In the Men’s Singles Quarterfinals of the 2016 Rio Olympics Table Tennis, after the start of the match, the sleepy Zhang Jike has been in a state of confusion, resulting in the first set of the game to play abnormally. This also reminds us that many athletes will play poorly when they are on the court, or even have various conditions due to too much pressure.

American scholar Gruber once said, “For beginner and intermediate athletes, 80% rely on biomechanical factors and 20% on psychological factors; while for advanced athletes, the opposite is true, 80% rely on psychological factors and 20% on biomechanical factors.” Olympic decathlon champion Luna once said, “In Olympic-level track and field, mental problems are 80 percent of the problem and physical problems are 20 percent.” Ganrier, head coach of the British swimming team, has also said, “Mental training increases a swimmer’s good performance by 10-20 percent.” Although the science and accuracy of these statements are yet to be verified by empirical studies, the objective facts and phenomena they express are there for all to see. The competitive performance of high-level athletes is closely related to the pressure under which the athlete is placed.

In psychology, stress is categorized into benign and malignant stress. Benign stress is a term used to describe moderate stress. Unlike malignant stress, which leads to feelings of unhappiness and frustration, benign stress can motivate a person to continue to enjoy the action and ultimately achieve a greater sense of fulfillment. Just as some types of stress can improve a person’s emotional and physical health, there are also stresses that can lead to depression, anxiety and apathy alike.

And psychologists Yex and Dudson by experimental research summarized a law: pressure and performance between the existence of an inverted U-shaped relationship between the moderate level of pressure can make the performance of the peak state, too small or too much pressure will make the work efficiency is reduced, which is used to explain the psychological pressure, work difficulty and performance of the three relationships between the three, put in the athlete’s body is also appropriate.

So how do athletes facing stress adjust?

The most important thing in the face of pressure is to relieve tension. In life, you can take the music regulation method and breathing regulation method. A study conducted at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden found that some people who listened to music after a period of stress were more likely to have their stress relieved compared to those who did not listen to music after a period of stress. In another study by this group of researchers: listening to music was an effective way to lower cortisol levels over time, which is a hormone that the brain typically releases when we experience stress. This suggests that music has a favorable effect on relieving pre-game tension and regulating stress in athletes. Athletes who want to relieve stress can soak their feet before going to bed and listen to soothing classical or light music; if they want to lift their spirits before a race, listening to some fast electronic or hip-hop music is a good choice.

And respiratory conditioning refers to a method of relieving tension through the rhythm of breathing. When an athlete will be in a stressful time during a game, the breathing cycle will become disordered and the heartbeat will speed up, which will affect the performance of the game. Therefore, when the emotion is too tense, you can take slow inhalation and exhalation exercises, so as to relax the body and focus the mind. On the other hand, when the mood is low, you can take strong and long breaths, so as to achieve the purpose of emotional excitement.

For the athletes, it is imperative for the national teams to correctly look at the negative emotions such as fear, anxiety and panic brought about by the competition, to adjust their mindset, and to resume normal and orderly preparation and training as soon as possible, which is also the most important task in training and preparation.