Overcoming nervousness

Wayne Sy Asked 13 years ago

Hi coach, This is wayne and I really need your help in overcoming nervousness during a match. I played in a tournament last month and I lost because of nervousness. What should I do to stop being nervous?

Alois Rosario Answered 13 years ago

Hi Wayne,

This is a really common problem.  The first thing to realise is that the player at the other end is feeling the same thing as well.

You can help yourself by understanding that it is not a life and death situation.  Then you can start to use some coping strategies like taking a deep breath to calm yourself down when you start to feel the nerves. 

Yu will start to recognise the things that happen to your body when you start to get nervous.  Things lie your stomach feels a little funny, your legs fell like they can't move as well, your shoulder starts to tighten, your breathing becomes a bit shallower...

You need to find the things that happen to your body and then take action when you start to feel these things happening.

Also take a look at our other questions on 'Mental Preparation' in our archive of Ask the Coach questions.  You can see the Topics on the right hand side of the Ask the Coach page.