Dealing with game day nerves
By Gillian Thomas, Chartered Sport and Exercise Psychologist at GT Sport Psychology
What we do in preparation to play can have a huge impact on how well we start a game. Our psychological preparation to play is equally as important as our physical warm-up that we undertake before each game. By being psychologically prepared to perform we can start the game feeling confident, focused and reduce the risk of choking in high pressure moments.
The science of choking
Regardless of playing experience, there will be occasions during games and during the season where you feel higher levels of pressure. Whether you’re taking a penalty to win the game, defending a line-out on your 5-meter line or playing in front of a large crowd, games can be won and lost in these small moments and that’s sometimes tough to handle. Some players thrive in these situations and others crumble, or choke, under the pressure.
The physiological cause of choking is situated in the pre-frontal cortex (the part of the brain where our working memory is located). In stressful situations, the pre-frontal cortex stops working as efficiently as it should, focusing too much on specific details and disrupting our overall process. Therefore, when in a high-pressure scenario, we can often begin to worry too much about the situation and the consequences of our actions, rather than the task itself. This results in prompting irrelevant cues that compromise our working memory, leading to a disruption in our technique and a potentially detrimental impact on our performance.
Overcoming Nerves
Nerves are a normal part of any sport. Most rugby players will experience them at some point during their playing career. Nerves can be either somatic (physical) or cognitive (mental) and may present themselves in several ways:
Fast breathing
Increased heart rate
‘Butterflies’
Negative thoughts
Poor concentration
There are a number of techniques that we can add to our pre-game prep to help overcome nerves.
Here are three key techniques for you to have a go at:
1) Mindfulness
There are several different types of relaxation techniques that help us relax our bodies and minds. Some of these include yoga, meditation, mindfulness and breathing exercises. By practicing these techniques, you can help ease your nerves in the build-up to game day.
One mindfulness exercise is known as grounding. This process involves using all 5 of your senses to focus your mind on the present and provides a distraction from your nerves. Use grounding in the week you start to notice yourself worrying about your upcoming match. Focus on:
5 things you can see
4 things you can feel
3 things you can hear
2 things you can smell
1 thing you can taste
2) Box Breathing
Once game-day comes, breathing techniques can be effective at minimising nerves. Not only do breathing techniques help to calm nerves, they can also increase the level of oxygen in your blood and this aids your working muscles.
A really simple breathing technique is called box breathing. It involves breathing in for a count of 4, holding your breath for a count of 4, breathing out for a count of 4 and holding your breath for a count of 4. This can be repeated a couple of times until you feel more in control of your nerves. You could even trace a square with your hand to help with the distraction.
In for 4s
Hold for 4s
Out for 4s
Hold for 4s
3) Thought Stopping
Thought stopping can be used to help counteract cognitive feelings of nerves by removing negative thoughts and replacing them with positive ones. For example instead of thinking ‘I don’t want to play against this team, they are top of the league. We’re definitely going to lose,’ the technique of thought stopping helps us recognise the first signs of thinking negatively. Through practice, this thought can then be replaced with ‘I will try my best, we can definitely beat them.’
To start practicing this technique, a thought diary can be used. Keep track of all the thoughts (negative or positive) that you have about your upcoming match. Once you can identify the most common thoughts you have, you can start to think of more positive alternative thoughts. Then, once you start to notice your negative thought creeping in, remember and replace it with one of your alternative positive thoughts.
Final Message
Nerves are a natural part of playing sport, of any level. Try some of these techniques ahead of your next game and find what works for you.
In the words of the Aristotle:
‘We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit’
Need extra help with managing your game-day nerves or seeking support in other areas of sport psychology? Contact Gilly at gtsportpsych@gmail.com