Pressure makes diamonds? A narrative review on the application of pressure training in high-performance sports

ABSTRACT

There is growing interest for the use of pressure training (PT) in high-performance sports. Although prior reviews have demonstrated the effectiveness of PT to improve performance outcomes, less attention has been directed towards the practical application of PT, including which different psychological or psychosocial functions PT may serve and how contextually relevant pressure-inducing tasks can be designed within practice. The purpose of this paper is to conduct a narrative review to explore and clarify the current knowledge regarding the application of PT within high-performance sports. More specifically, with this paper we aim to contribute to the current literature by discussing common features of PT conceptualisations, the proposed functions of PT, key considerations for the practical implementation of PT, and avenues for future PT research.

KEYWORDS:

• Coping
• planned disruptions
• pressure inurement
• stress exposure
• stress inoculation

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).