Athletes’ Stress Control Methods Benefit Officers

Police officers in high-stress situations can benefit from the relaxation therapy used by athletes during competition, according to a university researcher.

To prove his point, Donald Greene, a sports psychologist and researcher at United States International University in San Diego, tested the attention control training technique on a group of special weapons and tactics officers from the San Diego Police Department.

Their shooting accuracy in a highly stressful situation was 42% compared with a 32.5% accuracy for those using conventional stress training and 30% for officers using no stress management, he said.

Attention control training is a way to relax that can be used while sitting or standing and can be taught in as little as 90 minutes, Green said.

“Basically on the first breath, the police officers were taught to relax their neck and shoulder muscles,” Green said, “and on the second to focus on their body’s center of gravity as in Eastern martial arts. On the third breath, the officers were told to give a positive self-command (such as telling themselves to relax) and to refocus their attention externally on a broad range.”

Greene devised a test course during which he observed the SWAT officers who had received attention control training.

On the course, officers armed with live ammunition ran 200 yards and then entered a mock building where five pairs of targets were waiting. Each target was either a “bad guy” or an “innocent bystander.”

The two other groups also ran the course, one using progressive relaxation techniques and the other no relaxation training at all.

The attention control-trained group exercised the best judgment on the course with 38% accuracy to 24% for the progressive relaxation group and 22% for the no-relaxation group.

Greene said the FBI is considering using the attention control training technique for members of its recently formed hostage rescue team and the Los Angeles Police Department is also looking into the training.

“The control method can be focused on the way out to these high-stress scenes and be done periodically to keep them at their optimal relaxation,” Greene said.