How I calm My Anxiety

I'm a tennis player. I play about 4-6 hours a week in the winter and 15 hours a week in the summer. On the weekends, I play tournaments. I'm usually very nervous right before the tournament. I have over three years of experience and over that time, I found a couple of tricks/tips to help calm my anxiety. 

I am usually start to get nervous two to three days before the tournament or whenever I find out the draw. The reason why I get nervous is because I'm insecure and/or afraid to lose the match. I try to google tennis tips that might help me out in the game. Also, I try to talk to my friends about it and have them re-assure me that I'll be fine. I try to boost my confidence and self-esteem. These are some of the things I do a few days before the tournament/match.

I get SUPER nervous a couple of hours before the tournament. I get butterflies in my stomach, I'm really jittery and I can't eat. To calm my anxiety a couple of hours before the match, I try to find ways to distract myself. I find that reading a book, playing games and doing something active tends to distract me. I usually play on my Ipod. Sometimes, if I'm REALLY nervous, my mom gives me a calming tea. Distracting yourself is the key when you're extremely nervous right before the match.

At the beginning of the match is the hardest time for me. My hands tend to shake and I get butterflies in my stomach. The way I cope with this is by warming up. When you're hot and sweaty, you forget about your problems and worries and focus on getting water. The beginning of the match is the scariest part because you don't know the player and who will get the lead. It's important to relax and just play. Don't try anything fancy. Just try your best and hopefully you'll win the first game. Afterwards, you become more relaxed and start to play better. Also, don't stop playing hard even if you're winning. You never know, the other player might catch up.

Those are the tips/tricks that help me with my anxiety during a tournament. You have to be prepared. Don't worry to much and try to distract yourself. Look confident and don't look nervous/worried/scary. Relax and just play how you normally play. And most of all, have fun.