Although it may seem like athletes are always prepared, nerves can be something that affects everyone. There are many different ways that athletes can deal with nerves. This could include personal things to calm them down, such as items that they have or things to give them energy, like music, to take their mind off of their nerves. Although there are ways to calm athletes down, they still believe that nerves can affect their performance in their games or competitions.
“I feel like my nerves definitely affect my performance,” senior Gianna Riforgiato said. “When I am nervous, I have a much harder time playing under control and all I can think about is how I’m nervous instead of thinking about the game.”
When athletes do not have their thoughts and nerves under control, they feel as if they do not perform as well as they could. In order to calm these nerves, many athletes have different things or techniques that they perform.
“I have a necklace for my grandpa, and before every performance I hold the necklace and act like I’m talking to him,” sophomore Alexis Dalton said. “Doing this really calms my nerves.”
This is something that is really personal for Dalton, but other people like to do things to excite them or give them before their games to make them less nervous.
“I will usually listen to music before my games,” senior Kobe Kriese said. “This gets me excited and if you go into a game nervous, you are not going to play as well.”
Nerves are something that most athletes experience, but everyone has a different way of dealing with them. Being nervous is a very normal feeling for many athletes and there are many ways for athletes to figure out how they like to deal with the nerves personally. Calming nerves may lead to improved performance during their games or competitions.
