By Dylan Miller ‘29, staff writer
The best performers in athletics feel the same nerves and anxiety before a game or race that every other athlete feels.
What these athletes do differently isn’t eliminating those nerves or calming them down. They interpret them differently and attack them with a different perspective.
Elite performers see the nerves as proof that their body is ready for the moment. The athletes who disappear for big games see nerves as a threat and a sign that they aren’t ready.
“I think a lot of athletes allow anxiety to break them rather than use it to fuel them. It's normal to be nervous but the work is done and you just have to trust your training,” Donald Miller, a 5th year cross country and track and field athlete at LVC, said. “You can use those feelings to carry you through when it gets tough but don't allow them to get you in a negative headspace before the race even begins."
This is why when an athlete is under stress, simply asking them to calm down usually doesn’t work. They’re fighting the signals and when their body tries to suppress a natural emotion that comes before something big, the feeling only grows stronger. They feed into the same feeling they’re trying to escape.
The best athletes understand that stress doesn’t go anywhere. By changing their interpretation of it, they take its power away. They start to see it as something that can fuel their performance rather than destroy it.
Those who are excited about the moment often perform better than those who are simply able to stay calm. They don’t try to eliminate the nerves, they find a way to interpret them better and perform better as a result.
“I pray a lot leading up to a race. I also like reading scripture. Psalm 23 is my favorite to read before a race. Listening to music on the bus also helps,” Miller said.
Being stressed is a sign that something important is coming up. Where a lot of athletes go wrong is they overthink the situation.
Overthinking the nerves is one of the main ways that nerves can hurt an athlete. It causes athletes to spiral out of control and get in their head and often produces a negative outcome.
In addition to seeing nerves as something to fuel them, the best performers also know how to shut out the thoughts that hold them back during the game or race. They take the nerves in stride and focus on the moment.
“I think that a lot of athletes will get too hyperfocused on a race plan and get too focused on exactly what they need to do and get too focused on small details[prior to a race],” Wyatt Leitzel, a junior cross country and track and field athlete at LVC, said.
Nerves are a signal that something matters. Dealing with anxiety head on and viewing it in a positive light is how athletes put together their strongest performances. They don’t do it by trying to ignore a natural feeling that won't truly go away, they do it by pointing that stress in the right direction and shutting out the negative thoughts that distract them from the moment.