Nerves, or more accurately nervousness, affects how our body works by increasing:

• heart rate
• blood pressure
• sweating
• metabolism (the chemical process of the body)
• the tension in muscles (quickening the onset of fatigue and affecting technique)

Nerves affects how our mind works by:

• impacting our decision making
• forgetfulness
• inhibiting concentration

These psychological factors are also of particular importance to sporting performance as they affect our ability to focus on the task in hand, which is crucial to sporting success.

The central, underpinning themes

• As a parent you are not powerless – you can help your child
• Make sure your child knows that your love and support is unconditional and is not dependent upon winning and losing in sport
• Focus on demonstrating sporting behaviour, trying hard and improving skills

Being consistent with your coach

• Along with your child’s coach, give praise based on sporting behaviour, trying hard and improving skills
• Reinforce this message by words, tone and body language in both the training and competitive environment

Handling nerves before the match

Reassure that nerves are perfectly natural and that it is simply part of the body getting ready to compete (e.g. run faster, jump higher, hit harder etc.)  Show understanding of the feelings of nervousness by describing how you as an adult were nervous in another situation (e.g. doing a work presentation) and how you came through that. 

• Use the word “excitement” rather than “nerves”

• Practice replacing negative thoughts with positive thoughts

Slow, deep breathing is an excellent way to help relax at any time, for both adults and children, so practice together! This works on 3 levels:

• It’s a natural thing to do, so is easy to learn
• Concentrating on deep breathing makes it virtually impossible to think of anything else, so it automatically clears your mind
• When you breathe out you automatically release muscle tension

Win the match between the rallies!

• Deep breathing again! Often you only have time for one big deep breath between rallies, but with practice one is all you need to release any tension and clear your mind
• Encourage positive “self-talk”. For example, imagining they are encouraging someone as they would encourage their best friend in a team. Decide what simple type of phrases they would use and then use them on themselves.
• As you get anxious things tend to speed up, so take your time

Stay calm

The most powerful communicators of a message, more than the words themselves, are tone of voice and body language.  You can help by working towards striking the balance between positive support and being calm.