Feeling nervous before a game, match, or race? You’re not alone. Pre-performance anxiety is incredibly common among athletes at all levels—from youth and amateur athletes to Olympians and world champions, and overcoming nerves in sports is often the key to unlocking consistent, high-level performance.
What Is Sports Performance Anxiety?
Sports performance anxiety refers to the stress, nervousness, or fear athletes experience before or during competition. While a little adrenaline can enhance performance, too much anxiety can hinder focus, coordination, and decision-making. Each individual has a “sweet spot” when it comes to their activation or excitement levels. When this level of activation is too high, it can be experienced as anxiety or ‘feeling jittery’; too low and it becomes apathy.
Quick Stats:
- Studies show that 30–60% of athletes report experiencing some form of performance anxiety.
- It’s most prevalent in youth and amateur athletes, but even seasoned pros like Simone Biles and Naomi Osaka have spoken openly about the impact of anxiety on performance.
Symptoms can be physical (sweating, racing heart, shaking), mental (negative thoughts, fear of failure), or emotional(irritability, panic, low confidence).
The good news? You can learn to manage your nerves by honing your mindset and developing a mental skillset.
Overcoming Nerves in Sports: 10 Proven Strategies to Stay Calm and Perform Your Best
1. Visualization: See It Before You Do It
Mental rehearsal builds confidence and programs your brain for success by creating a roadmap for the outcome you want to experience
How to do it:
- Close your eyes and imagine your performance in detail—your movements, environment, sounds, and emotions.
- Picture yourself executing your role in the overall performance. Imagine the details of small movements, all of which lead to greater outcome you desire
- Use the following categories:
- Mental– what do you want to be thinking about?
- Emotional– what do you want to be feeling?
- Physical– how will your body feel?
- Technical– what sports specific skills will you be utilizing?
Example:
A sprinter visualizes a smooth start, hearing the sound of the gun signaling the time for their feet to explode out of the starting blocks, their quick and powerful strides pushing them forward as each foot strikes the ground, the feel of the wind on their face, hearing the crowd’s cheering, feeling their lungs filling with each breath and crossing the finish line strong and focused.
2. Breathing Techniques: Calm the Storm
Anxiety triggers shallow, fast breathing which can result in frenetic, jerky movements when athletes need to be smooth. Controlled breathing restores calm and focus, allowing the athlete to access their muscle memory.
How to do it:
- Try box breathing: Inhale 4 seconds, hold 4, exhale 4, hold 4. Repeat 3–5 times.
- Use before competition or during high-pressure moments.
Example:
A basketball player steps up to the free throw line and uses one box breathing cycle with their eyes closed to quiet their nerves before taking their shot.
3. Positive Self-Talk: Train Your Inner Voice
Words are important and they do hold power—the way you talk to yourself matters. Replace self-doubt with belief in self.
How to do it:
- Identify negative thoughts (“I’ll mess this up”) and replace them with positives (“I’ve trained hard. I’ve got this”).
- Write down affirmations and repeat them pre-game, “I will play strong and fast”.
Example:
A soccer goalie tells herself, “Stay sharp, stay strong,” “Track the ball, ready to move” before every kickoff.
4. Develop a Pre-Game Routine
Consistency breeds confidence. Routines signal to your brain that it’s time to compete.
How to do it:
- Build a consistent sequence of actions before every performance: stretching, listening to music, breathing, and mental prep.
- Keep it personal and simple. Make sure that everything in your routine is controllable and malleable, ready to use to meet your specific needs of the day. Routines are not superstitions, they may change depending on what you need that day. For example, on a day you find your confidence in shaken, you should devote more time in your mental prep routine to building and reinforcing your confidence.
Example:
A tennis player has identified that they like to be excited, happy, but focused before a match begins. She created a playlist of happy, upbeat music that helped her access those excited, happy feelings. She also identified that her need to be focused required some specific exercises both physical and mental. She goes through her set of dynamic warmup movements and stretches and then finishes with two mental exercises called, The Highlight Reel and The Bag of Tricks , which helped her focus in on her strengths and feel confident.
5. Goal Setting: Focus on Process, Not Just Outcome
Nerves spike when you focus on things you can’t control. Goals bring your attention to the present moment.
How to do it:
- Set process goals (e.g., “Stay low on defense”) instead of just outcome goals (“Win the match”).
- Break large goals into manageable steps.
Example:
A swimmer focuses on strong turns and breathing rhythm instead of stressing about podium finishes.
6. Seek Support: Talk It Out
You don’t have to deal with nerves alone. You’re also not the only one who’s experiencing nerves. Talking about what you’re feeling can help you process the emotion and learn how to face it.
How to do it:
- Share how you feel with teammates, coaches, or family members.
- Consider talking to a sports psychologist or performance coach.
Example:
A youth athlete opens up to their coach about pre-game anxiety and their coach shares how they, too, felt the same way from time to time. They put them in contact with a performance coach who could help with mental skills.
7. Mindfulness: Stay in the Now
Mindfulness reduces overthinking and keeps your focus on the present moment.
How to do it:
- Practice mindfulness exercises like body scans, mindful breathing, or guided meditations.
- Use during warm-ups or in training to build awareness.
Example:
A gymnast focuses on her breath and how her hands feel on the bar to ground herself before routines.
8. Simulate Pressure in Practice
You perform how you practice. Train with pressure to build comfort with it.
How to do it:
- Create game-like scenarios during training: countdowns, scoring pressure, or audience noise.
- Practice handling nerves in low-stakes settings.
Example:
A football kicker practices field goals with teammates watching and shouting to mimic game pressure.
9. Take Care of Your Body
Physical fatigue increases stress. Proper nutrition, hydration, and sleep are key to managing anxiety.
How to do it:
- Eat well-balanced meals, stay hydrated, and sleep 7–9 hours.
- Avoid caffeine or sugar right before games if they worsen jitters.
Example:
A runner who struggled with nerves starts eating a balanced breakfast and sleeping better—and sees calmer, stronger races.
10. Accept the Nerves
Nerves aren’t the enemy. Learning to ride the wave is part of becoming a mentally tough athlete.
How to do it:
- Reframe anxiety as excitement: “My body is getting ready to perform.”
- Focus on what’s in your control and accept what isn’t.
Example:
A volleyball player says, “It’s normal to be nervous. It means I care,” before every match.
Final Thought:
You can’t always stop nerves—but you can manage them. With the right tools, anxiety becomes energy, and pressure becomes performance.
Lauren Williams
High-Performance Leadership & Athletic Mindset Coach
Lauren Williams is the current Assistant Coach for PWHL New York and a former NCAA Division 1 and professional ice hockey player. Lauren holds a Masters of Education in Counseling, focused in Clinical Mental Health and is an ELITE certified coach. As Elite’s lead Brain Training for Athletes coach, Lauren has worked with numerous athletes at the youth and elite levels, helping them develop the mental skills necessary for peak performance.
