Football clubs are encouraged to put out social media videos to keep their fans stress free.
Sport Psychologists recommend clubs use social media platforms to offer light hearted videos which will teach fans simple ways to take the stress out of watching their team play.
This recommendation comes after the recent release of The Oxford Study which identifies how fans run the risk of high blood pressure and elevated stress levels that could lead to heart attacks when watching their team play an intense game.
BPS psychologist Desmond McEwan from The University of Bath says ‘Psychologists teach professional footballers strategies to deal with stress in order to minimise the potential negative impact that stressors have on them, these same strategies could also be offered to the fans’.
Football supporters may feel helpless and out of control during matches as they are full of passion, often incredibly vocal and active in the stands; yet,they are still bystanders.
Dr McEwan suggests that this could contribute to their heightened levels of stress and tension. ‘Football fans notoriously have strong levels of self-identification and belonging to their teams especially at national levels, there is clearly a need to address this cortisol question’.
Dr McEwan celebrates the passion that loyal supporters display, and suggests that an important role for clubs is the care of their fans, helping them to keep their stress hormone- cortisol – at manageable levels.
Desmond McEwan suggests that football clubs could release a few emotion regulating, breathing and informative biofeedback techniques in videos on their social media channels encouraging their supporters to take super short breaks during a match; utilising a 30 – 60 second mental ‘zone out’ technique to focus on taking a few deep breaths.
