Fill ONE suitable word into each numbered blank. Write your answers in ‘Your answers’ part.

Stress and Athletic Success

Success, in any field, is often a matter of how well a person is (1) ________ to control the amount of stress they experience. As stress increases, their performance often improves, but there is a certain point beyond (2) __________ their performance begins to decline sharply. Sports psychologists now help Olympic athletes, (3) _________ others, balance the good and bad effects of stress.

Before an athletic event, a high level of excitement can actually have a (4) __________ effect on the athlete. This excitement becomes harmful, (5) __________, if negative thoughts take over. Thoughts such as “What if I fail?" or "I know the others are better than me" should definitely be avoided. Psychologists help athletes manage to replace negative thoughts with positive (6) _____________.

(7) __________ useful technique before competing is to recognize your level of excitement and adjust (8) __________ if necessary. Music may be helpful in these (9) _________. If you're over-excited, listening to soft music can help to calm you down. If you feel you're not excited (10) ___________, you may want to listen to fast, powerful music to (11) ____________ your spirits.

The key to success, in other words, is a person’s knowledge of their ideal level excitement. An imbalance either way (12) _________ mean the difference between success and failure.

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