Anchoring Aggression
Anchoring Aggression
How to control aggression in sports - by Daniel Ferguson
In sports, stakes can be high and this can lead to aggressive outbursts and behaviours. Aggression in sports involves any physical or verbal act which can cause harm to the opponents or gains an advantage over them. Many athletes know what its like to feel a build up of frustration during a competition. Are the referee's decisions going against their team? Have the opponents been playing dirty? Or is it just not their day that day? There are multiple sources of aggression, and when in competition, emotions are intense and anger can get the better of them.
Healthy vs unhealthy aggression
There are two types of aggression. Imagine a footballer purposely over-doing a tackle and fouling their opponent. This would be known as hostile aggression: aggressive behaviour that's driven by anger and frustration, causing harm to the opponent. Now picture a tennis player using their anger to hit a really powerful serve which gets them an ace - they win the point. This would be instrumental aggression: where aggression is used to achieve a goal or objective.
Hostile aggression can be seen as unhealthy aggression: it can cause an inability to focus, create poor form and shows a lack of sportsmanship. Whereas, instrumental aggression can be seen as healthy aggression: gaining an advantage for yourself or team, helping the crowd become alive and boosting confidence within yourself or a team. It's important to differentiate between the two and understand what looks healthy and what isn't. Helping performance, rather than hindering it: as allowing aggression to get the better of you can be dangerous.
An example seen in sport of aggression being dangerous is when footballer Di Canio famously pushed the referee and was given an 11 match ban.
Where does aggression come from?
Especially when competing, frustration can build up. Visualise yourself as a forward in football. You've recently been in poor form, everything you touch isn't quite turning to gold, your missing chance after chance and the opposition's defence are doing everything in their power to wind you up. You would be frustrated right?
It's known as the frustration-aggression theory: where aggression is due to frustration. A build up frustration results in an aggressive outburst when it all gets too much. For instance, a tennis player smashing their racket after hitting the net a few too many times during a match.
A lot of human behaviour is taken from our ancestors. We're programmed to survive. This gives us an instinct: a natural tendency to behave in a particular way. So when competing in sports, aggression can be as a result of this instinct; as competitors athletes must protect themselves and their team in order to win, which could lead aggressive physical contact, such as a harsh tackle. This is known as instinct theory.
How can athletes reduce unhealthy aggression in sport?
Aggression doesn't have to be a negative thing. Athletes can use aggression to gain an advantage, however, it must be used in the right way: healthy aggression. So here are some techniques to reduce unhealthy aggression. The type of aggression that results in injuries, losses and punishment.
Noticing triggers
A great step to begin with is identifying triggers. This means discovering the things that cause you as a person to feel frustrated and angry, which cause you to act out in an aggressive way. To help, here are some examples in sports:
- as a basket ball player, your trigger is when your teammates don't pass to you
- as a rugby player, your trigger may be when your coach shouts at you
- in tennis, you get triggered when your shot doesn't land in the court
Whatever your triggers are, it's important to be aware of them. In this way you can prepare and plan for when your triggers appear. Taking the rugby player example, you could let your coach know that them shouting hinders your performance or when that certain coach shouts, you could tell yourself, "focus on the game" to avoid the angry distraction.
Deep breathing
It sounds cliche to say, "just take a few deep breaths." But, different techniques work for different athletes. When you find yourself feeling frustrated, you could take a deep breath or a few deep breaths to act as a refresh: to calm the anger, relax the mind and the body.
Positive self-talk cues
Linking onto the idea of a refresh. Positive self-talk cues are words/phrases you can say to yourself to act as a reset button. A random example, could be the word "sun". It may remind you of peace and a good day out. So when you find yourself angry in that game of cricket, say "sun" to yourself. It may sound silly, but it can calm that frustration. The science behind this, is it fires up your neural pathways and makes changes to those areas of the brain that make you happy and positive.
So there are a few techniques that you can use as an athlete to prevent aggressive behaviour. This positive approach to reducing aggression needs to be pushed more across cultures and education, as everyone and anyone can have an aggressive outburst, which could lead to regret. By anchoring unhealthy aggression, you can put a stop to its consequences and become an even better version of yourself.
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