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How can mental skill training help me to stop being so nervous?
When the competition is on, athletes describe a wide range feelings. From mild butterflies to feeling “sick” to their stomach.
Nerves before a competition or a test can be alarming if you are new to mental skills training. Anxiety or worry often takes the form of butterflies in the stomach.
To the untrained, these butterflies are a bad thing, something that you need to get rid of. You might be surprised that mental skills training does not seek to eliminate the butterflies, but instead, to manage them.
An alternate view on Butterflies
I teach athletes to “get the butterflies to fly in formation.” In other words, instead of feeling scattered and pulled in many different directions, you will gather all the scattered energy and channel it in one direction. Use it to gain control, and focus on what you are doing in the current moment.
The nerves and anxiety are a sign that you care about the task coming up, and that your body is ready for the challenge.
Now that you understand that nerves are an important part of a spectacular performance, you can get back to the task at hand–skating your best in the competition or performance.
You must next bring your focus back to the the present moment. Deep breathing can help to quiet your mind so that you can focus with more clarity.
Simple deep breathing:
- Put your hand on your abdomen about 2 inches below your belly button.
- Take 7 slow deep breaths down to the area of your hand.
- Breathe in through your nose for 4 slow counts.
- Breathe out through your mouth for 7 slow counts.
Practice this technique before you skate. You want to be relaxed and ready to perform, which means that you need to balance the butterflies with the calm feeling.
Note: There are many different breathing techniques you can use. Feel free to substitute something that works for you. For the purpose of this article, I chose a simple technique that will get the job done.
Action Plan:
- Understand that nerves and anxiety before a competition is normal. It is your body’s sign that you are ready to perform your best.
- Imagine the butterflies in your stomach flying in a “V” formation, much like migrating birds, or if you want to get fancy, have them move in and out of formation like a marching band during halftime at a football game.
- Use deep breathing to collect yourself and refocus on the present moment.
Mental skills training can improve your ability to improve in practice and compete with confidence. If you want to learn more, download “Confidence Myth Busters,” a complimentary eBook to get started.