What is Anxious Reappraisal?

Anxiety and excitement, while often thought to be completely different, are actually the same thing, and produce many of the same neurological responses. So how can an athlete channel this feeling into excitement instead of anxiousness?

When you feel anxiety, your senses observe the environment you are in and you feel a rush of cortisol in your brain (adrenaline - fight or flight). As a part of this response, your brain also recalls previous experiences; this is where anxiety and excitement start to differentiate.

"Physiologically, anxiety and excitement are very similar. The difference is in our interpretation."

- Tim JP Collins

We generally want to turn our anxiety into excitement. Excitement has been proven to improve performance (especially for athletes), which leaves one question; how can I control my anxiety and take advantage of my excitement before a game?

Anxious Reappraisal

By reappraising anxiety as excitement, research has proven that this will improve our performance. Essentially, in situations where we are feeling anxiety or excitement, we are in a position of being judged: whether it be a job interview, or waiting to play an important hockey game. This is why it is important to have confidence in these situations - it will change the way we think about the experience.

A helpful exercise is to think about the three C's:

• Curiosity - Think to yourself "Am I nervous to mess up or excited to succeed at the sport". Focus on the positive side of the situation and reassure yourself that you are prepared for the game.

• Courage - It is important to grab hold of the negative, fear-based thoughts before they settle in, and some say to influence the way we feel has power of our performance.

• Compassion - Remember the reason you started playing the sport in the first place. Use your love of the game to block out the negative thoughts and worries. This not only can improve your mental state, but many also find that in doing this they feel less pressure before and during the game.

Generally, the anxious feeling is a good sign; it means your body is preparing yourself for the game. We should ultimately learn to embrace it and learn to use it to sharpen your focus. However, being extremely anxious will not benefit your performance and can be harmful to the athlete's mental health. Somethings you can do to deal with this anxiety is take deep breaths, don't overthink the stakes, and stay calm.