An athlete’s schedule is already hectic enough with so much time consuming activities such as team practices, school, and for some of them maybe even outside work. The stress of those alone can make it hard for any athlete to see the good that comes from the athletic experiences that they encounter. Sometimes it’s easy to push aside the drive to play and fill in the gaps with just playing because it’s what an athlete is used to. I’m not saying that’s always the case for you, but sometimes the willingness to play a dedicated sport deals with something or someone else pushing the game on you. Take time out of the day to reflect on your past athletic experiences and see how they’ve changed from then until now. Ask yourself if playing the game is something that makes you happy or are you playing simply because someone other than you is calling the shots. If the game isn’t being played because it’s what you want then maybe it’s time to make it yours again.
Start off by finding the inner drive that pushed you when you first started playing the sport and use it to help you feel the excitement of the game. Motivation is one of the most important aspects of the drive that any athlete should hold on to. It helps guide a player towards reaching a certain goal and it makes for a more rewarding outcome. When you’re unhappy with your performance, look back at what you feel were your biggest mistakes and use them to help motivate you the next time you’re faced with the same situation. It’s understandable that sometimes it’s difficult to escape the demands of coaches and other involved people, so find a middle ground that you can execute precisely, that will benefit you, the team, and your coach. No matter what path you use to motivate yourself, just remember the most important thing is just to have fun. It should be more about the experience and less about whether your team won or lost.
Another thing you should look at to enhance your athletic experience is to look at how you handle the competition. Yes, competitions can be overwhelming and stressful, but that’s not the only thing that comes from it. Think about where your drive to compete comes from and use that again, to help motivate you to do your best. List out all the positive things that come from facing your rivals and take it as if it was just another simple challenge. The pressure that comes with competing can stir up many different emotions, so in that case, it’s just best sort those feelings out as best as you can and compete to the best of your abilities. It doesn’t hurt to push yourself to do better because that helps you to move on and achieve goals associated with the sport. The drive to push yourself can eventually help enhance your game play.
Time management is important to an athletes schedule because they need to set aside time for school or work, practice, and their social lives. A player should find an in between place where they can find a balance in it all. Practice is always a good way to help with the chances of getting a good outcome to a game but sometimes overtraining can do damage instead of good. There’s no problem with dedicating time to the practice of the sport but it’s good to just relax and take it easy at times, so all that was learned could sink in. All the energy that a player can conserve during practice is needed when a player is in the game and the spotlight is on them and it’s extremely beneficial to everyone. Little things like developing self-awareness of how practicing and other life stresses are influential all go hand in hand when trying to enhance the experience of the game.
Another big stressor that is encountered everywhere, not just in sports, is the feeling of anxiety. Why we encounter these feelings right before these exciting experiences is something that’s just natural. Anxiety sure does bring up a lot of negative feelings but not all of them have to be like that. Like stress, we can help ease the pain that we feel when we’re anxious. Something that always helps is something simple called breathing. Take nice long breaths and relieve the stress that is caused from the game. A good way to look at anxiety is to see it as a positive consequence to help increase an athlete’s effort to prepare and perform the sport. The fear that an athlete gets before a big game is just a forgery of the mind and it isn’t actually real. Since that fear isn’t real, use that to help motivate you to go above and beyond your abilities to play. Surely anxiety has its bad side, but you should always remember that even though it’s there, the drive that you have to play is much stronger than any feeling that’s going on.
Playing any sport has an array of different emotions and one of those common feelings would have to be anger. What you should do is laugh at the sign anger. Don’t let things interfere with your drive to play the game, it’ll only show the worse in you. You’re trying to enhance the experience and letting anger, fear, or even anxiety get the best of you, is only pushing you one step back.
When you’re in the game concentrate on all the things that you were told and have to do and keep your mind in focus. Don’t get sidetracked by other things outside of the game because it’ll interfere with your playing. Imagine the game in your head and think about all the things you want you and your team to accomplish and make it a reality. Everything that was mentioned can help you make an athletic experience worthwhile. Motivation, competitive drive, anxiety, anger, imagery, concentration, and practice all come together to help create that experience. Your job is simply just to make the best of the experience and have fun.