In this article we’re going to cover something that every athlete experiences in sports competition, some more often than others – and that is performance anxiety. Experiencing the pre-game jitters or nerves is completely normal and to an extent… it shows how much you care, but it also has the ability to ruin your performance, impact self-confidence, and make the sport you love a horror experience.
So today, let’s dive into what performance anxiety is, how it is experienced in our body, techniques & tools to manage the situation, and stories of well-known athletes that use strategies to manage their own levels of performance anxiety.
- What is Performance Anxiety in Sports?
Performance anxiety is an excessive feeling of fear related to not being able to perform well. If we think of peak performance or flow as the mind and body aligned in the present moment – Performance anxiety comes from future thinking. “The what ifs?”. And unless you’ve trained your mind… At default these “what If’s” will be geared towards the negative. What if I mess up? Or What if I miss this shot? Or what if I lose? Etc.
The minds one job is to keep us alive as humans, and if there is any threat to this, it hits the alarm bells. Now I know what you’re thinking… I’m just playing sport there is no threat to my physical being in competition. Yes you are right, but there is a threat to your mental well-being. Let’s go further…
One of our core needs as human beings is ‘connection’. We want to be liked, we want to feel valued, and we want others to see us at our best as much as possible in order to feel connected. Competition puts us in an environment where we are being judged or at least feel like we are being judged. If you care about what others think of you, congratulations!! It is part of the human experience. For those who say they don’t care what others think. That’s not entirely true It’s just where your focus lies that either helps or hinders the situation.
Secondly, another of our core needs, is ‘certainty’. Certainty gives us comfort and control. The mind loves to feel in control. And anything outside of that puts us in a state of stress. Put it this way, if you knew you were going to smash a personal best in your next competition, if you knew, hand on heart, that you were going to have the perfect performance, if you knew there was no possible way to lose, you would not feel any type of anxiety, jitters or nerves.
But the fact that every score starts at 0-0, every race starts at 0:00 on the clock, and every team starts every season on the same amount of points – adds a level of uncertainty. And this is where the conflict in the mind sounds the alarm by activating the amygdala which is the fear centre of our brain. The mind can’t control the future so it sends our bodies into a state of stress. The amygdala is activated, and the stress hormone – cortisol and adrenalin is released into our nervous system. And as a result of this we kick into fight, flight or freeze as a response to the stress.
It is quite common to feel anxiety before, during, and sometimes even after a sporting event so I must point out that anxiety isn’t a bad thing. In fact , some levels of stress or anxiety is beneficial for performance, but it is the excessive anxiety that leads to negative outcomes that can affect an athlete’s confidence & ability to perform at their best. So understanding the link between anxiety and sports performance can really help you maximize your skill potential in competition.
The best way to describe this is through the Yerkes-Dodson Law. This is a psychology model that explains how stress and anxiety affect performance. There are 3 levels to this low arousal, optimal arousal, and high arousal. Think of arousal as pertaining to impact, excitement, or even focus intensity. These levels needs to operate in a limited range for you to perform at your best.
If your arousal levels are too low, you become disengaged from the task and even spaced out. This is quite common if you are winning easy or are not finding the competition challenging. You become privy to distractions and find it hard to concentrate on the task at hand. Often low arousal impacts effort which is one of the elements you actually have control over.
Optimal arousal is the level in which you are able to maximize your ability and perform well. It is a major component to entering the flow state (or performing in a zone, as many of us know it). The mind and body are aligned and it can be described as a relaxed but intense focus. This allows you to push yourself outside of your comfort zone. Flow happens at around 4% outside of your comfort zone. You need to be challenged enough to be engaged, but not so challenged that it becomes stressful.
Lastly, if your arousal levels are too high your actions both physically and mentally can be affected. Anxiety levels increase and the attention to the details deteriorates as you become easily distracted by the result of the task (also known as future thinking).
The Smith and Smoll model offered one of the first multi-dimensional models of sports performance anxiety. It basically covers how anxiety spreads from mind to body.
First is the mental element. So for instance, You may anticipate how tough your upcoming match will be and wonder whether you can win. This might lead to overthinking and worry as you contemplate the consequences of losing. This leads to the physical feelings within the body. As you become more anxious, your body’s fight-or-flight response kicks in. This comes in the form of shallower breathing, an increased heart rate, sweating or shaking, lightheadedness & even hyperventilation.
Then, the in-moment impact. You become more focused on how you feel which detract your focus from the game. You start to self-criticize and self-doubt which impacts your ability to perform. Your actions become more rigid as you feel more tension in your muscles. And as your performance declines, you feel increasingly worried. That initial anxiety about losing, becomes an intense fear of failure. Over time this can lead to burnout, a loss of passion or hatred for your sport, and even quitting the game you once loved.
2 examples stick out to me as far as my experience with performance anxiety.
- I remember trying out for the Year 6 Primary School SAPSASA Basketball Team. I don’t remember the initial feelings of anxiety but I do remember the result in performance. I obviously placed high-importance on making the team and high expectations upon myself which impacted my ability to perform. More vividly, I remember missing wide open lay-ups (one of the more basic skills in basketball) and missing free throws over and over. The more I missed the more I got frustrated with myself, and the more the initial anxiety affected me.
- The day of my first Premier League game with Woodville. The first round of the season was a Friday night game. I had gotten home from work and started to mentally prepare for the game in the early afternoon. This is something I’d worked so hard for over the previous couple of years so it meant a lot for me to perform well. I just remember this intense feeling in my chest. My heart was beating so fast and so hard that it felt like it was going to burst. I started to feel light-headed and physically nauseous which eventually forced me to take care of how I was feeling rather than trying to push through. For me, I’d never really experienced that level of anxiety before. Luckily, I was able to regain my thoughts and get myself in the right headspace to perform that night but it was a feeling that I’ll never forget.
So how do we manage this feeling of anxiety? – especially when it comes to performing in big events. Because the more importance we place on an event, the greater desire to well – the more likely we are to experience the nervousness or performance anxiety.
The beauty of our access to the internet these days means we can literally model the elite. We can research how the greatest athletes in their respective sports paved their way to success. Most of us just see the highlight reels and the unbelievable skillset they showcase to perform at the level they do but it is important to acknowledge that they are just as human as you and I.
They experience self-doubt, they experience failure, they make errors, and they get feel nervous in big events to. So how do they manage their thoughts and emotions to get the best out of themselves?
Let’s start with Michael Phelps. The most decorated Olympian in history. I’ve spoken about his challenges with focus, and diagnosis of ADHD as a child before on the podcast. But it was his practice of visualization that prepared him for anything and everything. It gave his mind a sense of control. Not only would he visualize every stroke, turn, and triumph in a swimming race but he would also visualize how he would respond if the swim meet ran, he got off the blocks too slow, or if his goggles filled up with water. This maximized his mental readiness and allowed him to perform in the moment more often leaving little to no room for doubt or anxiety. Remember the first time you do something is always scary. But the mind cannot distinguish between the imagery or mental movie in your head and reality so visualization allows you to build confidence and feel in control.
Creating a consistent pre-performance or preparation routine also gives the mind a sense of control. We are creatures of habit so we love comfort and familiarity. Once again it gives the mind a sense of control.
Basketball superstar LeBron James, incorporates specific stretching exercises, music, and visualization techniques into his pre-game routine. This ritualistic approach helps him enter the game feeling more focused and composed, dissipating any nerves or anxiety that might hinder his performance. Thoughts create emotion but thoughts are fleeting. Meaning they come and go. The mind is constantly looking for threats to keep us safe but once it feels safe and in control you give yourself every opportunity to maximize your potential.
Another way to allow your mind to feel in control in competition is to set realistic and attainable process-based goals in performance. Because what you do in this moment affects the next. And it is the collection of those moments that ultimately create the result. We can’t control the result but we can influence it by controlling what we do in this moment. This helps maintain confidence and manage performance anxiety. Gymnast Simone Biles sets incremental process-based goals in each of her routines, concentrating on executing her movements rather than focusing on winning or the end result. And as the saying goes how do you eat a whole elephant? One bite at a time.
Lastly, one of the greatest tennis players of all time, Serena Williams, used the power of her words to boost self-belief and rid any anxiety. Positive self-talk is a powerful tool that enables us to reframe or replace negative thoughts with more positive affirmations or constructive statements. Encouraging internal dialogue such as “I am prepared for this”, “I am ready”, “I’ve got this” or “I’ve worked hard for this” can significantly increase confidence and focus. There have also been studies that prove that although anxiety and excitement trigger a similar feeling within the body, by using the words “I’m excited” instead of “I’m nervous” it will generate more positive actions and a more positive result.
As always I like to end with some tools and strategies that you can implement straight away to build resilience levels and experience less performance anxiety. The mind is just like a muscle the more you train it, the stronger it gets. So Today I’m feeling super generous and I’m going to give you a mental strength routing I share with my athletes.
It is called the A.C.C.E.P.T. routine and is an acronym that has everything you need in it to build your mental game.
The ‘A’ stands for Awake. Wake up and get up at the same time each day. There is a number of studies that align a consistent wake up time to great physical and mental well-being. Waking up at the same time plays into your circadian rhythm and will most likely have you going to bed at the same time each night. Recovery is vital for athletes and consistency in your sleep patterns channels a better quality of restorative sleep. This is the healing part of your sleep.
The other benefit is every time you override that little voice in your head that says “it’s too cold to get up” “I’m too tired” or “just 5 more minutes” you increase your self-love and self-belief. If you keep the promises you make to yourself, you feel so much better about yourself. It is discipline that creates true happiness and fulfillment. So set that alarm clock away from the bed and get up at the same time each day. You will be so much more resilient to distractions and adversity during sports performance because you developing authentic mental toughness.
Next is the ‘C’. The ‘C’ stands for Centre. Research shows that our anxiety level are at their peak as soon as we wake up. Once again, think of anxiety as future thinking. Our mind is trying to control the day ahead. So, when you pick up your phone and start replying to messages or scroll through social media, you put your mind into a reactive state. Instead make the conscious decision to put yourself in a proactive state. And we do this by slowing everything back down again and centering yourself through meditation. Meditation is the practice of peak performance. It is practicing the ‘flow state’ Your essentially aligning your mind and body and anchoring to your breath. Not only are you training yourself to be 100% in the moment by focusing on the sensations of breathing but your becoming more aware of thoughts that either hinder or help in competition by observing and detaching from those thoughts and coming back to the breath. I can guarantee your best performances came when you felt a sense of calm within and meditation that state as well as increases your attention span or focus.
The next ‘C’ stands for Cleanse. The transition from sleep or a relaxation technique such as meditation to kickstarting your day is not always going to be easy. So I want you to take a few minutes to refresh yourself to prepare to attack the day ahead. Music is a great way of lifting your energy vibration. A lot of athletes use it in their preparation for performance to hype themselves or boost confidence but the truth is music is great for the soul and allows you to dictate the emotions you want to feel through song. Choose how you want to feel for the day and match the song to suit.
The ‘E’ in the A.C.C.E.P.T. routine stands for exercise. Spend two minutes getting your body moving, getting the blood pumping through your system. Bodyweight exercises are ideal with this. You could perform squats, wall-sits, crunches, sit-ups, planks, jumping jacks, push-ups or even a combination. The reason for this is the last thing you’ll feel like doing when you wake up is exercise. This adds a level of discomfort and adversity into your day. This is about overriding that negative voice or the stories or excuses that come up to build resilience, confidence and focus. Not only will you feel more energized but you’ll be ready and mentally strong to crush any obstacles or challenges that come up that day.
The ‘P’ is for Power Shower. This is a great practice to manage the ‘fear state’. Fear is universal and is experienced in a similar way no matter the threat. Basically, at the end of your shower turn off the hot tap and stand under the cold water. The shock of the cold water will instantly kick you into fight or flight. This is your stress response to either fight the situation or flee the situation. One of the physical sensations you will experience is a rapid but shallow breath and he re is where we get to control the situation. Focus on slowing your breathing down. Take long deep breaths and focus on the sensations of your breath. The feeling, the sight of your chest expanding and compounding or even hearing the inhale and exhale. The slowed heart rate sends a message to the brain that the perceived danger has left. Your fear response is in performance is no different. Use your breath to slow everything down and bring you back to the present moment. Start with 10 seconds and work your way upwards. The longer your under the cold water the more your body begins to adapt and neutralize. This exercise regulates the stress hormones and develops focus in the face of adversity.
Very lastly, we have the ‘T’. The ‘T’ is for Thank you. Gratitude is a significant tool for athletes because it builds a positive mindset. As human beings, at default we have a negative bias. Meaning that most of our thoughts are geared towards the negative. A simple test is if I ask the question “What if?” Our minds tend to go to “What if… bad”. Implementing gratitude into your daily routine focuses on what you’re thankful for and what you have already. In performance this translates to focusing on the skills and strengths that you have in your skill set as opposed to what you don’t have, can’t do, or comparing yourself to other athletes. Gratitude evokes the creative side of the brain and not only cognitively restructures the brain but strengthens the neurotransmitters that release positive emotions and reduce anxiety and fear. This is a super simple exercise. You can write this in a notebook or your phone. At the top you are going top put “Today I am thankful or grateful for: And you’re going to brainstorm 3 things that you are thankful or grateful for. They can be 1 word answers or an entire paragraph. That part of the process is completely up to you.
This routine can be implemented in as little time as 15 minutes per day. Your mental skill set ultimate offsets what you can do physically and at elite levels is the difference between winning and losing, a great performance and a mediocre performance, success and failure. It’s worth every second you put into because with consistent practice you can become unstoppable!
I’d love to hear your experience with the pre-game jitters or performance anxiety and also how the tools and strategies we talked about in Today’s episode were able to help you manage your mental game better. Please feel free to get in touch with us at riseaboveadversity.com.au, Rise above adversity on Facebook, Instagram, Tik Tok, & Linkedin, or you can personally email me at coachcal@riseaboveadversity.com.au