Sports-Induced Anxiety and How to Help Overcome it

Athletes need to focus on many variables to make sure they perform at their very best. They need to incorporate a nutritious diet, train regularly, and rest. Another variable that some athletes struggle with is the mental game of it. Sports anxiety can occur when there is a game coming up, and it can appear in the form of nervousness, over-excitement, or even fear, that can interfere with your decision-making and performance.

 

Practice Makes Perfect

The quote “practice makes perfect” is hackneyed, but also true. Building confidence and skills will develop with consistent training. Imagine you’re in a volleyball game. You’re going to be more nervous to dig a hard ball compared to passing a free ball. That’s because a free ball is almost over-practiced, it’s a basic skill to have so you’re going to be confident in passing it perfectly; but a hard dig can be unpredictable sometimes, and not every shot is practiced, so you might be more nervous about that. But you won’t be scared of executing a skill if you practice it more often. Practicing builds not only your skills, but also your confidence to execute those skills.

 

Routines

Routines make us feel comfortable. It is one of the only things for a game that we can count on to be consistent. Nothing usually changes about these routines. They reduce stress levels because they’re familiar to us. Some might suggest they tie-in with superstition, but if that’s a part of your routine that you must stick to in order to have the most confident mindset, then do it. It can be anything from watching a certain player play your position, or wearing a certain headband, shoelace, etc. These things can make you feel “luckier”, but therefore more confident, which helps out a lot of athletes!

 

Reshape Your Mindset of Anxiety

Don’t think of anxiety as negative, be cognizant that the reason you’re feeling anxious is because you have done everything in your power to be prepared at this point. You have invested hours of time, energy, and thinking into this. Think about what the reason is that you’re feeling anxious for. It could be because a college coach is coming to watch, or maybe you don’t want someone to think you’re not good enough. But what you need to keep in mind is everything you have invested in is for yourself, nobody else. So play your game for yourself, not others. Just focus on your gameplay and be the best you can be, and you’ll have no regrets at the end of that game because you’re going to be able to say “I did my best”. And knowing that will reduce anxiety, and change the way you think about it. Another way to think, is to only think about what is in your control. If something isn’t in your control, then don’t worry about it since it is something you cannot change at that moment. For example, you can’t control who watches you play, so don’t hinder your gameplay based on that.

 

Limit Outside Interactions

Within the hours leading up to your game or competition, try to restrict interaction with outside individuals to a bare minimum. That includes everyone except your team, or maybe a trainer if you see one. This just helps players stay focused and relaxed. It keeps distractions out of your mind, and lets you only focus on the game you’re about to play. This step can be crucial depending on the amount of anxiety you have. But if you do get really anxious, this will help calm you down.

 

Channel Energy and Focus

About a half hour before game time, try to move to a silent zone. Use techniques like visualization, mindfulness, etc. To channel calm energy that will help you prepare for the upcoming event. Below are some YouTube links that can help you get in this calm zone.

https://youtu.be/Z2dK_m2LfrY

https://youtu.be/Sps39GOBOVo

https://youtu.be/kzTpalSKsMo

 

Roughly 10 minutes before the game, you should switch that calm energy to energetic. Get in the zone, get excited. This is the mental state where you are confident, eneretic, and ready to give it your best. Below are a couple more links that you can use for this:

https://toutu.be/096ygvuN6ZI

https://youtu.be/P7m8lnmshfl

 

The difference between a good athlete and a great athlete is being mindful as well as confidence. The role of mindfulness and meditation help build intentional awareness and increases the time between an initial thought in the moment of action. The second you stop focusing on the outcome, and just focus on concentrating in the now, the execution, is when your performance will thrive.

 

Many athletes don’t realize how big of a difference even a little more confidence can make. Being around other positive athletes also help bolster this confidence. Especially if that teammate is close in skill level, you will believe “if they can do it, I can do it!”. Successfully completing a hard task will inspire you to do something that’s even more difficult than that, but failing to do a task multiple times will diminish that confidence. If you focus your mind on changing negative thoughts to positive ones, your confidence will be boosted. For example, “I don’t want to miss this pass again”, can be changed and reworded into “I will do the best I can to give my setter the best opportunity”. It rewords it so that you’re doing an action for someone else, and it will make you want to do that action better for that person, instead of worrying about yourself messing it all up. Self confidence is one of the main keys for you to help persevere in your sport. Especially with Dakota’s playoffs occuring, some athletes may be anxious about their gameplay. But what they need to remember, is that being a good teammate and focusing on self talk and motivation for themselves and their team, can significantly bolster their confidence and allow them to perform better. Even if you don’t get the opportunity to show a skill you wanted to but someone else does, your confidence can still be boosted by being involved with their success, by setting the expectation.

 

 

References:

Hamilton, A. (2017, February 17). Sports psychology: self-confidence in sport – make your ego work for you! Sports Performance Bulletin. https://www.sportsperformancebulletin.com/endurance-psychology/coping-with-emotions/sports-psychology-self-confidence-sport-make-ego-work/

Ong, A. (2021, March 3). How Athletes Can Conquer Sports Performance Anxiety. Herbalife Nutrition. https://iamherbalifenutrition.com/fitness/sports-performance-anxiety/