Managing Performance Anxiety

Your child can struggle with performance anxiety. 

Performance anxiety manifests in athletes in different ways. 

For some athletes, it is:

• Nerves before practice or competition.  
• It is feelings of nausea.  
• Panic attacks. 

Performance anxiety can be tied to an intense fear of failure or worry about performing at a high level.  There can be underlying issues contributing to performance anxiety that we discuss in other parts of the Successful Sports Parents Workshop. 

 When performance anxiety peaks - I often ask the parent, in 5 years from now, will this moment, this competition, really matter? 

Sometimes - the parent and the athlete will decide to skip the competition. Together you are in the best spot to make that decision.  

Tools for performance anxiety:

 Use your breath with anchor words calm and confident. 

In the video below - I share how my athletes use their breath and keywords on inhalation and exhalation to center and calm. The video is from my online mental performance training program that you can purchase if you find this valuable. 

Meditation for performance anxiety.

Elite athletes are using meditation as part of their routine to manage their performance anxiety. 

Elite athletes know that meditating improves focus and concentration, and reduce stress.

Athletes at all levels can benefit from meditation. In the video below, I share my intro meditation, Letting Go. It is a very physical and easy meditation for people hesitant to try meditation. Often, my athletes feel very relaxed and calm after the Letting Go Meditation.

Tapping for performance anxiety.

Tapping for performance anxiety

Athletes can use tapping, also known as emotional freedom, to help manage performance anxiety.
Tapping sends a calming signal to your amygdala, which has a role in anxiety responses to stressful situations.

What can you do as a parent to help your athlete navigate performance anxiety:

Tapping for performance anxiety

1) Acknowledge that it is normal to be nervous before competition

2) Model how they can use their breath to center and calm. 

3) Share these videos with your athlete and practice the exercises with them.

4) Tell your athlete that you are proud of them regardless of how they perform. 

5) Help your athlete focus on what they can control. 

L= Leadership

E= Effort

A=Attitude

D= Discipline

E= Enthusiasm

R= Respect for the rules, officials, opponents, teammates, and self. 

6. Help your child face their fears. 

For example:

Ask what if you don't play well? 

What will happen?  We will be back at practice tomorrow improving. 

Often performance anxiety is tied to a fear of failure. 

When we face and walk through that fear, the consequence is often smaller than our greatest fear.