Volleyball season officially started last week, at least where we live, and my daugher Chantal was fortunate enough to make her high school varsity team. Now that tryouts are over she can relax a little and start focusing on improving her game, but let me say that she came very close to not being selected. During the summer she had the opportunity to practice on weekends with a newly-established club, and toward the end of the summer break she attended a week-long volleyball camp. These extra hours of training gave her a definite advantage, but she almost failed to make the team because during the tryouts she became so overwhelmed by both the pressure to perform and the competition she faced, that she lost her focus and consequently her ability to play. 

Since making the team, Chantal and I have talked about her experience in an attempt to understand why she got so nervous and what she could do in future to avoid letting the nervousness affect her concentration. One of the things I felt that impacted her a great deal, was her awareness of the other girls around her, and her perception of how her skills compared with theirs. Chantal on the other hand, felt that her nervousness mainly stemmed from a heightened fear of not being able to impress the coaches. What she didn’t realize was that her fear almost transcribed itself into a reality.

So what does one do to calm their nerves when under pressure? Veteran sports coach Reed Maltbie says that the mind must be trained to compete, just as the body is. If the mind succumbs to the nervousness, then “you are fighting a losing battle,” says Coach Reed. “You’ve already convinced yourself that you can’t compete, so the body responds with sub-par performance.” Some of the techniques that Coach Reed suggests will help athletes to prepare for competition include the following:

• Practice with athletes who are better than you. Practicing with athletes who don’t meet your standards can be good for self-esteem, but it will only bring your standards down in the long run.
• Put yourself through a tough workout and practice mentally pushing yourself to go further.
• Have a phrase that you repeat to yourself to remind you of your goals.
• Have confidence in your training. Know that what you did to prepare is enough. On competition day, don’t focus on your opponent and spend energy worrying about their abilities, focus on yourself.

I could use this practical advice myself. I’ve been training for my next marathon and I have a goal finish time but there are days when I start to doubt that I have what it takes. I must remember Coach Reed’s warning that my body will respond with a sub-par performance if my mind has already set me up for failure. It’s not easy to change my mindset but I am certainly going to try! And in doing so I hope I will influence Chantal to do the same…….