Using Preparation to Reduce Anxiety in Sports

Do you get really anxious going into games? Does this anxiety cause you to underperform?

If so, then we want to work to make sure that you are as prepared as possible.

Preparation helps us with anxiety because the more prepared we are going into games, the more confidence we’re going to have.

But also, the more prepared we are in different respects (that I’m going to talk about here in a few minutes), the less anxious you will be in the first place—and the more prepared you are to handle the anxiety when it does come up.

Physical Preparation and Anxiety

When we talk about preparation within sports, I don’t know about you, but the first thing that comes to my mind is physical practice.

How much are you physically practicing throughout the week to be prepared to compete?

I’m going to guess that you are preparing pretty close to as much as possible from a physical standpoint—especially if you’re considering working on your mental game or you’re trying to figure out why you’re anxious.

But if you don’t practice a lot or if there is room for improvement, that is a place that we want to look first.

How much are you preparing for the competition? How much work are you putting in to make sure that you are physically ready to compete?

Physical preparation helps us with anxiety because anxiety itself is focused on fear and doubt.

• I don’t know if I can play well today.

• I really hope I don’t mess up because I’m afraid of getting pulled or I’m afraid of what my stats will look like.

So then I start trying to control the result. I don’t trust that I can get the result. And the more I try to control it, the more anxious I get, the more tight I play, the more tension I play with, and it just doesn’t help me perform well.

That’s where I find underperforming happens as a result of this anxiety.

The more prepared you are physically, the more you can say:

“I trust my preparation. I feel like my skills are where they need to be.”

And then you can let go of the need to control the result.

Mental Preparation Throughout the Week

There is also something to be said for mentally preparing for the competition. And that’s really what I’m referring to when I’m discussing this idea of using preparation to help us with anxiety.

We want to make sure that:

1. We are preparing as much as possible throughout the week knowing that we will likely feel anxious.

2. We prepare for how we will handle the anxiety in the moment.

What we don’t want to have happen is that we show up to the game and we were hoping we wouldn’t feel anxious today…but then we do feel anxious. And as a result, we start to panic and become anxious about the fact that we are anxious—since we know this anxiety ends up hurting our performance.

Mental Exercises During the Week

Mental preparation involves mental exercises that you do throughout the week:

• Exercises to build your confidence

• Exercises to calm your mind and help you be more present

My two favorite exercises when it comes to preparing for a game—especially when we know we’re going to be anxious—are:

1. Visualization: Builds trust in yourself and your skills by imagining yourself playing well and succeeding in different scenarios.

2. Mindfulness: Use mindfulness meditation or mindful breathing to calm your mind and practice being present.

The more confident you are, the less you have to stress and try to control the result.

The more present you are, the less your attention is in the future—which is where anxiety grows.

Your Pregame Routine

We also have to consider what you’re doing:

• The night before the game

• The morning of the game

These help you feel calm, confident, and trusting in yourself.

The Night Before

You might:

• Review your strategy

• Think through good performances you’ve had

• Do visualization

• Do some calming breathing

The Morning Of

You might:

• Ground yourself with meditation

• Remind yourself of past successes

• Use calming and confident self-talk

If you practice consistently and keep up with mental preparation throughout the week and follow a pregame routine, you’re going to be in a much calmer and more confident mindset as the game begins.

Preparing for Anxiety Itself

The final piece of using preparation to help with anxiety is this:

Prepare for being anxious.

Yes, doing your mental and physical preparation will reduce anxiety, but you will likely still feel a little anxious.

So we want to have a strategy for what you’ll do when that anxiety appears—because it will.

Anticipation Exercise

In my one-on-one coaching, we go through an anticipation exercise. We think through everything we can anticipate that will:

• Distract you

• Make you feel anxious

• Make you doubt yourself

Then we come up with strategies to manage each one.

You want to trust yourself not just to play well, but to manage yourself well—your anxiety, your thinking, your frustration.

When you have confidence in that, you no longer fear these emotional states. That reduces a huge amount of negative emotion.

If I’m anxious and I don’t know how to manage it, the first indicator of anxiety will make me panic. That panic makes things worse.

But if I know I have a strategy that’s been effective before, I don’t have to panic. I just apply the strategy.

A Simple In-Game Strategy: The ABCs

A simple technique you can use when you start to feel anxious is called the ABCs:

1. Accept: Accept that you’re feeling anxious. This works against the panic.

2. Breathe: Take a few deep breaths to ground yourself and calm your body.

3. Change my thinking

   • Use positive self-talk: I’ve got this. I know I can play well.

   • Or re-enter your attention onto a controllable, present-moment objective.

If you think ahead of time about what your strategy will be, this increases trust in yourself that you can handle the emotional state. You no longer need to panic when you feel anxious.

Final Thoughts: Are You Truly Preparing?

So my final question for you is: Are you doing everything you can in preparation for the game—from the physical and mental side—to manage your anxiety during competition?

If the answer is no, then that’s a great opportunity to reduce the anxiety.

If you feel like you are preparing enough, maybe you need to reconsider what you’re doing mentally, or maybe it’s time to improve your in-the-moment strategy.

Managing anxiety as athletes is all about:

• Preparing for the situation

• Building your confidence

• Working to be present

And when we do those things, we notice ourselves able to play more freely because anxiety is no longer holding us back as much.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this article, and if you’re interested in learning more about managing your anxiety or working through any other mental challenge click here to schedule a free introductory coaching call, or fill out the form below.

I’ve also created two online mental training courses for athletes:

• The Confident Competitor Academy
• The Mentally Tough Kid

And if you’re more of a reader, check out my books:

• Mind Games
• Athlete Mental Training

Thank you for reading and I wish you the best of success in all that you do.