Emotional approaches
Below are approaches used to develop emotional factors.
- deep breathing
- restorative practices
- self talk / the 3 Rs (recognise, regroup, refocus)
Deep breathing
Deep breathing is one of the most used approaches amongst athletes. It is used to help control a range of emotions including anger and fear.
Deep breathing can be used at home and in the performance environment. It should initially be carried out at home on your own with no distractions:
- Start by breathing in through your nose for 4 seconds.
- At the top of this breath, you hold it for 2 seconds.
- Then breathe out through your mouth for 4 seconds.
- Repeat this 4 more times if you were doing 5 reps.
It is progressed by reducing the number of breaths taken before you feel in control, so it becomes realistic to the short time frames available during matches.
Below are benefits and limitations of deep breathing.
| Benefits | Limitations |
| Requires no equipment so you can really focus on carrying out the approach rather than setting things up. | Game situations can be very fast paced and you may struggle to use it effectively in such a short space of time. |
| Elite level athletes use it and so you are more willing to trust it. | |
| Can use it both at home and in game situations which helps at beginner and more advanced stages. |
| Benefits | Requires no equipment so you can really focus on carrying out the approach rather than setting things up. |
|---|---|
| Limitations | Game situations can be very fast paced and you may struggle to use it effectively in such a short space of time. |
| Benefits | Elite level athletes use it and so you are more willing to trust it. |
|---|---|
| Limitations |
| Benefits | Can use it both at home and in game situations which helps at beginner and more advanced stages. |
|---|---|
| Limitations |
Let's now deconstruct deep breathing and break it down into smaller parts.
In doing this, we are:
- first identifying an important part in the process
- then showing why this part is important in making the process work
- Complete deep breathing with all devices (eg your mobile phone) turned off, so you can fully concentrate when carrying it out. This will ensure you do not get distracted and so this decreases the time you take to master the approach.
- First practise the deep breathing approach at home on your own so you avoid getting embarrassed in front of others. This will ensure you take the approach seriously, which will help you master it.
- Once you have mastered deep breathing on its own, tense your muscles when breathing in and relax them when breathing out. This will help you get rid of any somatic anxietyThe physical symptoms of anxiety. and tension in your body just before performing, which will ensure your movements are smooth and fluid.