By From promoting rest to working on self-confidence, in this reading we explain the techniques that athletes need to calm pre-competition fear.
One of the most feared reactions in the world of sport is nerves before a match. Although it is a very common phenomenon, the truth is that if you don’t pay attention to it, it ends up ruining all the preparation you have made.
This is why sports psychology works to help individuals learn to recognize and regulate their negative emotions, with the aim of not causing an unpleasant episode before or during the activity. Next, let’s see what these psychological tricks are to calm fear before a competition.
Identify why you get nervous
Nervousness before an important event is something that almost all athletes will have experienced at some point. There are many causes, but there are still some that are systematically repeated.
The main reason has to do with the way the athlete perceives himself and his ability to face the competition. If he sees himself with sufficient resources and preparation, he will be less nervous. Another reason has to do with the evaluation of the rival. Those competitors who are stronger or have better results arouse thoughts of pessimism .
Finally, it is worth mentioning the weight that expectations , both one’s own and those of others, have in triggering fear before a match. The more demanding they are or the fear of disappointing others comes into play , the more anxiety will grow.
What can you do before the game?
Getting ready for a competition involves much more than just training. Every move counts, so you need to pay attention to your habits, on and off the court. See what changes you can make to better prepare and take the edge off pre-match nerves.
1. Get plenty of rest
A good night’s sleep is a fundamental requirement for competing well. Some athletes downplay this aspect and even cut back on sleep hours in order to continue training. This is a serious mistake that puts both performance and health at risk.
If you are one of those people who gets nervous before playing, the week before a competition, focus on improving your sleep hygiene . Having a structured sleep schedule, eating light dinners, or limiting screen time before bed are just examples of small adjustments that promote rest.
The key is to learn how to sleep and adjust your lifestyle, as well as not relying on pharmacological support.
2. Establish pre-competition routines
You can ease your nerves before a match if you have a planned and structured competition. Habits help you find peace when your mind is restless . Athletes who receive mental training use pre-competition routines.
These are sequences of actions that they repeat at important moments to help them concentrate and calm their nerves. For example: preparing the bag, warming up in the same way or repeating a phrase several times.
It should be noted that a routine is not the same as being superstitious . In the latter, an action is performed because it is believed that it will bring good luck (or bad luck if it is not performed). Therefore, it is not a matter of luck, but of gaining concentration and finding an optimal level of activation before a competition.
3. Spend time studying the opponent and the field
Preparing for a competition does not only involve the work that is done individually. When you have to face an opponent in a changing environment, a very good strategy is to spend time examining your opponent.
The goal of this is to anticipate their movements and, although not everything can be predicted, it is useful to establish patterns of similarity. Lack of information and uncertainty are two causes of nervousness. Therefore, understanding your rival is a very good idea to control anxiety before competing.
Strategies to calm your nerves
Once you start to notice the nervousness you must act, otherwise they will end up getting out of control. The following strategies are the most used by sports psychology :
1. Identify anxious thoughts
In many cases, pre-competition nerves have an internal rather than external origin. They are the negative and pessimistic thoughts that a person has about the present and the future. Thoughts such as “I am not capable of improving”, “I am a bad athlete” or “I will never be successful” are just examples of phrases that generate powerful emotions of frustration.
When you feel your mind starting to race and enter a loop of harmfulness, take a break and try to change your attitude. Keep in mind that what we think and what we do go hand in hand. Replace negative reflections with motivational phrases to achieve goals in sports.
2. Visualize yourself being successful
Sports psychology harnesses the power of imagination to generate positive emotions . Techniques based on this ability, especially visualization , are extremely helpful due to their ease of learning and application, and their enormous benefits.
In this sense, creating a context in the mind is also a way of making it predictable and more manageable, as suggested by a study from Bernardo O’Higgins University . The same research points to other techniques such as relaxation and monologue, which have been applied in various sports with satisfactory results.
3. Share with your loved ones how you feel
Words have a therapeutic power that often goes unnoticed. Think of a time when you felt overwhelmed and found someone to share it with. Surely it relieved you to put into words what you had inside, and also a loving response from the other person.
Therefore, one way to reduce nerves before a match is to talk about it with someone close to you. This could be a coach, your teammates, family or anyone who is part of your core of trust and is willing to listen to you.
4. Practice deep breathing techniques
The main manifestation of anxiety is on the physical level. Symptoms such as tachycardia, sweating or stomach pain often hide a psychological disorder. Therefore, the athlete must learn to identify and treat these signs. The most common way to do this is through breathing techniques .
A study conducted by the Michoacana University of San Nicolás de Hidalgo with swimmers concluded that exercises that induced relaxation, used by athletes in the moments prior to competition, managed to reduce their level of activation.
5. Reassess your expectations
All athletes have expectations about what they expect from themselves and others. This is a normal process and does not have to be a problem. However, when they deviate from what the person is capable of giving, they become a stressor.
We recommend that you take a moment to examine what your expectations are and to what extent they fit with immediate reality. You should also do this with respect to what others expect, separating it from yourself. That is, my coach expecting to win the football match against the strongest rival is something that is his thing, but it is not good to put it on yourself as if it were a responsibility or obligation.
6. Gives another meaning to defeat
Pre-competition anxiety is also caused by beliefs about a possible defeat. Believing that it is something very important, or seeing it as a real loss, does not help to relax in the moments before.
On the other hand, giving it a more reassuring interpretation is useful to reduce the fear of failure . A lost game is not a fall, but an opportunity to learn new things and continue growing.
7. Boosts self-confidence
Self-confidence is a protective factor against anxiety. Those who trust in their abilities and have a good self-image will feel more at ease when facing a difficult situation.
One way to increase self-confidence is to write down your strengths in all aspects of your performance: physical, technical, strategic and psychological. You should review these notes several times a day to internalize them, so that in moments of nerves before the match you can remember your qualities and feel more supported.
In this sense, according to a study published in the Journal of Physical Activity Sciences , self-confidence is a factor that is negatively related to anxiety.
8. Focus on what depends on you
When you don’t know what to do to avoid feeling nervous before a match, it’s worth remembering that trying to do everything is what overwhelms and frustrates. As much as you want to have control over what happens in a competition, this is not possible. In fact, there are more things that don’t depend on us than those that we can control.
So, direct your attention and efforts toward what is within your control: your thoughts, behaviors, habits, and emotions. Beyond that, it is the realm of the unknown, which you must learn to tolerate rather than control.
Don’t let a bad time ruin all the effort
Nerves before a match are a normal reaction to a new or personally important event. However, they must be understood, rationalised and controlled so that they do not become more intense.
One of the most frustrating situations that athletes report is that anxiety ruins their efforts. Therefore, mental training is the best solution. Put it into practice and you will soon begin to notice its benefits.
On the other hand, there are those who prefer immediate solutions and seek to “take something” to not get nervous, for example, pills. But it is better not to depend on external help and to learn by yourself to find calm. And we cannot help but recommend that, to deal with any unpleasant sensations, you consider having the help of a sports psychologist.