In the first part, we talked about 5 specific things you can do as a parent or coach to help your athlete manage their nerves. In this section, I want to focus on some more specific tips for coaches.
The Coach’s Role
How we manage our performance anxiety or nerves as coaches and parents, is on display and matters. Having worked as a school psychologist for many years with some challenging populations, I learned early on children can detect and play off of our anxiety. For those who are parents I am sure you can relate. Our kids look to us first to see how we are reacting almost as a gauge on how they should respond. We have all experienced the little toddler who falls down and looks around to see how mom or dad is responding, as if to determine if this is a fall worthy of a whimper or a wail.
Our athletes do the same. They need us to be confident and in control of our emotions. They draw on our energy.
So do some self- reflection and consider how you present yourself in pressure situations. Ask yourself these questions:
- How do you handle your nerves when your athlete is getting ready to perform?
- What’s your body language or your voice saying?
- How do you respond to mistakes and what do you do to achieve your optimal zone of functioning as a coach?
It’s important to recognize we feel the pressure too, but it’s more important we manage it well. So, let’s be mindful and intentional in how we manage our nerves. We are role models for our athletes and we certainly don’t want our nerves to compound the nerves of our athletes.
Think back to a time when your athlete was struggling with their nerves before an important event. How did you handle your nerves?
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