Sports anxiety can be debilitating, so much so that it can quickly turn an otherwise talented athlete “on paper” into something that looks the complete opposite during games. Anxiety is actually a manifestation of human arousal (or human energy) and is often created based on human perception, meaning if you view situations as threatening and scary, your body will quickly experience anxiety symptoms. There is good news, however, as human arousal can also be channeled into great confidence and help athletes get in the zone when athletes perceive situations as exciting challenges. Interestingly, the human arousal we experience can be directed into two very different mind & body experiences, and this is largely based on the perception of the world that we take.
Sport psychologists recognize two types of anxiety human beings experience – state and trait. State anxiety is based on the situations around us and how we perceive them; trait anxiety is different in that it is created based more on our biological, or genetic predispositions. In my experience I find that most athletes experience far more state anxiety than they do trait anxiety, and I also find that this is the easier type of anxiety to treat.
How we “see” the world around us has an immediate and often dramatic effect on how we respond to people, things, and situations. For athletes, viewing competition as a healthy, exciting, and challenging endeavor will trigger and direct human arousal into very positive and facilitative mind-body interactions. Athletes can also use cue words and positive self talk to keep a healthy and positive cognitive mindset, and can incorporate techniques like deep breathing and imagery to help keep their bodies in the zone. Using these mental toughness approaches athletes will soon see their anxiety decrease while their confidence increases.
Unfortunately, it is also very easy to “see” the world in a very negative and irrational way, which almost always leads to athletes experiencing anxiety. For example, when athletes think in perfectionist ways, allow the crowd to get in their head, fear losing, or continue to worry about what the coach thinks, in all likelihood negative anxiety will be the result. The silver lining to this, however, is that thinking is under our control, and athletes who are determined to improve in this area can do so — and often in a very short time period if they are truly committed.
Quick tips
- Make positive perceptions. Remember, anxiety (and confidence) are largely dependent on human perception — what this means is how you view the world around you will have a direct and proportional effect on your human arousal and whether you experience anxiety or confidence.
- Sport psychology skills training. Cognitive-behavioral techniques can really help athletes master mental toughness, so be sure to learn about skills like self-talk, cue words, deep breathing, and imagery.
- Keep a journal of success and progress. If you really want to see improvement when it comes to sports anxiety, be sure to keep a running journal and look for relationships between the things you do and the level of anxiety you experience while competing. Also, make it a point to look for trends and try to incorporate the things that are working into future pre-game routines.
- Commit to the process. Similar to how you commit to training in the weight room, make sure to be serious about learning how to overcome sports anxiety. In the weight room it often takes weeks before seeing significant improvement, and the same may be true for overcoming sports anxiety — but stay committed, journal your results, and incorporate your new skills and soon you will see a decrease in sports anxiety.
- Don’t be afraid to seek professional help. In some cases it makes sense to seek out sport psychology services to help with sports anxiety, so be sure to look in your community to see who is trained to help. A sport psychologist can often help with teaching you new techniques, as well as providing a place to get some of those frustrations off your chest!
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Check out our latest e-book that can help with sports anxiety — The Athlete’s Guide to Mental Toughness
