Mental stress before judo competition. Detection and control

A few days before the start in important competitions, judokas start to anticipate the challenge of sport competition. When the start is closer, most of the competitors experience accumulation of stress. Depending on the mental stress, the body may send signals called somatic stress which makes the body release maximum energy. According to the majority of athletes and coaches, pre-start stress is a definitely negative phenomenon as it impairs the ability of optimal performance. Failures during competitions are often explained by excessive stress and the errors committed during the first fight as well as neglected opportunities and too low results for the competitor’s potential and the coach’s expectation are believed to be associated with stress. The adverse effects of pre-start stress result not only from excessive excitation, but also are due to negative emotions, from uncertainty and anxiety to even panic. This may result from a low self-esteem and overestimating the rival’s potential. In such cases, the competitor thinks before the fight how to avoid failure, at least at the beginning, instead of thinking positively and planning adequate tactics. Thus, we can see that the attitude to competition itself affects the competitor’s behaviour, in this case – taking optimum advantage of their potential, which does not guarantee success if the rival is better prepared (physically and technically). The so called negative thinking reduces the probability of success. This has been confirmed by the study of the mental state (moods) in competitors involved in various sport disciplines using Profile Mood State (POMS) questionnaire. POMS questionnaire is used to measure the intensity of several com ponents of general mood, including anger, tension, fatigue and depression. The first two components are believed to be positive and desirable. High intensity of these components suggests that the competitor will be positively motivated to fight, which will translate into offensive fighting style. The three remaining components define negative mood features, typical for fear, anxiety, pessimism and in extreme cases – for catastrophist attitudes. The prevalence of negative emotions over positive ones is responsible for excessive defensive and/or passive behaviour during the first fight. Passiveness, however, may also indicate fatigue at the end of one day event when the competitor was involved in several exhausting fights. While studying accumulating levels of positive stress, responsible for the increase in controlled aggressiveness and vigour, as well as negative stress which reduces the probability of success, one should consider not only the intensity of these factors, but also their time course. If the competitor becomes tense too early before the competition (2-3 days), the adverse physiological changes, e.g. decrease in blood testosterone level (in male competitors) contribute to the decrease in vigour, mood deterioration and the night sleep before the start is disturbed. Using POMS questionnaire for mood assessment in combat sports allows anticipating the fight result with high probability. It turned out that taekwondo [1] and karate [2] competitors with worse moods usually lost the fight. Other authors showed that using the somatic and mental anxiety question-