Performance anxiety can affect anyone regardless of their skill or experience level. For athletes, this fear can be a major obstacle to success. Fortunately, there are ways to manage sport performance anxiety and get back in the game.
Sport performance anxiety is the fear of not performing well in a competitive situation. It affects athletes from all sports and levels of competition, from recreational to professional. Symptoms include physical tension, mental distraction, and difficulty focusing on the task at hand.
The first step to overcoming sport performance anxiety is understanding what triggers it for you specifically. Everyone has different fears and anxieties that need to be identified before they can be addressed properly. Knowing your own triggers will help you create an individualized plan for managing your own performance anxiety going forward.
Next, it’s important to develop strategies for dealing with those fears when they arise during competition or practice sessions. Deep breathing exercises are one way to quickly reduce stress levels and refocus attention on the task at hand instead of worrying about what could go wrong during an event or game.