Anxiety before and during the game

iraklis gerogiannis Asked 14 years ago

Coach,

What kind of mental preparation do you suggest in order to limit the anxiety before and during the competition....

Thank you very much for your time!!!

Alois Rosario Answered 14 years ago

Hi Iraklis,

Firstly remember this is a natural part of competing.  You will start to feel anxious.  Everyone will find something that works for themselves.  One important factor though is to have a consistent preparation.  So have a ritual that you go through before each match. This will get your mind into the right place.  It will tell your body what you are about to do and you will start to feel more comfortable each time you go through that process.

The body tends to stress when it is put in a strange situation.  So make your preparation the same. 

During the game, you need to have awareness of when your body is starting to show signs of tension.   You may start to feel funny in your stomach "butterflies", or you may start to feel tense in your shoulders, you may feel like you can't move very fast.  You need to watch for signs in yourself that show you that you are becoming anxious.

Then find some simple ways to deal with these.  It ay as simple as taking a deep breath and then focusing on what you need to do for the next point.

Take a look at previous questions in the Mental Preparation Topic of Ask the Coach as well.