Learn how to stay completely calm and go through all the competitions without unnecessary depression. Any athlete before the start of the competition experiences fear and if it is not overcome, this can negatively affect the results of the performance. Whatever the level of the tournament, it is the intense excitement that is most often the reason for the unsuccessful performance. Today we will show you how to overcome fear in competition.
How to overcome fear in competition: general guidelines
Now we will give you three tips to help you get your emotional state in order. To do this, you need to take three steps and our advice is universal. Representatives of any sports discipline can use them.
- Rule # 1. First of all, you must respect your opponents. This is an extremely important point, because if you underestimated your opponent and already see yourself on the first step of the podium, then you forget about everything else. Very often this is the main reason for a bad performance. There are many examples of this in sports. Always push your limits, no matter how strong you think your opponent is.
- Rule # 2. Perhaps someone is already tired of the frequent reminders in articles about the importance of a warm-up. However, without it, it is impossible to conduct effective training and compete with dignity. By warming up your muscles, you reduce the risk of injury in the first place. Agree that if you are the leading player in your team and get injured due to insufficient quality warm-up, then the chances of the whole team for success drop sharply, because a less experienced and skilled player should enter the field.
- Rule # 3. The last important rule is that you must remain confident in your abilities in any conditions. Never think about the bad outcome of a tournament and always set yourself the highest goals.
How to overcome fear in competition: bodybuilding
Often, athletes are confident that they will be able to perform with dignity, but in practice, the opposite happens. To understand how to overcome fear in competition, you first need to understand the reasons for this feeling. In many ways, the emotional state of a person depends on his thoughts. What we think and imagine is the result of fear.
Imagine that you saw a glass of juice on the table and at this moment you already begin to imagine its taste. However, you have not drunk it yet and you cannot know what flavoring qualities this juice has. People are used to feeling what they have already tasted and they know the taste.
This is how we perceive everything that is happening around us. If you look for information on this topic in books on psychology, then you can find many explanations for this fact. It doesn't matter to our brain whether a person sees something or just imagines, and the result will be the same.
Let's find out how to overcome fear in bodybuilding competition. Imagine the excitement in the form of a certain imaginary image. It doesn't matter what exactly this image will be, even if it's just a set of colors. Then it is necessary to determine the location in the imaginary space of you and the imaginary image. Make an effort to push it as far away from you as possible. It's quite difficult, but the technique works just fine. If you manage to master it, then the question of how to overcome fear in competition will no longer interest you. As you work to master this way of dealing with anxiety, you will soon learn to do it automatically. To make it easier for you to master the technique, use the following guidelines:
- Take a stance.
- Particular attention should be paid to breathing, which should be even and deep.
- Hands must be extended in front of you and gently lift them up.
- Continue to move your arms at a slow pace, spreading them out to the sides.
- Lower your arms and join your palms in front of you at the bottom.
This exercise will need to be done several times and will teach you how to suppress fear.
How to overcome fear in competition: boxing
From the outside, it may seem that boxing is a very simple sport and in order to win, you just need to beat your opponent well. However, in practice, everything is much more complicated and here the old eastern proverb fits perfectly, according to which in single combat the winner will be the one who can defeat himself in the first place.
Moreover, this must be done even before the start of the battle. It is difficult to say with complete certainty what is more important for a boxer - to defeat fear before the start of the fight or to win the fight itself. The excitement before a fight can destroy all your talents and completely negate a long preparation. Surely athletes will agree that sometimes the excitement can completely cloud your brain, and the muscles seem to be filled with lead.
Fear of combat can be so intense that sleep patterns and appetite can be disrupted. In the most extreme cases, even loss of consciousness is possible. All of the above applies to representatives of any sports discipline. This is especially true of the first fight or tournament. With experience, athletes can quickly overcome anxiety and fear. With each new fight you feel more confident and you can even create your own method of overcoming fear.
Many athletes try to show complete indifference to the upcoming fight. Moreover, this manifests itself in everything, for example, unhurried behavior in the locker room, a slow pace of warm-up. All of these can help you focus on the upcoming event, namely the fight. By and large, you practically lose interest in the result of the fight, which automatically eliminates the fear for the result. If you are interested in how to overcome fear in competition, then check out our recommendations.
- Be calm and confident on the outside. With calm, measured movements, you can calm your mind, increase your confidence and overcome your fears.
- Don't worry about the outcome of the upcoming fight. We have already spoken about this above and will not repeat ourselves.
- Do not watch your opponent's fights before fighting him. Often, athletes then simply burn out and appear extremely tired and exhausted in the ring. All this leads to defeat. In this regard, we recommend that you do not watch other people's fights before your fight. After completing it, you should have a good rest, and then you can turn to the videos.
- Use breathing exercises to overcome your anxiety. Do not underestimate breathing exercises as they can be a great way to reduce anxiety. You can take a sharp short breath, followed by three short breaths. This exercise should be repeated several times until you feel calmer. By "short" we mean breathing not in full chest. On the other hand, someone, on the other hand, calms down with deep breathing.
- Ignore the attacks of others. Many boxers behave defiantly before the start of the fight and often practice new techniques at home in order to demoralize their opponent. In no case should you succumb to such provocative actions. Often they throw out a lot of emotions before the start of the fight and in the ring cannot show everything they are capable of.
- Don't look at your opponent's titles. Often, a beginner boxer loses a fight even before it starts, if you pay great attention to titles. A good coach will not tell his ward about all the titles won by his rivals, so as not to demoralize his boxer. Any athlete, even masters of sports, feel excitement before entering the ring. If you do not have high-profile titles, then you are even in a more advantageous position, because the responsibility for the result does not hang over you. If you fail, no one will blame you. In turn, the defeat of a titled boxer from a beginner can have an extremely negative impact on his reputation.
- Do a duel with a shadow or work with paws. After a high-quality warm-up before the start of the fight, we recommend that you work with your paws at an average pace or “fight” with a shadow. This often helps to overcome anxiety.
- Listen to motivational music. Choosing the right music will help you overcome your fear. We recommend that you carry the player with you so that you can play the necessary melody at any time.
- Watch a motivational video. Watch boxing masters fights, or motivational videos, which can be found on the same YouTube. This will allow you not only to eliminate fear, but also to set yourself up for the upcoming fight.
- Turn excitement into aggression. Many famous boxers do just that. They disperse their emotions in such a way that they have artificial anger and aggression towards their opponent. Imagine that he is guilty of something, and only you can punish him for this offense.
- Set yourself up for victory. Don't underestimate the power of self-hypnosis. Tell yourself that you are perfectly ready for the fight, convince yourself that you are stronger and more enduring than your opponent. Find the form of motivation that will be most effective for you.
- Ask yourself what you fear. Assess the situation and decide what you are afraid of. Imagine the most terrible scenario for you in the development of combat, and you will understand that fears are greatly exaggerated. As a result, there is no one to be afraid of, and nothing.
- Meditate. Meditation will help you calm down, and we strongly recommend that you include it in your training program.
In conclusion, I would like to say that you can yield not to the enemy, but to your own fear. You need to find an effective way to overcome the excitement before the fight, and you will win.
How to tune in to the competition and not burn out, see the video below:
