Tournament Anxiety

Do any of you guys have tips for over coming anxiety in tournaments? The week before the tournament I become nervous whenever I think about it and the night before the event I have trouble sleeping. Before my matches it's hard to stay relaxed.

That's a normal part of the tournament process. I have butterflies up until I step onto that mat then its go time and it all goes away. Its a pretty interesting process. The more you compete the easier it'll get but you'll prob always get nerves :)

Randy Couture says to use mental reframe fear. IE. The physiological responce to fear and excitement are almost identical. So keep telling yourself your excited you'll have the same adrenal responce without the anxiety.


SELF TALK (Randy Couture)

Successful athletes learn to control their emotions and achieve a higher level of performance by using lanquage to create specific results. This is an incredibly powerful skill to have in your arsenal. Olympic figure skating champion Oksana Baiul said, before she skated for the gold medal, that she talked herself into her routine. When Randy was kept in the ring waiting for Vitor Belfort to come out at UFC 15, he said to himself," He must be scared to come out and fight me," No wonder why he was smiling before the fight.

The words you use either out loud or in your head create a physical responce in your body. Language helps create the emotions you feel, the decisions you make, and effects how successful you will become. Positive lanquage gernerally creates a positive outcome. Choosing to use negative disempowering words either out loud or in your head, will almost assure failure

Thanks guys I'm feeling better about it already. The nervousness disappears once my first match starts but I think it deludes my focus. I just have to compete as often as I can until I feel comfortable. One day.....