kines 452

The Stress Process starts with stimuli which are either environmental or competitive in the situation. An example of this would be a basketball player gets fouled with 2 seconds left and if he makes both free throws his team wins the game. The second step is Appraisal of the situation which occurs in two levels Primary and Secondary. Primary would be if the athlete as something personal at stake in the situation and Secondary is when the athlete evaluates their coping resources to deal with this situation. For example in the basketball situation, the athlete knows that the game is on the like so that is his primary appraisal, and he knows he can make the free throws therefor he knows he can cope with the situation, that is his secondary appraisal. If this athlete exhibits this form of appraisal it could lead to balance or no stress response but if the athlete has doubts or knows he can’t cope it would lead to the third stage in the stress process which is a response. This is when distress occurs or there is an anxiety response. For example the athlete at the free throw line experiences anxiety and therefor misses his free throws losing the game for his team. The importance of appraisal and coping in this model is that the way you appraise and know you can cope with a situation decides whether or not you will have a stress response or no stress response, or distress and eustress. The balance between the stressful nature of a competitive situation and the athletes perceived ability to cope with the situation means that an athlete will exhibit no stress response if he is confident with his abilities and knows that he can cope with the outcome of the situation whether it be good or bad.