Strategies for Reducing Pregame Nerves

Speaker 1 1:21

Welcome back to the Raising Elite Competitors podcast . I'm Coach Bree , a mental performance coach for girl athletes , and I am thrilled that you are here with me today . Whether you are a sports mom just getting going on this journey , or maybe you have a lot of experience and your athlete daughter has been through the middle school sports , through the high school sports and you are the team mom doing all the things wherever you are in the journey , this podcast is for you to help you know how to raise a confident , mentally strong girl athlete . Let's dive into it . Today I am talking about some really simple sports psychology backed ways to help your athlete with pregame nerves , and this is one of the most common things that I hear from athletes themselves . I'm a high school volleyball coach as well and I'm in my season currently , and a lot of girls are dealing with some of that pressure and those nerves that come with pregame . But I also hear it from athletes who are just starting our program as one of the things that they struggle with , and from parents who are like , oh my gosh , she plays really well in practice and then before a game , she gets so nervous that things start to fall apart . So I'm going to dive into three of the strategies that I use with athletes inside our program the elite mental game , and the same ones that I use with my athletes that I coach in high school volleyball . Now , before I do have a shout out , this is for an athlete who is going through our program , the elite mental game . She texted this into us this past week and she said this week I noticed how EMG has helped me with just being calmer .

Speaker 1 2:45

In general , my tennis season is just starting . I've had a few scrimmages . One of them was really tough an official match and a private practice where I reluctantly worked on altering some of my tennis skills . Through everything , though , I just focused on my mindset and survived it all . I won all of my matches and the private practices ended up improving the skills I was fixing . So huge shout out to this athlete for focusing on what was in her control through . All of this Sounds like the tennis season is . It's a lot . She is under some pressure just knowing the background of this athlete and being able to hone in on her mindset , which then takes out the variables of okay , now she's not believing in herself and she doesn't want to do the tennis skills lessons and she's focusing on how tired she is , like all of those things that are a hundred percent controllable in the mind this athlete was taking out of the equation . So she was just focusing on what she could control and her mindset and , as a result , she's feeling more calm , more in control and is performing better . So congratulations . I cannot wait to hear how things continue to go in the program for this athlete .

Speaker 1 3:45

All right , let's dive into this episode today dealing with pregame nerves . So if your daughter is struggling with this , or does from time to time , often as a parent it's hard to know what do we do in this situation ? We actually are diving into specifically what you can do and what you can say in our free live trainings that are happening . If you're listening to this at the time of recording next week , in the week after , it's kind of the end of September . So if you go to trainhergamecom you can register for one of those live trainings . I go into what you can say as a parent , what you can do and really your role in all that pregame time . It's really just a helpful kind of step-by-step on some strategies that you can have in your toolbox . So that's at trainhergamecom to register for some of those live free trainings , all right , some of the tools that I use with athletes the top three are visualization , mantras and grounding words and breath work . I actually have a bonus one at the end that I'll get to in a second but these are the top three that athletes in our program use most commonly and what I use with athletes as well .

Speaker 1 4:41

So let's talk first visualization . I'm sure if you've been listening to our podcast or you've been around , like the sports , psychology , mental strength world , visualization is just a common thing that is recommended , and visualization why it's so important , though , and backing up visualization is basically an athlete creating an image in their mind of how they want to play and how they want to perform , and , when done correctly and we teach athletes how to do this correctly by activating all five of their senses when they're visualizing so when done correctly , visualization actually activates the same neural pathways in their brain as if they were doing this real life . So , even though they're visualizing , they're not physically doing the skill . They are activating the same neural pathways as if they were Okay , and so this primes and strengthens those connections in the motor cortex , and when they get into the game situation , it makes that physical execution easier and more fluid . Their body and their brain are like . I've been here before . You know this isn't brand new , I've seen this before and that's what visualization can do Not to go like too sciencey here , but also what's happening kind of in your athlete's brain when she visualizes correctly . So she visualizes herself performing how she wants to perform , honestly , just taking a couple of minutes before her game to do this Also activate some mirror neurons , so these neurons fire when a person both performs an action , when they watch it , or imagine it being performed , okay .

Speaker 1 6:08

So visualization activates these mirror neurons , helping athletes practice without actually physically doing the action , which again improves that muscle memory and that coordination . So it's going to help her perform better when she gets out into the competition arena . And when she's doing this visualization and she's activating these mirror neurons , she's literally mirroring the image that she sees inside her head , okay , and that actually then reduces her stress response . So visualization can actually help athletes manage that stress response by creating familiarity with that scenario . Like I said , her brain is like it's okay , this is what is going to happen , this is how it's all going to play out , and that actually lowers her cortisol level and dampens that body's fight or flight response , that response from her sympathetic nervous system that activates the fight or flight which increases her heart rate , her adrenaline , which is all useful , like she needs that before she competes . But most athletes are dealing with like too much of that and it's impacting how they play , okay , and so this reduced stress response can help her focus , calm those pregame nerves . Additionally , visualization also helps with emotional regulation , okay . So again , rehearsing that scenario boosts her confidence , reduces anxiety . It could regulate her emotions , allowing her to stay calm and focused .

Speaker 1 7:21

And lastly , her prefrontal cortex is more involved in this scenario when she's visualizing . So her prefrontal cortex is responsible for planning and decision-making . It becomes engaged during visualization , helping athletes mentally strategize and problem-solve before a game . So all of these things are happening when athletes take a couple minutes to visualize and again , it doesn't have to be long . The visualizations that we give athletes inside the elite mental game are between three to five minutes long . They have specific pregame visualizations to do . They have a visualization associated with their daily mindset routine that they do that focuses on the athlete that they want to be , and so visualization literally becomes just part of their pre-game routine . And , like I said , a couple of minutes of her visualizing how she wants to perform , how she wants to play , can activate these neural pathways , these mirror neurons . Her prefrontal cortex gets engaged , like all of these wonderful benefits that help her kind of reduce her stress response and regulate her emotions .

Speaker 1 8:21

So visualization is that number one skill , okay , number two mantras , or self-talk . She's talking to herself already , whether you realize it or not , and typically it's negative . That's just the feedback that we get and honestly , like you probably hear it , stop saying worst case scenario things , Stop being so hard on yourself , stop thinking you're going to lose and do terrible . So mantras are basically grounding phrases and neutral to positive self-talk . And we know that how athletes talk to themselves is incredibly important with the results that they get . So those of you that watched the Olympics that just happened in this past summer , what I loved is that they were like highlighting Olympians and their self-talk before I would see all over Instagram like athletes and what they were saying to themselves before they were competing , before they were racing , and they were all saying things like I am strong , I am capable , I deserve to be here . All of these really like positive things and we know that there is a strong correlation to how your athlete is talking to herself and what she does in her sport . And here's why Mantras help shift her focus , so they redirect her attention away from those negative thoughts or worries into more of a positive , focused affirmation , which then helps her reduce that overthinking okay , that kind of like overthinking and spiraling that comes before a game and therefore just getting her to really key in on this phrase that grounds her and helps her keep her focused .

Speaker 1 9:43

Mantras , or this self-talk , rewires her thought patterns as well , so regularly repeating positive phrases rewires the brain's neural pathways , reinforcing optimistic and powerful beliefs . So over time this can help reduce her self-doubt , negative self-talk and boost her overall confidence . And this isn't just like pumping her with false positives or anything like just these positive things like that are just coming out of nowhere . No , like when done correctly , and how we teach athletes to do this in the program is that these mantras and affirmations are coming from an activity that they do , where they explore what they want in their sport , what's holding them back from what they want and what this looks like . And so it's coming from the very intentional place . It's not just like picking things out of the air and being like I am strong , I am confident , I am brave . They're very intentional mantras that they use before a game .

Speaker 1 10:29

Other ways that these are really powerful is that it regulates her emotions , like visualization , right . So those positive self-talk mantras help control her stress and anxiety . Okay , calming the emotional centers of the brain , including the amygdala , which is responsible for activating the fight or flight response . Okay , so when her amygdala is sensing threat , and which typically happens before a game , that's when her sympathetic nervous system kicks in and her fight or flight response takes over . The opposite happens when she can regulate her emotions through having these grounding mantras or these affirmations Okay , so her heart rate can come down a little bit , helping her feel more composed and ready to compete . These mantras also boost her confidence . Like I said before , saying things that help strengthen her self-belief allows her to have more of a sense of control over what's about to happen , and that readiness allows her to manage those pregame nerves in a lot more productive way . So mantras , it's not just oh yeah , tell yourself these things and we'll see what happens . Mantras are incredibly powerful .

Speaker 1 11:24

How athletes talk to themselves is a key indicator of how they're going to perform . Okay , the third one breathwork , again up there in one of the most impactful and simple tools that athletes can use to help manage pregame nerves is breathwork . So when I say breathwork , there's a lot of different ways and a lot of different tools and strategies that athletes can use with their breath . To be intentional , obviously athletes are breathing all the time , hopefully , and they're not really aware of it . And what we teach athletes to do if they are feeling kind of out of control with their thoughts and with these pregame nerves , is to focus in on their breath . We teach them strategies like the hot cocoa breath , the box breathing , 3-3-3 breathing all with the intention of expanding their diaphragm , doing these deep diaphragmatic breaths that also engage their parasympathetic nervous system . So , again , that's the opposite of the sympathetic nervous system , so engaging their rest and digest rather than their fight or flight response .

Speaker 1 12:17

Okay , that's one of the main benefits of breath work is activating the parasympathetic nervous system so that she can lower her heart rate a little bit , lower her blood pressure , reduce those stress hormones . Again , we need her to have these stress hormones before she competes . We don't actually want her to go out being like calm la la land , but what typically happens and what I hear from athletes , is that they're over the top . So we need this to be a useful amount of adrenaline , a useful amount of cortisol , and , when we go over , breathwork is a good way to bring it back to a good , steady state . Breathwork also regulates oxygen carbon dioxide levels as well as helps balance oxygen and carbon dioxide in the body , which can prevent this hyperventilation which is really common among anxious athletes , especially if you have an athlete that's ever experienced a panic attack before a game , which can be really scary for them . Okay . So breathwork helps restore this balance of oxygen and CO2 and allows the brain and body to function optimally under pressure . Okay , breathwork also increases that focus , that mindfulness . So , in a similar way , then , as visualization reduces muscle tension , boosts mental clarity , it also released endorphins . Okay . So , again , with that increased flow of oxygen that can trigger the release of endorphins , which are natural mood enhancers . So athletes are feeling more positive , more confident . They can counteract these negative emotional states associated with some of those nerves . So these are the top three ways that we help athletes inside our program with pregame nerves so that they can actually go out and perform their best . So visualization , mantras , positive self-talk , breath

Alter Ego Technique in Sports Psychology

Speaker 1 13:46

work .

Speaker 1 13:47

Now I will give a bonus one , because I just can't talk about pregame without this strategy that's just been so useful for some athletes inside a program is called the alter ego technique . So alter ego technique is basically this technique of athletes being able to identify with , either like an object or an animal , or like an image of something that is outside of themselves . And when athletes can imagine that they're turning into something this might sound bizarre , by the way , but they can imagine that they're embodying or turning into something when they go compete . It can actually help them reduce their nerves and go compete how they want to compete . So a real life example of this would be like Sasha Fierce , that's the alter ego to Beyonce , and Black Mamba is the alter ego to Kobe Bryant Okay , and Clark Kent's alter ego is Superman . So those are just examples that everybody would know .

Speaker 1 14:39

But in our program , athletes create their alter ego and it's either , like most athletes , choose some sort of animal , or like some sort of like physical representation of how they want to play and compete , or they'll say , like a name maybe it's not even their name , but a name that they really like that reminds them of an aggressive version of themselves or even to like themselves their name 2.0 . So like Bree 2.0 . Okay , which is kind of fun . And how this works is that actually allows you to choose a name that you want to play with . So if you're a player , you can choose a athletes to disassociate a little bit from their self-doubt . Because if it's like I'm Brie , who maybe is a little shy , but I am a volleyball player so I need to be aggressive , like it's required of me to play well , I can disassociate a little bit from who I am as a maybe more of a shy , reserved person while I'm on the court . While I'm on the court , I can be Brie 2.0 , or I can be like aggressive , and the example I give I think moms will relate with this is Red Ross . So Red Ross from friends , but it was like Ross's , you know , like kind of intense version of himself and it was like I'm Red Ross . You know I can be Red Ross out on the court and it's okay if I'm not Brie , maybe the more reserved Brie . So example , if that resonates to you , I have watched friends .

Speaker 1 15:49

But disassociation actually is very helpful because it just allows athletes to be free to be this different person on the court , okay , which then boosts their confidence , activates a kind of a different mindset in them . It reduces overthinking . It also creates kind of the sense of play , which is really important . Like this , playfulness is creativity . They don't have to like , overthink or be like , oh , do I need to act this way or act this way ? No , when I step onto the court , I am red Ross , and when I step onto the court , I am Brie 2.0 . And like , this is how she acts , this is how she thinks , this is what she does . When I step off the court , I can be something different . So it's just a useful strategy that I do with all my athletes . All the athletes inside of EMG do it too , so I'm a great one to have in their back pocket . All right , I hope this was helpful too .

Speaker 1 16:33

I know I went a little sciencey on this episode , so hopefully I didn't lose you , but I sometimes think it's helpful just to see , okay , what is the sports psychology like behind some of these tools and these strategies that we teach inside the elite mental game that athletes are using , and athletes find incredible benefit from having tools . That increases their confidence , to knowing that they have tools and knowing that it's okay to feel this way before a game and they have a variety of things that they can lean on . So if you want to learn more about how to develop this in your athlete , we are doing these free live trainings right now . If you go to trainhergamecom , we're talking about the do's and the don'ts of strengthening your athlete diverse mental game so that she can perform her best in her sport and also carry that confidence that she gains throughout her life . So trainhergamecom is where you can register for one of those free trainings . I hope to see you there and I will see you in the next episode .