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Dealing
With Anxiety On And Off Court
(1)
It is 15 minutes
before the big game, finals of the Olympic Games, and person A
enters the stadium. The whole stadium is filled with roaring
crowds. He stands there immersed in his surroundings. His arms
and legs begin to shake frantically. Instead of the roaring
crowd all he hears is his racing heartbeat. His preparation
routine goes down the drain. Before he knows it he is required
to jump on the court. Still cold and stiff he goes on court to
play the game.
Person B is on the other end of the
court. He is also cold and stiff but his experience of the past
15 minutes was totally different. He arrived an hour early to
the stadium and found a dark hiding spot in the changing room.
Late night parties from the previous nights caused him to become
totally exhausted. In his sleep he dreams of more parties and
alcohol. His mind was totally shut off from the games and he is
not worried at all because his ability is believed to be way
above any other opponent.
Who would win this game? Well it is
too hard to make a judgment at this point in time. Neither of
the players will be able to perform at their optimum level. In
this case this game is the battle of luck.
In both cases the players has not
found the optimum stress level. Players A's anxiety level has
gone over the roof top, reducing his ability to focus and think
clearly. On the other hand player B is overly confident. Many
may think that not being nervous will be better, however in most
cases a bit of stress and anxiety is more beneficial. The lack
of stress will cause one to loose motivation and perform badly.
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Under stress adrenaline kicks in to
our bloodstream. This substance has both positive and negative
effects. Without being too technical, adrenaline provides us
with the ability to perform well and poorly by making us more
aroused, alert and ready to move or decrease our ability to make
judgments and execute actions properly.
Anxiety or excessive worrying is a
product of negative thinking and negative self talk. It causes
us to feel a lack of control of situations and circumstances.
For a sports person who is about to play an important event,
these thoughts should be the last things that should enter their
minds.
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To reduce anxiety and reach optimum
stress level to maximize our ability to perform it is
important to understand our own needs and be aware of our
own stress and anxiety levels.
It is difficult for someone else to
recognize how stressed or worried we are.
Prior to a game it is vital to spare
a few moments to listen to ourselves. In our prep we should
always think of some times that we performed well and the
amount of training that we have done to get this far.
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 (2) |
We should never focus on or try to
compare our ability to those of the opponent. What you should
remember are the things you can do and is confident in doing.
Remember that the only thing that is under our control is our
own action. Your opponent’s ability or amount of training they
have done is not under our control and you show never try to
control it.
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Ways to prep for a game vary between
different people. Everyone have different ways to psych up
for a game and this is up each individual to find what is
best for them. Some common preparation routines may involve
visualization, listening to music or some may just continue
to do warm up exercises. |
Visualization involves imagining the
self playing and performing well. This way it can boost
confidence and the body will feel ready to perform. It takes the
pressure off from thinking about what the opponent can or will
do and bring the focus back to things one can control.
Others find that listening to
soothing music can relax the mind. Music that one hears can
stimulate positive emotions and feelings especially if the music
was paired with positive events previously. This is a technique
often used in psychological experiments called classical
conditioning. In this case the music is the stimulus when paired
with positive events and performance several times in the past
the person will be conditioned so that the next time they hear
the music it will elicit the positive feelings and help the
player feel more confident about their performance.
Finally there some who find that
warming and exercising prior to a game can take their minds off
the pressure given off by their opponents.
Whether you visualize,
listen to music, do warm up exercises or all three it's up to
you as long as it helps you. There is no right way to a
preparation routine and you are the only ones to know what kind
of routine is best for you. Practice and test out different
preparation routines there is surely one that will work for you.
Photo References
(1)
http://www.badmintonasia.org/newspage.aspx?newsID=200
(2)
http://universalsports.nbcsports.com/articles/inside_sport/2?sport_id=2
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