AKB: thoughts, opinions, personal stories on sports anxiety

[dunkej01]

This tweet got wrestling twitter chatting today



The reason for posting is because it has me thinking or rather rethinking.

A girl on my daighters soccer team who is 10 yo appears to suffer from anxiety and I need to discuss it in a way that doesnt confuse or cause my daughter to take something the wrong way.

The girl in question is lights out phenomenal. Pre covid she was a juggernaut on the pitch. Now if she knows the team ahead of time they cant get her out of the car. When we play teams we have a history of doing well against she is normal. But if we had a close game or a team has a ranking or reputation she again wont play.

She comes from what seems like a good family albeit her older sisters are all accomplished soccer stars in our club and soon to be HS and college.

Dont want this to be a dumpster fire and since Jake has brought down the rath of twitter on himself I figure it was a good time to see what the intranet family has to say about Jake, wrestling w anxiety or even my daughters team mate

TIA

 

[nerfstate]

So who exactly argues that anxiety is a healthy mindset?

Mind over matter is an amazing thing, but it absolutely has limitations. And many do many different things to deal with their limitations. The Dan Gable mindset is great for some. Others need a softer approach.

Jake’s failure to imagine the variety of the human condition is hardly surprising—every one of us fails miserably at it on the regular. Good topic of discussion though.

The anxiety response serves its purpose in the wild. Unease and anticipation of danger can do a lot out among the apes. But we have definitely discovered many ways to short circuit and amplify that valuable state, and so many suffer chronically from it whether they realize it or not.

 

[El-Jefe]

Ultimately, Herbert has a point: mentality is a choice. That doesn't make it an easy choice, and some people may need help with it.

But denying its existence takes the point too far. Case in point: any guy who tries to deliver that message to a 10-yo girl probably gets a little anxious about it. Or doesn't have a pulse.

My nieces are right in that age range, and I don't think I could approach any topic more serious than what topping they want on their pizza. If they asked me, I think I could fumble my way thru it -- but I would be absolutely terrified of how they would repeat it among the other kids. (And one of the nieces can be very bossy -- what could possibly go wrong?)

I could tell boys about this but would let my wife tell girls. Good luck.

 

[PSUer1989]

The time to address it is in practice with all of the girls. Discuss relaxation techniques (deep breathing, muscle relaxation, positive visualization). Address the opportunity to play with teammates, rather that the beat the opponent. Then, bring Cael in.

In all seriousness, she may outgrow it. My daughter would hyperventilate and almost pass out before certain swimming events. By middle school, as a figure skater, she learned to manage her anxiety well enough to compete in solo and synchro competitions. By high school and club volleyball, it wasn’t an issue any more. Practicing stress reduction techniques regularly helped her in all facets of her life.

 

[WEAREPSU_LI]

The only bad point of the tweet is the "choose not to believe in anxiety". What is he talking about? Anxiety exists and is manageable because you acknowledge its existence. Twitter is dumb.

 

[El-Jefe]

The only bad point of the tweet is the "choose not to believe in anxiety". What is he talking about? Anxiety exists and is manageable because you acknowledge its existence. Twitter is dumb.

That's for normal people.

I have some co-workers who have a near-sociopathic level of confidence. For them, anxiety does not exist. (Most of them also cluelessly treat people like dirt and think they're being nice. They also let their mouths write checks that their staffs can't cash.)

 

[Cali_Nittany]

This is a really interesting topic. Of course, I can only speak for myself, I don't think of anxiety as anticipating failure. Its just another emotion that one needs to work through in various situations. All yinz guys have good points. And now for some comic relief:

 

[pointingdogsrule]

I'll take this another direction. Diagnosed with prostate cancer 2 years ago. It had spread to three lymph nodes. I had one bad day, mentally and crashed. A young MD told me of her positive out look on life and how she was "a positive person". She challenged me. I accepted and every day after that I have been a positive person and life is so wonderful and special. The anxiety is gone...... except in one area. I just bought a house to flip or rent and the anxiety of the renovation is getting to me. So YES anxiety, I believe, is what we make it.
"The outcome is greater then the setback"
Just my personal thoughts.

 

[nerfstate]

 

[PD4thespawn]

Like Carl, God has a plan. It takes all of my anxiety out of the equation

 

[Dogwelder]

If disbelieving anxiety works for Jake, more power to him.

In principle, I would prefer to use the power of “mind over matter” only when strictly necessary. In particular, I would prefer to have a mindset that only claims truths that I can control.

For example, I prefer a mindset of “I will intelligently attack any opponent, beginner or King Kong” over “I am the strongest wrestler on Earth.” Because I cannot control how strong my opponent is, and if I meet a stronger opponent, I don’t want my world view to crumble due to cognitive dissonance. I don’t want to pick unnecessary fights with potential reality. It’s the willow versus oak concept.

General Patton prefers to tell his green troops that it’s natural to get scared, so don’t worry if you find yourself scared before battle, I know you’ll do fine. I like that better than Herbert’s seemingly unnecessary fight with his own body’s potential reactions.

 

[RoarLions1]

Everyone is "wired" differently, with wide ranges of reaction to similar stimuli. Life offers plenty of chances to deal, with some managing better than others (again, we all will deal differently).

One thing not mentioned yet in this thread is the compounding effect. Having many stressors at a time can multiply the anguish.

Also, we should be careful judging others, we never (rarely) know all they are dealing with.

 

[creamery freak]

Like Carl, God has a plan. It takes all of my anxiety out of the equation

I agree, we weren't made to carry the burden, that's God's job @ faithmatters.

 

[86PSUPaul]

Like Carl, God has a plan. It takes all of my anxiety out of the equation

I hit the like button, but who is this Carl Dude? Seems cool though....

 

[Dogwelder]

One thing not mentioned yet in this thread is the compounding effect. Having many stressors at a time can multiply the anguish.

Yeah. If I suddenly find myself anxious for the first time, e.g., in the Olympic finals , then instead of just fighting my anxiety about the finals, my anxiety-denying mindset has made me also fight my anxiety about having anxiety, and maybe also fight my anxiety that my career was built on sand—I am a fraud!

 

[82bordeaux]

View embedded media

Helen pins Herbert. Freakin' hilarious!

 

[Dogwelder]

AKB: thoughts, opinions, personal stories on sports anxiety​

I looked up AKB. It turns out we are the Ancient Knights of Britannia! Hoo rah!

 

[PD4thespawn]

I hit the like button, but who is this Carl Dude? Seems cool though....

Spell check or cancel culture at work.

 

[District four]

This tweet got wrestling twitter chatting today

View embedded media

The reason for posting is because it has me thinking or rather rethinking.

A girl on my daighters soccer team who is 10 yo appears to suffer from anxiety and I need to discuss it in a way that doesnt confuse or cause my daughter to take something the wrong way.

The girl in question is lights out phenomenal. Pre covid she was a juggernaut on the pitch. Now if she knows the team ahead of time they cant get her out of the car. When we play teams we have a history of doing well against she is normal. But if we had a close game or a team has a ranking or reputation she again wont play.

She comes from what seems like a good family albeit her older sisters are all accomplished soccer stars in our club and soon to be HS and college.

Dont want this to be a dumpster fire and since Jake has brought down the rath of twitter on himself I figure it was a good time to see what the intranet family has to say about Jake, wrestling w anxiety or even my daughters team mate

TIA

 

[98lberEating2Lunches]

who is this Carl Dude?

 

[GogglesPaizano]

There is only one sure fire treatment for anxiety

 

[MikeDerukey]

This is akin to saying "I don't believe in depression" or "I don't believe in mental illness." It doesn't work like that and it's a silly thing for Jake to say. It's no wonder it backfired on Twitter for him because it's totally tone-deaf.

 

[baccafarmer]

I'll take this another direction. Diagnosed with prostate cancer 2 years ago. It had spread to three lymph nodes. I had one bad day, mentally and crashed. A young MD told me of her positive out look on life and how she was "a positive person". She challenged me. I accepted and every day after that I have been a positive person and life is so wonderful and special. The anxiety is gone...... except in one area. I just bought a house to flip or rent and the anxiety of the renovation is getting to me. So YES anxiety, I believe, is what we make it.
"The outcome is greater then the setback"
Just my personal thoughts.

I also had the high PSA, biopsy, and surgery for Prostate cancer. Anxiety is best handled by digging into the scientific facts and taking a positive attitude .... as you did. Anxiety is real, but, it can be handled with a level head. Jake is probably a good guy, but, he shouldn’t ignore anxiety because it will sneak back in unexpected ways. Better to face it, analyze it, and deal with it.

 

[District four]

This thread gives me anxiety lol.

 

[hlstone]

My anxiety has to do with being overwhelmed. It causes lack of sleep and just shutting down. Over the past couple of years I have found a solution that works for me.

At night I write down what I need to do the next day. This helps get it out of my feeble brain and on the white board.
In the morning I wake up and ask my higher power what he has is store for me today. Then start crossing items off the list. It works well for me, when I work it.

 

[PD4thespawn]

My anxiety has to do with being overwhelmed. It causes lack of sleep and just shutting down. Over the past couple of years I have found a solution that works for me.

At night I write down what I need to do the next day. This helps get it out of my feeble brain and on the white board.
In the morning I wake up and ask my higher power what he has is store for me today. Then start crossing items off the list. It works well for me, when I work it.

I feel the brain works on solutions while I sleep. I keep a notepad on the nightstand in case I wake up with an idea or answer. Works for me.

 

[SWPA]

I feel the brain works on solutions while I sleep. I keep a notepad on the nightstand in case I wake up with an idea or answer. Works for me.

Mitch Hedberg did something similar so he could write jokes when they came to him but he stated that if he couldn't find a pen he had to convince himself that the joke wasn't funny.

 

[Sportfan2017]

I am certain what Jake meant is that "I personally choose not to "believe" in anxiety"....ie.....i choose to ignore it. He recognizes that worrying about negative things happening is more likely to result in negative things actually happening. So simply refuse to engage in those thoughts. Everyone deals with ( or doesn't deal with ) anxiety in their own way. I am often an anxious person. I have found that if I prepare the absolute best I can for.....(insert your whatever).....Public speaking...playing sports....playing guitar and singing in coffee houses.....that I don't get nervous at all or suffer far less anxiety. Absolute preparation is my solution to avoiding or lessening anxiety. Another solution is repetition. My first plane flight was the worst. Now......less each time. Fear of heights? Repetition doesn't work nearly as well for me. Everyone is different so the best individual solutions will also vary. Jake stated how he deals with it. I doubt if he was saying everyone can do the same thing or they are weak. Clearly Not true.

 

[hlstone]

I am certain what Jake meant is that "I personally choose not to "believe" in anxiety"....ie.....i choose to ignore it. He recognizes that worrying about negative things happening is more likely to result in negative things actually happening. So simply refuse to engage in those thoughts. Everyone deals with ( or doesn't deal with ) anxiety in their own way. I am often an anxious person. I have found that if I prepare the absolute best I can for.....(insert your whatever).....Public speaking...playing sports....playing guitar and singing in coffee houses.....that I don't get nervous at all or suffer far less anxiety. Absolute preparation is my solution to avoiding or lessening anxiety. Another solution is repetition. My first plane flight was the worst. Now......less each time. Fear of heights? Repetition doesn't work nearly as well for me. Everyone is different so the best individual solutions will also vary. Jake stated how he deals with it. I doubt if he was saying everyone can do the same thing or they are weak. Clearly Not true.

Exactly! Maybe that translates well for someone in sports. Some people needs to prepare and coached up for an opponent. While others put their trust into their own ability and wrestle their own match.

 

[Hotshoe]

It's rather silly to pontificate on this, one way or another. Without knowing the person, their background, or the parents of an athlete, how can one determine the situation? That said, there's a whole lot more feelings going on today than suck it up buttercup. Feelings don't work in wrestling. Hard work, coaching, effort, commitment, strategy, and sometimes, a kick in the ass work. Feelings? Never.

 

[Larryrise]

I struggled with it terribly in high school, and it probably affected some of my matches. Against the "reputation" kids, I would sometimes go for big moves to compensate, and sometimes that bit me. I went for a cradle against the district 6 champion and slipped, and sure enough that was the difference in a 4-1 loss. When I was not aware of who I was wrestling I was far better...I beat the kid who beat that d6 champion 4-3 later that season without knowing who he was....but again late in the regional, 2 losses to the mighty WPIAL, and I didn't make it to Hershey. I was not quite at their level, but I would have liked to turn back the clock and try again without the doubt and fear and anxiety...I don't believe any other sport comes close to wrestling in terms of the psychological impact of anxiety. Nothing. I played 10 other sports from football to Frisbee to rock paper scissors lol, and never felt a thing.

 

[Gray52]

How anyone feels about this subject, or opinions anyone might have are irrelevant, imo. There are contractual obligations that you sign onto the moment you become a professional, and the same goes for the moment you sign onto a tournament. If a person cannot fulfill them, they cannot participate in that capacity. I feel for Osaka. I suffered from performance anxiety, so I have an awareness of what she’s going through. However, she needs to work through her issues and come back ready to fulfill all of her obligations. It is what it is.

 

[Ski]

I don't know if you would call it a sport, but I have played pool for 50 years and still play competitively in leagues 3 nights a week, so I have seen performance anxiety first hand. Practicing is different than playing in league regular season, which is different than playoffs, which is different than gambling on a game, which is different than playing in Vegas. Basically, you have to learn to either deal with or block out stress.

I can say that there have been big matches where my performance was affected. Nothing like a hill-hill race when you are playing the best player on the other team for the league title with everyone watching. I have had both successes and failures in those situations, though I remember the failures a heck of a lot more. I find that you have to focus on your practice (training) and fundamentals. I try to be a machine with my mechanics and block everything else out. Also, having a little early success in a match goes a long way towards a happy finish (not that kind).