Dewyyyyy
Norm Smith Medallist
- Oct 28, 2020
- 9,432
- 10,785
- AFL Club
- Hawthorn
Cheers mate!Booze and Drugs!
Seriously tho, nerves are important.
If you aren't nervous you shouldn't be playing.
You just need to be able to focus and concentrate when it matters, usually by focusing on your breathing. Then the nerves will take care of themselves.
Visualisation helps beforehand - visualise the situations you will be in and imagine yourself being successful, focus on your goals - the more you do this beforehand the better your preperation will be. Work thru what you needed to do to be successful when you visualised things and concentrate on doing them on the day as well.
If thinking about your goals makes you nervous this is a good opportunity to practice controlling those nerves, by focusing on your breathing (and your goals once your breathing is cool.)
Glenn Archer used to say he was s**t scared every game. The most courageous player in the comp at the time and one of the most courageous of all time. Herb Elliot, who won a gold medal (1500m) at the Rome Olympics and never lost a race in the mile (1600m) said fear of losing was what drove him on in every race. If you can harness your nerves and your fear then the energy they provide can work for you.
If its getting intense then remember to breathe deeply from your stomach/diaphram and just focus on your breathing for a minute or two - long deep slow breaths, be aware of your feelings but don't dwell or focus on them, just let them flow thru you, breathe deeply and focus on your goals or aims for the situation you are in.
And if you've just ****ed up but are still in the game don't dwell on it. Again, deep slow breathing is good for this.
(In fact, you should do that deep breathing anyway, however nervous you are.)
I appreciate it heaps, focusing on my breathing as you said, nerves are good, shows i care, and i guess using the nerves and fueling it towards being pumped up and ready to thump in and focus 100%.
I'll keep you all updated and i appreciate all the messages, you're literally all legends <3