In The Zone

Managing Stress And Crises

Adaptively managing the stress of competition is crucial for any serious athlete. Genuine poise under pressure is universally admired. When someone performs perfectly in a pressure-packed setting, we shake our heads, smile enviously, and ask: “How does she do it?” Well, let me tell you that one of the ways she does it is by remaining relaxed enough to use focused concentration to minimize or eliminate performance pressure.

Certainly there are individual differences in how people naturally process and deal with pressure. However, you do not need to be limited by the coping skills you inherited. In fact, stress management techniques are among the easiest psychological skills to learn. This column will discuss stress management tactics from a practical standpoint, highlighting techniques applicable to both tournament and non-tournament anglers.

How Much Stress Is Too Much?

Popular wisdom tells us that a certain amount stress is a good thing. You frequently hear people talk about how an athlete needs to get “psyched up” for the Big Game. However, this is more myth than reality when it comes to complex tasks like fishing. Performance psychology research tells us that stress, pressure, or performance anxiety can easily interfere with successfully carrying out intricate, complicated physical and mental assignments. Even a small amount of stress can diminish your capacity to think clearly, to accurately analyze information, and to make sound decisions. You already know that figuring out where the fish are, and what they want to bite today is infinitely more difficult than catching them. Assuming you aspire to be a premier angler, the more relaxed and stress-free you are, the better you will function.

Recognizing And Anticipating The Stress Of Competition

I used to jog with a group of guys that included the well-known watercolor painter, George Pope. A few of us were running along the shore of Lake Superior on a warm spring morning when one guy commented that he seemed to jog faster when running with a group than when he ran by himself. There was a pause, and Geo said, “Don’t kid yourself; if there is more than one person running, it’s a race.” And so it is with fishing.

You might think you don’t fish competitively, just because you don’t do tournaments. You might even tell yourself you’re just out there for fun, and that all you really want to do is enjoy being on the water, in the boat with your buddies, blah blah blah!! Well, I seriously doubt you can hold onto that attitude when the guy in the back of the boat is catching one fish after the other, and you are not! Even at a friendly level, there almost always is a certain amount of competition between anglers. And there is most assuredly a serious competition going on between you and the fish. Think about it this way: if every time you went fishing the fish won, you’d eventually take up golf!

For some, the intensity of fishing may cause increased heart rate, tense muscles, and/or a sense of frustration and aggravation. A long day on the water can often lead to emotional as well as physical fatigue. You probably have your own unique combination of emotional reactions and physical tendencies that appear during stressful times. An important first step in managing the stress of fishing involves recognizing these tendencies when they do occur.

We all have “hot buttons”, people, events, and circumstances that rather predictably cause us to feel tense, apprehensive, ticked off, or otherwise upset. It might be worthwhile to jot down in your Bass Edge: In the Zone notebook the kinds of things that typically stress you out. Ask a couple of friends to tell you what they think causes you stress. As in most domains, self-awareness and self-monitoring are good starting points.

External Versus Internal Stressors

Most of us find losing a big fish to be a stressful event. Whether or not there is money on the line, a hawg is a hawg, right? And if you lose that big fish because you tied a bad knot, or because you had the drag on your reel set too tight, or because of some fundamental flaw in your character (smile!), you are likely to feel especially bad. Disappointment, frustration, and aggravation are common emotional reactions in this situation. You are also likely to become stressed out or distraught if external circumstances conspire to separate you from your Very Large Fish. Your VLF may, with malice aforethought, choose to tangle your line in a sunken tree, or wrap it around your trolling motor prop. Or, heaven forbid, the guy you thought was your good fishing buddy may “accidentally” knock your VLF off your line with the net!

When external circumstances such as these cause you stress, it’s a good idea to take a few moments to think about what happened. The realization that Ms. VLF is no longer with you may yet be painful, but if you can identify a practical reason why this mishap occurred, you could take steps to keep it from happening again. A couple of summers ago, in the waning minutes of a tournament, one of us lost a nice fish because he forgot to trim the skirt on his jig. Instead of having an emotional meltdown, he put the scissors to work, fixed the problem, and pitched to a few more bushes in time to get the fish that filled our limit.

Sometimes, however, there is nothing in particular happening that is causing you stress; you just feel tense. The stress of anticipating a big fishing trip is a perfect example. Even with primo preparation, you can become stressed thinking about whether the fish will be where they are supposed to be, whether you can keep your bait alive all day, and so forth. I’m sure you know the list; it’s endless. Here you need tactics to calm your emotions and refocus your attention when there is nothing to be done about external circumstances.

Stress Management Techniques

There are several techniques that Performance Psychologists use to help people minimize or eliminate stress reactions. Here are two of them:

#1—Let’s say you have identified fishing trip worry as a primary source of stress. On the way to the lake you typically feel nervous as all get-out, and for no apparent reason. Your preparation has been thorough, you have a solid game plan, and basically you think you should be good to go. Problem is you feel about as confident as if you were going to tackle a Great White Shark with a Zebco 202!

Try this: take a long, deep breath. Count to three as you breathe in through your nose, and then count to four as you breathe out through your mouth. (I know, the numbers aren’t the same—don’t worry you won't run out of breath!) Now, do it again. Do it four more times. In fact, stop reading this article right now and take six deep, long breaths, counting as you do. If you pay close attention and focus only on your breathing and counting, after just six breaths you will notice some of your muscles beginning to relax. If you do six additional deep breaths, your level of relaxation will increase even more.

This exercise works even better if you can sit in a comfortable chair and close your eyes while you breathe in and out. However, it also works well with your eyes open while you are driving down the highway. Deep breathing is not obvious, so you really don’t have to worry about people watching you and thinking you’re some New Age Wacko; but even if someone does, so what? You probably fish with those pink floating worms, right? Well, let me tell you that’s a lot goofier than deep breathing, and not nearly as effective for decreasing stress.

#2—If you play this game long enough, the day will come when your fishing just flat stinks. Everything that can possibly go wrong does, and you end up skunked, shut out, or as Sarah would say, DFL (Dead Freaking Last!) Now what? Thinking happy thoughts or humming a cheerful tune doesn’t it really cut it when your livewell is empty. Instead, let yourself be bummed out, and if you can find someone to listen, go ahead and whine and complain—but only for a while. Structure your stressful, disappointed reaction by giving yourself a certain timeframe to be upset, say an hour or two. And then start over.

Essentially the same thing would have happened if you had had a great day. You and your friends would have been excited for an hour or two, and then you would have started thinking about your next trip. Use this same Timeframe Technique when you feel the stress of an embarrassing performance.

Remember, relaxed concentration is your goal. Breathe deeply and let your stress drift downstream.

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Jay T. McNamara Ph.D., L.P. is a psychologist, and also an avid bass and walleye angler. With more than 30 years of professional experience complemented by participation in competitive fishing at local and national levels, he is uniquely qualified illustrate how Performance Psychology principles apply to fishing. His writing has appeared in both recreational and competitive fishing journals.