    Using all these tools presented here, as well as others, athletes should be encouraged to develop their own mental preparation rou­tine which helps them achieve their potential. As a coach or parent, we can help guide them by providing age and ability appropriate cues. It is useless to try and tell a five year old to focus on visualizing himself running with perfect technique as he runs around the curve. Someone that age would be much better suited for a few deep breaths and being reminded to really have fun and show off how hard they have trained. A teenage athlete who seems to have a large drop off between times in practice and times in competition may benefit more from relaxation techniques like the autogenic training explained above or concentrating on breathing. By paying attention to the individual needs of each person, we can be the best coaches as well as their number one fan.
    When developing your own mental preparation routine, the most essential cue is to really listen to your personal needs. Begin keeping a training journal where you not only record workouts and weather conditions, but also meals and emotional states. Look back at this training journal and try to identify commonalities in days you had successful performances and try to emulate that. Not everyone has access to great coaching, so biofeedback techniques such as a video camera or heart rate monitor can be especially useful in these situations. Experiment and find your own unique optimal arousal level, and then figure out how to recreate it. With these cues, you can give yourself every opportunity to achieve your maximum potential in performance.

FROM TRACK COACH 183