Athletes of all ages, levels, and sport types know from personal experience that having uncontrollable nerves (anxiety) can be a terrible hindrance when it comes to playing well. Making things even more frustrating is when they play with comfort and confidence in practice, then seem to lose their mental toughness and fall apart in real games as their thinking becomes distorted and their bodies become filled with nervous energy. Anxiety, therefore, can be the mediating variable when it comes to whether an otherwise talented athlete succeeds or fails in sport competition (Sport Success 360).
Today I would like to remind athletes of three important points about how anxiety directly (and negatively) impacts athletic performance.
1. Anxiety disrupts the perfect mind-body synchrony needed for sports success. When athletes are on their game, their success largely relies on automatic “muscle memory” movements that develop through their synchronized thoughts and actions. What this means is that they trust their previous experience and success and allow themselves to simply play. Unfortunately, when athletes become nervous, self-doubt creeps in, and the result is almost always an overly-cautious, second-guessing, unsure competitor. The result? Previously synchronized mind-body movements become disrupted and the athlete usually tries too hard, or plays “not to lose” rather than plays to win.
2. Anxiety negatively impacts focus. When an athlete experiences high anxiety he will almost immediately begin to think internally about the symptoms rather than externally toward the next play. This is what we call a cognitive response to anxiety. Of course, the physiological symptoms of anxiety are tough enough to overcome, but when thinking becomes distorted and focus is directed toward the last bad play rather than the next play ahead, it’s obvious the athlete will almost always perform below his abilities.
3. The impact of anxiety on resiliency. Sport psychologists know that resiliency, or mental toughness, is often the difference when it comes to athletic success or failure. When athletes succumb to nerves and anxiety, it literally zaps their bodies of the energy needed to pull through tough times, physical pains, and sometimes even nagging injuries. Instead of an endorphin rush, nervous athletes actually experience the opposite — that is, they lose the energy needed for stamina.
Anxiety is not unique to sports, and is actually something that we all experience in various times of our lives. Whether it’s the nerves associated with a first date, waiting on a test grade, or preparing for a job interview, we have all felt the impact of nervous energy at different times in our lives. For athletes, learning to prepare for and control nervous energy is key, as it may be the single most important – yet often overlooked – variable when it comes to mental toughness and athletic success.
If you know an athlete struggling with anxiety, be sure to help him or her learn about proven strategies and techniques that can help – the Mind of Steel program is designed to do just that!
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