Working with Performance Anxiety - April 2021
As meet season is coming to an end, I wanted to make sure I talked about performance anxiety and give some tips to help your gymnast perform their best. As a former gymnast, I am fully aware of the anxiety going into competition, especially higher-stake competitions such as States, Regionals, or Nationals. As a gymnast, anxiety got the best of me and I spent so much time trying to avoid it that I was unable to focus on what I had to do to make sure I performed my best. If your gymnast does not compete how they practice, make sure they learn the following tips to help them learn to embrace the anxiety.
Tip # 1: Realize anxiety is NORMAL. First and foremost, it is important to realize and recognize that anxiety is NORMAL. In performance, anxiety more often than not comes from a place of caring and wanting to do well than from a place that something bad is going to happen.
Tip # 2: We need to realize that our brain is always scanning out what could go wrong. It is part of our survival mechanism and helps protect us from danger. Unfortunately, our mind won’t let us only think positively. We need to learn to EMBRACE the anxiety because the more we try to ignore the anxiety the more our mind draws attention to it. This can be deadly for performance because instead of focusing on the technique we need to make sure we execute a skill correctly. Mindfulness and meditation are some of the best ways to train the brain to feel anxiety but be able to continue to focus on what needs to be accomplished.
Tip # 3: Anxiety causes many unwanted and uncomfortable physical sensations: racing heart, butterflies in the stomach, tense body, shakiness, and increased breathing. Anxiety sends our body into fight or flight mode which may be helpful if we are trying to complete the last tumbling pass in our floor routine but is not so useful when trying to balance on a 4-inch beam. Diaphragmatic breathing is one of the best ways to calm the body down when feeling anxious. Use the following breathing technique:
Inhale for 4
Hold in breath for 4
Exhale for 6
Tip # 4: Focus your attention on what you can control. Anxiety often stems from things outside of our control: What score you will receive? Who will your competition be? Will the equipment be different than what the gymnast uses at their gym? Our brain can only focus on 1 thing at a time. It cannot be focusing on specific techniques and worrying about falling. Have your gymnast go through their routines and develop specific cues to use before, during, and after skills to help their mind stay focused on the things they can control.
Tip # 5: Separate yourself from your anxiety and worries. Have your gymnast create a “Mental Locker.” When they start to have any anxious thoughts have them visualize taking that thought and placing it into a box/locker. This tip can also be done by having the gymnast before a meet write out all their worries and or fears. Have them create their own box that has positive affirmations on the outside and have them physically place their worries or fears on the inside. Oftentimes just verbalizing and becoming more aware of anxiety and worries allows the gymnast to feel more in control and recognize them as just emotions and thoughts.
The nerves were there. They were unavoidable, really. Yet rather than greet them with anxiety or fear as she did the last time she stood on the competition floor, Laurie Hernandez embraced them.
Here's What People Are Saying ...
Testimonial: Ariana worked with my 10-year-old daughter who is competing level 5. She had some fears with her bhs on beam and her flyaway. It was great for my daughter to talk with someone who knows and has done the sport. She was able to relate to Ariana and felt a sense of relief that someone else experienced what she was going through. Ariana taught her different ways to work through her fears. Not every way worked but my daughter found a way that worked for her which is why Ariana is so amazing! She gives you different tools until you find the one that works for you. My daughter also deals with negative self-talk. We’re still working on this but my daughter doesn’t do it as much as she used to. I believe all athletes would benefit from mental coaching. My daughter overcame both her fears- bhs on beam and flyaway by using the tools she was taught. (Megan - parent of a gymnast).