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EX
PE
RI-M
EN
TA
L!

eXperiMent
CHEMICAL BROTHERS
al
of confi dence and this can be a good into the real situation. through drills and workouts and then
thing. Harness this so that you can • Have a phrase handy to use when not be prepared for intensity of certain
look your opponent in the eyes in a you start to feel nervous. This games or performance competitions.
friendly, confi dent manner. Project a acknowledges the onset of your Most coaches already know that training
confi dent voice. Play with a panache nerves but also gives you a tool to under the conditions you will compete
but don’t take silly risks. combat it. Keep the phrase simple, in is extremely helpful for reaching
such and easy, such as ‘big and peak performance – players become
strong’ and use it consistently when so familiar with the situation that when
SITUA
TION T
HRE
E:
you start to feel nervous. it arises they can perform under the
PRE-M
ATCH N
ERV
ES
• If you see yourself failing at pressure. The more familiar a person is
eMotIoNS FeLt something, you’re more likely to fail. with a situation the less anxiety he/she
• worry Try to get your imagination going in a has. Hopefully, with less anxiety, there
• excitement positive direction. Instead of seeing are fewer errors.
• anxiety yourself getting it all spectacularly Sometimes hockey players think people
• Nervousness wrong, see yourself succeeding “crack” under pressure from external
extraordinarily. Train your mind to be events such as a bad day in the offi ce.
what’S GoING oN IN MY BodY? positive, and your mind and body are But think about why some athletes
Knowing that you’re heading out into an likely to stay in that positive mode continue to play well or even get fuelled
important game, or facing local rivals, for your games. Don’t let negative by these challenges? It is because most
or even simply thinking that you want images or words pollute your pressure (not all) is from the inside and
to play well, can create that ‘butterfl y preparation. we call this internal pressure. How you
stomach’ that everyone has had at talk to yourself is extremely important
some point in their life. Some believe and all players “coach” or talk to
that this is caused by the release of
CON
CLUS
ION themselves while competing. This self-
epinephrine, or adrenaline which pulls talk can be negative or positive, critical
blood away from the stomach and every athlete experiences nervousness, or assuring, anxiety building or calming.
sends it to the muscles. This reduced fear, negativity, lack of confi dence Coaches can work with you and help
blood fl ow, in turn, causes the stomach and excitement at some point of their you understand how to use this tool
to temporarily shut down, causing an career – if not nearly every match. The in competitive and practice situations.
irritating feeling and affecting how well key is in turning these feelings to your When you make mistakes you often try
you run and pass and receive the ball. advantage or learning how to CONTROL so hard to correct or make up for the
Pre-match nerves are also associated any negativity from what you are mistake that you create another one.
with worry which is an unpleasant feeling. Such ‘performance psychology’ This often means you are still picturing
feeling associated with uneasiness and is not just for elite athletes. It is just or recalling the error yet trying to
apprehension which results in a decline as important to teach novice hockey move on to the next play or demand.
in performance because of the negative players the skills of visualization, goal Visualizing can help some players
‘self-talk’ that often distracts the mind setting, self-confi dence and how to cope but it is not benefi cial to rehearse or
from focusing on what you need to with winning and losing. More advance keep imagining errors. It is also not
do in the match. The body’s nervous goals might include understanding helpful for coaches to tell their players
reaction to performing can rob us in just attention and focus shifts and how to instructions phrased as negatives,
a few seconds of the confi dence and create and change momentum in the such as “Don’t undershoot the target”,
experience built up during the course of course of competition. or “make sure not to pop up too soon”.
our career. Peak performance training can teach You must fi rst picture positive images
a hockey player how to create a shift in order to then think about what you
how do I oVerCoMe ProBLeMS? in momentum or to regain control are suppose to do. Phrase suggestions
even top level athletes get pre-match of a match. One of the best tools for in the positive, such as: “shoot for the
nerves. But they have learnt to teaching to play under pressure and target spot”.
overcome these feelings and so can you. cope better with it is for coaches to train Unless you were created in a science
Tips include: their athletes in pressure settings. Many lab by Cyberdyne Systems and go by the
• There’s a lot of pressure associated athletes can get used to simply going name of T-1000 you’ll experience many
with performance, and it’s natural to feelings over the course of a hockey
be nervous. If you are nervous before season. Next time you do, don’t just
competition, try to use that feeling to walk back to the clubhouse and have a
further motivate you. It’s good to try beer. Think about how you felt, why you
and duplicate the situation as closely felt like that and learn how to always
a
ge 25
as you can beforehand in practice, so make it work for you. P
that you are prepared when you get

puSh
controlling nerves can boost performance
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