AUTHOR(S): Dr. Hanumanthayya Pujari

ABSTRACT:
The purpose of the paper is to know the stress and learn to avoid and managing ways of it. Stress is our body's response to certain situations. Stress is subjective. Something that may be stressful for one person -- speaking in public, for instance -- may not be stressful for someone else. Not all stresses are "bad" either. Graduating from college, for example, may be considered a "good" stress. Stress can affect our physical health, our mental health, and our behavior. In response to stressful stimuli, our body turns on its biological response: chemicals and hormones are released that are meant to help our body rise to the challenge. Our heart rate increases, our brain works faster and becomes razor sharp, we have a sudden burst of energy. This response is natural and basic; it's what kept our ancestors from falling victim to hungry predators. Stress overload, however, can have harmful effects. We cannot eliminate bad stress from our lives, but we can learn to avoid and manage it. We’ve all been there – the referee makes an unfavorable call; our opponent is faster than us, our pitching is off; the ground is wet, but what separates elite athletes from mediocre athletes is the ability to perform at a higher level despite the obstacles and adversity they may face. There are a million excuses for not performing your best during a competition, but professional athletes make no excuses. Simply put, if we want to become a professional, we’ll need to learn how to deal with stress and pressure effectively. The fit athlete should be able to withstand stress better than the ordinary person because he or she is trained to perform well under pressure. However, if the athlete is training too hard or competing too much, a slight increase in the total stress can push them over the top. It is a sad fact that fitness is not the same as health; the highly tuned athlete may be less healthy than the club athlete who maintains a high degree of fitness without going over his physical limits. “All of us get knocked down, but it is resiliency that really matters. All of us do well when things are going well, but the thing that distinguishes athletes is the ability to do well in times of great stress, urgency and pressure.”— Roger Staubach

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