Sports Performance Anxiety

esjones12

Has anyone dealt with this? Or know any good tips or resources to look into?

My friend has me Google researching sports performance anxiety and cognitive distortions after pointing out that before every race I freak out pretty bad. I've done well over 30 races in the past three years. And I grew up riding horses and have done countless horse shows since I was 12. I also played sports for years. I'm no stranger to athletic performances. But now I mostly focus on OCR's like Spartan Races. It starts days before the race and I usually enter the starting corral trying not to puke my guts out. As soon as I cross the start line though - I am 100% focused on each step I take. The nerves completely disappear. When I'm on course, I am super happy to be there.

Part of me thinks I build it up in my head so that when I am on course I'm like "oh, this is not nearly as bad as I thought - let's go kick some booty". But....it makes the few days before the race next to impossible to stay focused during work. I freak out over little stuff. I stress over non-race related things. I think it is an unhealthy level of anxiety prior to an athletic performance.

I think I worry most about not performing to my personal expectations. I don't care about people watching or anything like that. There are specific obstacles that make me face some fears that always concern me even though I've completed them many times. I don't even fear getting hurt or not finishing.

Edited to add - I don't have anxiety issues outside of this specific situation.

DavPul

i like to think about sex when i'm playing baseball. keeps me on my toes and into the game.

Pinnacle_IAO

DavPul wrote: »

i like to think about sex when i'm playing baseball. keeps me on my toes and into the game.

Dude, if I did that, that pitched ball would swoosh past me and STRIKE!

Huh? What happened?

As for my own such issues, I found the more I perform, the less emotional I become.
We learn by doing.
The more I play, the more relaxed I am.

GOOD LUCK!

esjones12

Pinnacle_IAO wrote: »

DavPul wrote: »

i like to think about sex when i'm playing baseball. keeps me on my toes and into the game.

Dude, if I did that, that pitched ball would swoosh past me and STRIKE!

Huh? What happened?

Right?

My issue is leading up to the game/race....During the athletic event I've always been able to focus on the goal (scoring, finishing the race, etc).

msf74

You sound petrified of failing and embarrassing yourself - which can be common just not to the level you are exhibiting.

I would suggest having three different outcomes for the day to help take away the pressure:

1) Good: having a good time and finishing
2) Better: having a good time and finishing within a certain time
3) Best: having a good time and finishing with a PB

Tell yourself if any of those outcomes occur your event will be considered a success to you. You can use your rational mind to therefore crowd out the subconscious fears which pop into your head and try and derail you.

Incidentally if you want to check out a cool theory on sports performance then google the "Central Governor" theory...

DavPul

esjones12 wrote: »

Pinnacle_IAO wrote: »

DavPul wrote: »

i like to think about sex when i'm playing baseball. keeps me on my toes and into the game.

Dude, if I did that, that pitched ball would swoosh past me and STRIKE!

Huh? What happened?

Right?

My issue is leading up to the game/race....During the athletic event I've always been able to focus on the goal (scoring, finishing the race, etc).

trust me, focusing on finishing is NOT going to help. Wait, what are we talking about? Oh, NVM.

seriously speaking, being nervous before an event is perfectly natural and virtually all athletes face it at some point. as long as it doesn't hinder your preparation for the event or cause you to turn in a subpar performance during the event I wouldn't worry about it.

jacksonpt

When you talk about performing up to your expectations... do you mean finishing time?


IME, finishing times are dependent on a variety of things, only some of which you have control over. I try to evaluate my race performance with regard to my training. Based on my training and preparation, was my performance the best I could reasonably expect from myself? If so, then I try to be happy with my race and my time. If not, well.... that's a different story.

A successful race is one where I execute my plan and run the race I know I'm capable of running. If that means I set a PR, great. If not, so be it.

esjones12

msf74 wrote: »

You sound petrified of failing and embarrassing yourself - which can be common just not to the level you are exhibiting.
I would suggest having three different outcomes for the day to help take away the pressure:
1) Good: having a good time and finishing
2) Better: having a good time and finishing within a certain time
3) Best: having a good time and finishing with a PB
Tell yourself if any of those outcomes occur your event will be considered a success to you. You can use your rational mind to therefore crowd out the subconscious fears which pop into your head and try and derail you.
Incidentally if you want to check out a cool theory on sports performance then google the "Central Governor" theory...

I actually usually have a "goal time" and a "i really want to do this" time. And I've failed them both before and was still happy with myself after the race, because the race was much harder than anticipated. In my last race I learned that finish times are impossible to set and base your results off of. My time was way longer than I thought it should have been (I was comparing it to a different venue)....turned out I had cut my best percentage placing in HALF that race. Talk about improvement!

jacksonpt wrote: »

When you talk about performing up to your expectations... do you mean finishing time?
IME, finishing times are dependent on a variety of things, only some of which you have control over. I try to evaluate my race performance with regard to my training. Based on my training and preparation, was my performance the best I could reasonably expect from myself? If so, then I try to be happy with my race and my time. If not, well.... that's a different story.
A successful race is one where I execute my plan and run the race I know I'm capable of running. If that means I set a PR, great. If not, so be it.

I've yet to be disappointed in a race performance after the fact. And maybe the fear of being disappointed in myself after the race is what causes so much anxiety before the race? I would only be disappointed in myself if I did not leave 100% on the course. If I cheated, or quit or something like that. If I give it all....that's all that matters. I did an 12HR endurance event that I was actually DQ'd from because I was too slow at one part. But it is the proudest moment of my life because I drove my body and mind to places they had never been and I never quit. They forced me to stop.

senecarr

DavPul wrote: »

i like to think about sex when i'm playing baseball. keeps me on my toes and into the game.

Ever get awkward when barreling into first full contact?

JoRocka

DavPul wrote: »

i like to think about sex when i'm playing baseball. keeps me on my toes and into the game.

that's because baseball is boring and barely qualifies as a sport.

anxiety pre race jitters are always a thing. I find comfort in the work I've done in advance. You just do the best you can.

yusaku02

DavPul wrote: »

i like to think about sex when i'm playing baseball. keeps me on my toes and into the game.

I bet no one even tries to box you out
dang, read that as basketball for some reason... I guess there's still a joke to be made about pitching (a tent)