Competition anxiety and athletic performance

Competition anxiety is a familiar feeling for any athlete: your heart beats faster, your stomach feels hollow and your thoughts drift to the start or the opening whistle. That doesn’t automatically mean a poor performance. The real question is how the athlete reads that feeling and what they do with it.

Why does competition anxiety matter?

Most athletes feel anxious at competitions, some more, some less. Sometimes it’s pleasant excitement and anticipation. Sometimes it’s worry, fear or a sense that the body no longer listens.

Honestly, it would often be more accurate to talk about competition-related arousal. The word “anxiety” sounds negative to many people right away, but arousal itself is neutral. It is the body’s readiness to act. The problem arises when arousal becomes too high or too low for the athlete.

Competition anxiety has two sides. The first is cognitive anxiety: worry, nervousness, fearful anticipation. The second is physical: a faster pulse, sweaty palms, muscle tension, a hollow feeling in the stomach and so on. The two don’t always move in lockstep, but worry often amplifies the physical signs. And vice versa.

One simple truth matters here: athletes are different. Some need a strong inner fire before the start. Others perform best when the mind is calm and the body fairly soft. There is no single level that suits everyone.

How does competition anxiety affect performance?

When anxiety rises, muscle tension usually rises too. Moderate tension can help get the body ready. Too much tension, however, starts to interfere with movement. Muscles become stiffer, the movement loses its smoothness and coordination is no longer what the athlete feels in training.

You can see this clearly in sports where technique must be precise. If the arm is tense, a free throw can fall short. If the shoulders lock up, the running stride becomes stiff. If a strike is thrown with too much strength, the timing disappears. The athlete spends more energy before the movement, during it and after it.

The second big change happens in focus. As arousal rises, the field of attention narrows. A basketball player may fixate on one opponent and no longer notice the whole court. On the other hand, narrower attention can be useful when the task itself is very narrow: a golf shot or a free throw, for example.

So what actually happens? At low arousal, attention may be too broad. The athlete notices too much: the crowd, the noise, the opponent’s facial expression, the coach’s gesture. At high arousal, attention may become too narrow. A good performance often comes somewhere between the two.

The optimal level is personal

About half a century ago, people believed that the higher the arousal, the better the result. Later experience and research have shown that the relationship isn’t that straight. Every elite athlete may have their own optimal level of competition anxiety at which they perform best.

For one athlete that level is higher, for another lower. It includes worry, excitement and anticipation as well as physical signs. If pre-competition anxiety stays far below that level, the athlete may be sluggish. If it goes far above it, the performance can fall apart.

What to do when competition anxiety gets in the way?

The first step is to notice what happens to you before a competition. Are your hands sweating? Does your breathing get short? Do your thoughts jump between the result, the opponent and a possible mistake? Noticing this isn’t weakness. It’s information.

The second step is to find your usual pattern. Some athletes need to calm down: slower breathing, a shorter warm-up, a familiar routine, less outside chatter. Others need to raise arousal instead, especially when the competition drags on and boredom sets in. Then a more active warm-up, a set piece of music or sharper self-talk helps.

The third step is to change the meaning the athlete gives to anxiety. If they tell themselves “I’m nervous, so it’s going to go badly”, the body starts to believe that story. If they say “my body is preparing for effort”, the same feeling becomes usable. It’s a small change in wording, but in competition it can make a big difference.

The coach has a big role here. They don’t need to tell the athlete “don’t panic”. That command rarely works. It’s better to teach that some arousal and anxiety are a natural part of sport. It shows that the competition matters and the body is gathering strength for the effort.

Practical techniques before the start

• Notice whether your anxiety is mainly in your thoughts or in your body. The solution depends on it.
• Use the same pre-competition routine you have practiced in training. A new trick on competition day often creates more noise.
• Describe the feeling neutrally: “my pulse is up”, not “I’m falling apart”.
• Pick one technical cue to focus on during the performance. For example “soft hand”, “long stride” or “calm breathing”.
• After the competition, write down which level of anxiety helped and which got in the way. Over time, this builds your personal map.

Psychological tests can also measure the level of pre-competition anxiety more precisely. If you track results at the same time, you can better understand in which state the athlete performs best. The main benefit comes not just from measuring, but from the athlete learning to regulate their state consciously.

FAQ: competition anxiety and sport

Is competition anxiety always bad?

No. Moderate competition anxiety can help the body and mind get ready for effort. It becomes a problem when anxiety gets too high for the athlete or when they interpret every sign as a threat.

How can you tell if anxiety is too high?

Look at the performance. If movement becomes stiff, attention narrows in the wrong place, decisions become brittle or energy is used up before the start, the level may be too high.

Can a coach help the athlete?

Yes. A coach can help the athlete see anxiety as normal, build a fixed pre-competition routine and teach how to lower or raise arousal when needed.

Author: Aave Hannus”;i:15;s:14:”University of Tartu

Source: WHO – physical activity.

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