The job of the threat system is survival. This means it is constantly scanning for things that could physically, psychologically or physiologically harm.
There are three groups of threats:
- Physical threats – might the athlete get hurt – they should be conscious and listening to these type of threats.
- Psychological threats – might my sense of self, identity or confidence get hurt. These are usually unhelpful threats.
- Physiological threats – does something inside my body hurt? These might be niggles, injuries or organs having to work really hard. These should be evaluated on a case by case basis being curious about the cause of the threat.
Sometimes the threat system over predicts (especially around psychological risks) and ‘triggers’ causing an athlete to feel under threat and keen to hide away in their comfort zone. Most of the ‘threats’ they anticipate in performance environments are psychological ones like not being good enough, failing or being judged. These will often link to outcomes (scores, competition placings judgement from others) what that outcome might say about them as a person. If they feel what they do is who they are (I’m academic, I’m sporty or I’m a footballer) then the potential of failing feels extra scary to their threat system (because if they fail they feel a failure) which then triggers them, making them behave emotionally and irrationally. Their habit function will still work but their logic function shuts down so they can’t make good decisions and they lose their sense of perspective.
When your threat system triggers three elements kick into action which we can think of as:
- Cognitive
- Physiological
- Behavioural
We will explore each now.
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