Overcoming nerves

[Furbag]

I have a big footy tournament this saturday which i am stuck in the net for due to the keeper breaking his finger. Good timing eh! :rolleyes:
I used to be a keeper for a good 3 years, but packed it up a year ago and went back to being a defender after last years tournament. All was going well in our first match, until my nerves really got the better of me, and i let a few in and subsequently lost due to this fact and this carried on through all of our matches. But this year i really want to do my best and not let my nerves get the better of me as it means a lot to all of my mates who are going that we do well, so i was wondering how do you get over nerves?

[deadstars]

Bach's Rescue Remedy!! (i have great faith in that stuff!)

Breathing Exercises calm your heart rate and generally reduce nervousness....

errrr..... dont think i'm going to be a whole lot of help here!

[Mattness]

A cup of Chinese green tea seems to relax the nerves, especially the Citrus flavour.
A cup or two in the morning does it for me. :)

I dont think you can get over nerves, but you can certainly deal with them. Just try to be as confident and as positive as you can. And if you make a mistake, which can easily happen as a goalie, dont let it bother you. Just try to think positively and concentrate.

Get plently of sleep the night before, and everything will be fine.

[Ammo]

If it's the change of position that's worrying you, you should get someone to kick the ball at you over and over from different directions before the match and before then as well if you can. Nerves are usually caused by a feeling of being unprepared, so do what you would do for an exam, pinpoint what could go wrong and plan how you would face every eventuality and practice as much as possible. Even when you're not physically playing, just run the game through in your mind. A big part of winning is thinking you can.

[Joe]

Originally posted by Mattness
Get plently of sleep the night before, and everything will be fine.

That's my advice as well, I know you Furbag and you should go to bed earlier, especially when you have school or whatever the next day. It calms you down, and you also feel better in the morning.

[Furbag]

Thanks, I think i'm nervous because of what happened last year and i'm afraid it'll happen again. I will have to get me some of that citrus tea and have an early night :)

[Joe]

Good on you, best of luck as well.

[knives out]

Some people (me included) find early nights make them even more nervous because they lie awake into the early hours, anyway, thinking about their worries etc. I don't know. Hmm.

[Joe]

Yes, I get that a lot of the nights. I tend to not be able to get to sleep until after midnight, even though I hit the hay at about 11. I have to listen to music before or go on the computer to make myself drowsy.

[Furbag]

Originally posted by knives out
Some people (me included) find early nights make them even more nervous because they lie awake into the early hours, anyway, thinking about their worries etc. I don't know. Hmm.

Ack, thats horrible isn't it? Happened to me the day before i had two of my biggest GCSE exams! i was laid in bed like half awake til 5 even though i had gone to bed at 12. You just lay there thinking about things and you just cant get to sleep even though you're really really tired.

Good on you, best of luck as well.

Cheers! :D

[Niko]

tell yourself that plenty of thick people have done what you're trying to do and that you can do it too..

...its how i got the guts to drive.

[Mattness]

Yeah, it is difficult to sleep when you're anxious, but still its very important, especially for physical activities...
Just try to think positively..... aaand green tea, it makes you drowsy!

Bets of luck anyway, Furbag :)
Let us know how you get on.

[Furbag]

For those of you who wanted to know how it went on, here we go, i'll copy it off an MSN convo. It was such a bitterly disapointing and upsetting day eventually.

First match, against dunstable we were strong and all over them, had quite a few chances, they had 2, i saved one quite well and let one in, so we lost 1-0, even tho we deserved to win it.

2nd match, and our famous adverisies Staple Hill, we finally settled down, and ran amok, hit opposite posts twice in a minute,and i made a few ordinary saves. We drew 0-0, which was awesome for us.

3rd match, and its against Gloucester, we absolutely batter their defence, and Craig Oliver knocks in a beauty, sparking a mini pitch invasion as that was the first goal we had scored for 3 years at this tournie. Then they attacked quite a lot and i made a few good saves, and it came to the last few minutes, and this huge and talented black lad is one on one with me and looks like hes certain to score, but somehow i manage to get my hands to the ball and knock it wide, sparking our fans to go wild, and then the whistle went and we went beserk.

We were told for the fourth match, that we would get through on goal difference, if we won again Poplar, who had no points, we made a real shaky start as we thought it was a cruise, but they got threw and i had to make a few good saves, and then we settled down and knocked 3 past them, everyone thought we were through.

We had a goal difference of +3 and Dunstable had a goal difference of + 1, so we were through until some stupid steward decides to invent a new rule, that if it is even on points, the result of the match of the 2 even teams goes through, taking dunstable through. Some of us were ready for crying, it was heartbreaking, we could have gone and won it, we had a right go at the officials and then we got in the minibus and headed off to mcdonalds to contemplate what should have been.

I mean, we only let one goal in, how the hell could we go out, they didn't even have the right amount of points as half of their players said they had lost two making them have 6 points and letting us get through, i was right upset and angry.

[rockaby]

sorry to hear that :( Its horrible thinking you've finally got something that feels right and having it taken away.

I know its not really relevant now, but I find if I go in with a 'oh yeah this'll be easy' attitude and not worrying about fucking up or making a fool of myself [thinking back to previous drama classes] I've actually had a bit of fun and the performance has turned out alright. But I agree wholeheartedly about being prepared, its vital.

[knives out]

Aww *hugs*

[Perdita]

*hugs furbag*

that's shitty shitty shit. I'm sure all football refs and officials are jobsworths who think they're way more important. I bet that rule-making was more about his ego than about any proper good footballing sense.

In case it was still relevant, I have two nerves tips:

for acting/sports/performance stuff: the sensation of nerves is exactly the same sensation as excitement, but with a different mindset, so you just have to tell yourself you're excited, not nervous.

for exams/interviews type stuff:
just before you go in, run your wrists under a very cold tap for a while, cools the bloodstream down a treat. Ok, so I have no idea if it actually improves performance, but it's a psychological thing with me now.

[Joe]

I like that exam type tip, I'll give that a try. :)