Page 15 - AASP Summer 2014 Newsletter

This mental simulation can also help athletes to study how their decision-

making skills change when their emotions change, all with the purpose of

increased awareness and management of anger for peak performance.

label their emotions. Paying attention to how the body physically can be utilized. Further, cognitive restructuring, challenging, and

feels when certain emotions are felt can foster awareness. Even
correcting hostile attributions, prediction of consequences, and

further, athletes should be taught to recognize what direct and other cognitive behavioral approaches can be offered with moral

indirect stimuli trigger their anger, long before they are feeling the development exercises to assist athletes in illing their anger

emotions or their cognitive interpretations of those triggers. An management toolbox.

exploration of “what makes you angry?” will promote this process.

Lastly, athletes should be taught to recognize their “explosion
All in all, the bulk of the anger work in sport psychology has
threshold,” the point at which self-control diminishes (Abrams,

been predominantly descriptive. Recent studies on anger in
2010) and develop the mental skills to prevent their anger from
sports, utilizing newer instruments, such as the State-Trait Anger
getting to that point.
Expression Inventory-2 (STAXI-2), have started the process of

increasing our understanding of the relationship between anger

The second key lies within teaching mental skills with speciic and athletes. Finally, Abrams (2010) laid out a “how to” program

regard to anger management. Very useful sport psychology for modulating anger in sports. The replication of this work, as

interventions in anger management lie with relaxation techniques.
well as expanding and reining it, is a task that clearly merits

Muscle-to-mind diaphragmatic breathing and progressive muscle attention, given the near-daily coverage of athlete transgressions

relaxation decrease angry thoughts before they escalate to the that captures the sports headlines. Ultimately, anger in the ield of

explosion threshold. Much value also lies in the use of imagery. sport psychology is a bountiful vanguard for future research and

Imagery can be used to replicate anger levels as well as toward applied practice.

enhancing intensity for contact-collision sports for which increased

strength and pain tolerance would be valuable. Conversely, References:

simple soothing imagery could be taught to help athletes reduce Abrams, M. (2010) Anger management in sport: Understanding and controlling violence
in athletes. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.
their anger levels. Even more management-useful, athletes can

practice managing emotions by recreating a trigger event mentally Bartlett, M. & Abrams, M. (2012). Advancing the assessment of anger in sports: Where

and rehearsing anger management skills within the visualization. can we ind the angriest athletes? Symposium presented at the 2012 Annual Conference

This mental simulation can also help athletes to study how their of the Association for Applied Sport Psychology, Atlanta, GA.

Bartlett, M., Abrams, M., & Byrd, M. (2011). Advancing the assessment of anger in
decision-making skills change when their emotions change, all
sports: Norming the STAXI-2 for college athletes. Symposium presented at the 2011
with the purpose of increased awareness and management of
Annual Conference of the Association for Applied Sport Psychology, Honolulu, HI.
anger for peak performance. Music, which has powerful mood-

altering impact (both for amplifying and quelling emotion levels),

AASP Newsletter // Summer 2014 // Anger In Sport: The Good, The Bad, and the Useful

15
IN THIS ISSUE
VISIT US ONLINE:
WWW.APPLIEDSPORTPSYCH.ORG