Excessive Tension
The purpose of practice is to acquire skills and physical strength that are useful in games, but actually performing them in real games is surprisingly difficult. In particular, in important games with high pressure, players may become so nervous that they cannot play as they do in practice. So how can we solve this problem?
You get nervous because you are motivated
First, understand that being nervous is not a bad thing. The reason you feel nervous is because the game is important to you. Because you are full of motivation. Because you want to do your best. Anyone feels nervous in such situations. In fact, top-level athletes tend to feel nervous even more.
When you are nervous, your breathing and heartbeat speed up. This is your body preparing to move at full capacity. If you are in a relaxed state like sitting on a sofa, you cannot perform in a competition. So a certain level of nervousness is necessary for good performance.
That said, it is obvious that being overly nervous is a problem. When nervousness reaches its limit, it is called “choking under pressure” or “freezing up.” In this state, your mind goes blank and your hands and feet may shake. Naturally, you cannot expect good performance like this, so you must remove unnecessary tension and maintain an appropriate level of nervousness. Below are some causes of excessive nervousness and ways to overcome it.
Perfectionism
First, perfectionism is a cause of choking under pressure. The feeling that “I must play perfectly” creates unnecessary pressure.
For a pitcher, thoughts like “I must not give up any hits” or “I must pitch right on the edge of the strike zone” arise. For a batter, “I must not make any mistakes” or “I must not strike out” may appear.
However, if you never allow hits, you would achieve no-hitters every game, and if you never mis-hit, you would have a perfect batting average of 1.000 every game. You should realize that imposing such unrealistic standards—ones even top players rarely achieve—is not practical.
If you instead think, “It’s okay to allow hits as long as I don’t give up runs,” or “Even if I mis-hit, I’ll swing aggressively,” you can play without choking under pressure.
Excessive self-consciousness
Excessive self-consciousness is another cause of choking under pressure. Worrying about how others see you creates pressure—namely, the feeling that “I must meet others’ expectations.”
Wanting to meet the expectations of supporters can be a positive force, but in this case, those “others’ expectations” are often something you have imagined yourself. In other words, you may be placing too much expectation on yourself.
In reality, coaches, teammates, and spectators are not thinking about you as much as you imagine. People tend to focus on themselves rather than others. The fact that you are so preoccupied with yourself when you are nervous is proof of this.
Once you realize this, you can let go of excessive self-expectation and feel more relaxed. You cannot perform beyond your ability anyway, so focus on what you can do right now.
Pessimism
Pessimism is a cause of fear and hesitation. The more you want to win, the more afraid you become of losing. Your opponent may seem overwhelmingly strong, and worries may fill your mind, creating pressure.
A certain amount of anxiety can sharpen your focus, but you must not overestimate your opponent or your worries. Your opponent is also human and cannot always perform at 100% in every game. Moreover, most of the things you worry about will never actually happen.
Once you have prepared as much as you can, stop overthinking and accept the situation. Since you cannot control the outcome, you can only focus on the process and do your best. This is the idea of “do everything within your power and leave the rest to fate.”
Move your body
In addition to these ways of thinking, physical actions such as deep breathing, jumping, sprinting, or shouting can also be effective in relieving excessive tension.
In particular, deep breathing should be used as a routine to calm yourself in important moments. If you can still remember to breathe deeply even when nervous or scared, it is proof that you are handling the situation calmly.
Enjoy the game
In this way, if you can remove unnecessary tension while maintaining a high level of motivation, you will be able to perform comfortably as you do in practice.
On the other hand, instead of becoming overly nervous or scared, some players become angry or lose motivation during games. This is because they are afraid of getting nervous. They are stuck just before reaching a state of tension.
Since good performance is impossible without some level of nervousness, try experiencing intense tension to the point where your body shakes—and then learn to release it. If you can do that, your concentration will improve and you will be able to enjoy playing.
PDF Link : 5. Nervousness