ABSTRACT
This chapter provides information on coping effectiveness training for athletes and understanding the principles behind this training. Defining stress is a very contentious issue, with researchers struggling to agree on a common definition. Experiencing stress can cause parts of the brain to interact with the pituitary glands and adrenal glands, which produces a variety of hormonal responses. The athlete is ready to confront the source of stress (fight) or run away (flight). When athletes experience stress, they will experience an array of physiological symptoms that might not necessarily be conducive to successful performance. Coping has been defined ‘constantly changing cognitive and behavioural efforts to manage specific external and/or internal demands that are appraised as taxing or exceeding the resources of the person’. Problem-focused coping refers to coping strategies that are aimed directly at the problem which causes the person to experience stress.
