Stress, Coping, and Emotions on the World Stage: The Experience of Participating in a Major Soccer Tournament Penalty Shootout

Abstract

This file was dowloaded from the institutional repository Brage NIH -brage.bibsys.no/nih Jordet, G., Elferink-Gemser, M. (2012 The experience of participating in a major soccer tournament penalty shootout STRESS, COPING, AND EMOTIONS IN SOCCER 2 AbstractThis study was designed to capture the first-hand experiences of stressors, coping, and emotions that elite professional soccer players have during a major soccer penalty shootout. Eight players who each took part in an important European Championships penalty shootout were interviewed. The results showed that the experience of stressors, coping, and emotions changed extensively throughout the event. Moreover, the participants experienced a series of different stressors, some of which were specific to the penalty shootout, and they employed a variety of coping strategies. Anxiety was the most common emotion. Practitioners can use these results to help design valid simulation protocols.

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“…Nicholls et al, 2012). In a study on soccer players, Jordet and Elferink-Gemser (2011) reported that AVC strategies (i.e. looking away and pretending to be normal) can be effective in dealing with the problem in the short term.…”

On winning the “lottery”: psychological preparation for football penalty shoot-outs

“…The walk to the penalty spot: During this period players generally report an increase in intrusive thoughts and consequent disruptions in concentration (Jordet and Elferink-Gemser, 2012). Therefore it is important that players remain focused on their performance and do not allow themselves to be distracted by worrying thoughts or negative emotions.…”

“…To facilitate this process players and coaching staff need to be educated regarding the typical stressors and emotions experienced by penalty takers in shootouts scenarios. Such information will not only help to normalise the emotional distress players are likely to experience, but it can also be used to create more realistic training regimes that will help to prepare players to cope with the thoughts and emotions that they are likely to experience during the shootout (Jordet and Elferink-Gemser, 2012). To supplement this, players should be made aware of behaviours linked to outcome success in penalty shootouts and taught how to incorporate these behaviours into a pre-performance routine (see below).…”

“…Organisation: Not knowing who is going to take the penalties and the kicking order of these takers is a major stressor for players immediately prior to taking part in the shootout (Jordet and Elferink-Gemser, 2012). Therefore coaches should have a predetermined list of each penalty taker together with a specific running order for all 11 players.…”

“…Prior to the shootout commencing: The interval between when extra time ends and the shootout begins is a critical period when players report the highest amount of stressors (often linked to feelings of uncertainty); report a lack of perceived psychological support; and an absence of communication (Jordet and Elferink-Gemser, 2012). Hopefully, by having a predetermined kicking order that staff and players are familiar with will help to decrease the uncertainty that is often rife during this period, which may then have positive effect on the anxiety symptoms experienced.…”