Get Your Mind Right – Mental Focus
Performance anxiety is a challenge that affects many young athletes, and can often become an issue when it comes time to get on the field and really shine.
One of the concerns with this condition is that it will often not become evident until it is time for a competition.
This means that you can rock all of your workouts and practices, but then still seem to fall short when it comes time for the big game.
A greater challenge that this can represent is that fact that it is easy to become worn down by these feelings of doubt.
The longer that performance anxiety persists, the more likely it is that it will also eventually affect things like:
Motivation to practice or workout
Staying engaged in the game
Remaining passionate about your sport
Keeping focus on personal goals, whether they are sports related or not
This also means that taking steps to change your mindset and learning about better coping skills to overcome the anxiety can also benefit you in other life pursuits.
Why Do Athletes Get Stressed?
The biggest reason that young athletes succumb to these mental games like performance anxiety is because you have such high expectations of yourself.
Ironically, these expectations can also be the key to keep pushing yourself through the doubt, and proving to yourself just how skilled you are.
It can be very important to remember that:
You are your greatest competition
You are going to be your harshest judge
You are the one who has the ability, but may not be using it
When you look at your anxiety as a reciprocal of your own sense of self, you can also start to examine the fact that worry about failure is what is keeping you from competing well in the first place.
But really, if you never show off what you can do, haven’t you already given in to the failure you fear?
At Core 1 Inc., we work with student athletes to uncover these subconscious reasons that can create obstacles to your sports performance.
Working through these challenges, you will be able to break new barriers with your abilities, and you will also be able to stay engaged and motivated in your sport.
Contact us now, we can help you to work through the mental barriers that are keeping you from being a super-star.
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