Tweet
Sports competitions can be stressful ordeals. Players who are not prepared to deal with the demands of the game will likely feel overwhelming anxiety. The best way to start preparing yourself is to identify the stressors. Only then can you determine the right attitude to have towards them.
Thoughts of Failure
Nearly everyone has fears of failure from time to time, but no one faces the specter of being a loser more dramatically than an athlete does during a competition. The player may feel this demand coming from himself, his coach, his teammates or his fans. This stress looms large in the minds of some players. Every athlete should probably be somewhat concerned about losing, or they will not bother trying. It is excessive fear and anxiety that is a problem.
One way to cope with the stress of being in a challenging sport is to train correctly and adequately. You will feel less anxiety if you are prepared for the competition than you will if you have reason to doubt your abilities. It is possible to develop more self-confidence by becoming a better athlete. You are intelligent enough to know whether you have prepared and have a chance to succeed, and that knowledge may be able to carry you through for better sports performance.
Overwhelming Goals
Fans often place overwhelming demands on elite athletes. Coaches, teammates and spectators can do the same thing in lower-level sports. The season is just beginning, and everyone expects the hometown team to win the pennant. A child steps into a dojo for the first time, and his parents already have him wearing a black belt in their minds. It happens all the time.
The thing to remember about goals is that there are different levels of goals. There are long-term goals, intermediate goals, and short-term goals. Long term goals (muscle building) may be nice to think about once in awhile, but your day to day actions cannot be guided by them. Long-term goals can be considered during planning phases, and then they should be relegated to random daydreaming sessions. Intermediate goals will help bring structure to your workouts and sports performance.
Short-term Goals
However, it is the short term goals that make everything happen. When goals are broken down into small, manageable goals, they can be accomplished, acknowledged, and put in the past. When you base your sports performance on short-term goals, you can reduce your stress greatly. The long-term goal might be getting the pennant. The intermediate goal might be winning the game.
Yet, there might be hundreds of short term goals in a baseball game, such as throwing a good pitch, making a double play, or getting a hit. By breaking the goals down into manageable bites, you only have to deal with one small stress at a time. Successful athletes often use this attitude of taking one small goal at a time and win great contests that way. The best athletes do not avoid stress altogether, but they know how to manage and use it to their best advantage.
Thoughts of Failure
Nearly everyone has fears of failure from time to time, but no one faces the specter of being a loser more dramatically than an athlete does during a competition. The player may feel this demand coming from himself, his coach, his teammates or his fans. This stress looms large in the minds of some players. Every athlete should probably be somewhat concerned about losing, or they will not bother trying. It is excessive fear and anxiety that is a problem.
One way to cope with the stress of being in a challenging sport is to train correctly and adequately. You will feel less anxiety if you are prepared for the competition than you will if you have reason to doubt your abilities. It is possible to develop more self-confidence by becoming a better athlete. You are intelligent enough to know whether you have prepared and have a chance to succeed, and that knowledge may be able to carry you through for better sports performance.
Overwhelming Goals
Fans often place overwhelming demands on elite athletes. Coaches, teammates and spectators can do the same thing in lower-level sports. The season is just beginning, and everyone expects the hometown team to win the pennant. A child steps into a dojo for the first time, and his parents already have him wearing a black belt in their minds. It happens all the time.
The thing to remember about goals is that there are different levels of goals. There are long-term goals, intermediate goals, and short-term goals. Long term goals (muscle building) may be nice to think about once in awhile, but your day to day actions cannot be guided by them. Long-term goals can be considered during planning phases, and then they should be relegated to random daydreaming sessions. Intermediate goals will help bring structure to your workouts and sports performance.
Short-term Goals
However, it is the short term goals that make everything happen. When goals are broken down into small, manageable goals, they can be accomplished, acknowledged, and put in the past. When you base your sports performance on short-term goals, you can reduce your stress greatly. The long-term goal might be getting the pennant. The intermediate goal might be winning the game.
Yet, there might be hundreds of short term goals in a baseball game, such as throwing a good pitch, making a double play, or getting a hit. By breaking the goals down into manageable bites, you only have to deal with one small stress at a time. Successful athletes often use this attitude of taking one small goal at a time and win great contests that way. The best athletes do not avoid stress altogether, but they know how to manage and use it to their best advantage.