The following post is an excerpt from the Second Edition of The Tennis Parent’s Bible NOW available through most online retailers! Click Here to Order
Below, I’ve listed four categories of common performance anxiety symptoms. If you suspect that your child’s fear of competition, confrontation or adversity is affecting their performance, it may be time to gather the coaches for an emotional training session. Ask your child to check any below symptoms that they feel describes them on match day. Design a new action plan to overcome each issue.
Match Day Symptoms
Physical Symptoms:
- Shallow, fast breathing
- Increased muscle tension throughout the body
- Increased perspiration
- Feeling dizzy and weak in the knees
- Feeling that your body is on the court but your mind is somewhere else
Mental Symptoms:
- Inability to focus one point at a time
- Overthinking (choking)
- Underthinking (panicking)
- Reoccurring thoughts of failure
- Worrying about others opinions of their performance
- Obsessing about others rankings & successes
Emotional Symptoms:
- Self-doubt in strokes as seen in “pushing”
- Self-doubt in stamina & strength as seen in reckless shot selection (to endpoints prematurely)
- Nervousness, hesitation & fearful performance
- Stressing about uncontrollable variables
- Not taking the time to enjoy the moment
Behavioral Symptoms:
- Not performing match day routines & rituals
- Hurrying & fast pace walking
- Having mini-tantrums, racket cracking or mindless fast walking/play
- Forgetting the basic ball striking functions
- Allowing the opponent or situation to control your playing speeds
