Dealing with fear
Fear is natural and understandable
You are not crazy. Everyone experiences fear. Even the best athletes and performers in the world.
You can’t make fear go away
You can’t avoid fear or make it go away completely.
Some fear is actually a good thing
Fear is what motivates us to do our best. Fear of getting a bad grade gives you the motivation to do your homework. Fear of embarrassing yourself motivates you to memorize your music before a concert. Fear of getting hurt makes you look both ways before crossing the street and avoid moving cars.
The parts of our brain responsible for fear is also responsible for releasing some useful chemicals into our body to help us perform.
Adrenaline:
The Good:
increases the blood flow to your muscles
increases your heart rate and force
increases the oxygen levels in your blood
speeds up reaction time
All of this can make you much stronger for a short period of time
The Bad:
makes you shake
only lasts for a short period of time
increases how scared you feel
Cortisol:
The Good:
releases glucose into your system giving you energy
makes you more efficient at using that energy
increases your attention and memory
The Bad:
stops your digestive system, giving you the urge to poop or vomit.
makes you less likely to take risks
suppresses your immune system
The trick is to make fear work for you, not against you:
First, you have to be in control of what you see and listen to before and during the game.
This means stop listening to rumors about the size and skill of the team you're going against. It won’t change anything, it will get the fear part of your brain energized before it needs to be. This is why I hate talking about this with you. It’s super damaging to your self-confidence.
Day of the game - Don’t give the fear part of the brain more things to worry about.
this means controlling how what see and hear. Listen to music until practice starts, refuse to engage in conversations with teammates about the other team and don’t look at the other team until the game starts.