There's a word in sport psychology that always generates a snigger whenever I introduce it to a client and especially so when I use it at a workshop. That word is 'arousal'. So what is it, and why should you bother about it if you want to go faster?
I received my copy of The Sport and Exercise Scientist in the post today, and gave the cover the usual cursory glance. My scan picked up an interesting question: "Is studying anxiety interpretations useful for sport and exercise psychologists?". So I thumbed through and found a rather interesting debate between two sport psychologists, staged by email and reprinted for the benefit of others. The debate gave me heart and caused me frustration, because while it opened up an important avenue for research and practice, they both missed the fact that a theory has been in place for over 25 years that adequately addresses all of the issues raised. That theory is Reversal Theory (Apter).