There’s no such thing as nerves!?!?!
Do feelings of nervousness, anxiety or fear interfere with your performance? Do you perform well during training, however “choke” in the moment? Do you expect and endure feeling highly anxious in these high pressure scenarios? If this sounds all too familiar, you need to read on, because this does not need to be the case. You can easily turn things around, simply by knowing how your body and mind work.
So why do we get anxious?
Everyone experiences some form of anxiety. It is the body’s way of responding to perceived threats in the environment, and is an automatic reaction that prepares the body to ‘fight’ or ‘flee’. That’s right, an automatic reaction. Because our brain cannot tell the difference between an actual dangerous situation and a situation that we interpret as being dangerous, our body automatically reacts (to both real and perceived situations) by pumping adrenalin through our system.
Now obviously many sporting situations are not dangerous situations, but because we perceive something is scary (eg., our opponents, audience, making selection, getting a place, waiting to perform, etc), our brain sends a message to our body to prepare itself for danger.
How does our mind typically respond to perceived danger?
We worry. We worry about all the negatives and talk to ourselves about all the negatives. This in turn leads us to be focused on the negatives. A mind that is focused on the negatives finds it very difficult to focus on the task at hand.
How do our bodies typically respond to perceived danger?
By pumping adrenalin. By pumping adrenalin the body prepares itself to escape/run. As a result we may experience an increased heart rate, sweaty palms, nausea and fidgeting, etc. We don’t actually experience “nerves”; we are experiencing the effects of adrenalin.
So, if we take a closer look at the brain-body connection it is easy to see that when faced with a perceived danger we experience thoughts, and these thoughts tell our body to release adrenalin. We then experience the effects of the adrenalin and interpret this as nerves. But, are nerves really a bad thing? Or is it simply adrenalin? Adrenalin has some great benefits if it is managed well and not blown out of proportion.
So how do I stay in control in high pressure situations?
Change your mind and change your body! That is, change the way you think about the stressors you face and the physiological changes you feel, and control the extent of your physiological reaction.
Tip:
Next time you experience some stress and you start telling yourself that you are feeling nervous, try telling yourself that this is simply adrenalin. Rather than have an intense conversation inside your head about the negatives (eg., how much slower you are than your opponent), try telling yourself about your strengths and stay focused on the task at hand. And rather than get stressed because you can feel your heart beating out of your chest and your palms are sweaty, try managing your breathing by taking 3 deep breaths to get your heart rate down and reduce the body’s need to sweat.
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