Nervousness is a big part of an athlete's life. DeVenzio says, "The next time you get that nervous feeling, you ought to recognize it as the great opportunity... and say to yourself, 'Here's the nervous feeling, that hope-and-fear quality that makes playing sports such a special opportunity. I'm not going to hide from it... I'm nervous. Great. Just what I wanted'" (DeVenzio 171). He says to acknowledge the nervousness because of the opportunity behind it.
I chose to write about this part of the book because I feel like I experience nervousness before every game, tryout, and even sometimes before practices. After reading this in the book, it made me realize that it's normal to be nervous, and that I shouldn't let the nervousness scare me.
I learned that you can let the nervousness break you down, or you can just enjoy it. So, now when I'm nervous, I choose to enjoy the nervousness and not worry about it. Reading this has really inspired me to be less scared while playing basketball and just embrace the feeling of being nervous. Some ways I can cope with nervousness when I can't find a way to enjoy it is to just keep calm and play how I am supposed to play. Also, I can take deep breaths and do what I have to do to help win.
So overall, nervousness is something that shouldn't be something to hold someone back from doing the things they do. Nervousness is just showing you that you have an opportunity to win.
Have you ever encountered nervousness? How did you react to it?
DeVenzio, Dick. Stuff Good Players Should Know: Intelligent Basketball from A to Z. 3rd ed. Stafford, TX: PGC Basketball, 1983. Print.
Hi Tiffani!
ReplyDeleteYour blog was really pleasing to read and offered great advice. That is a good idea that you follow through before every game of yours. The only sport I have really took part in before is badminton. However, since I don't play it on a professional level, for a club or the school, I don't really experience nervousness. I have encountered nervousness on only one type of an occasion and that is before a math test since math is not my best subject but I still desire to do well in it so I view it like a challenge. Reading your blog post makes me realize that I should also embrace the feeling of being nervous and to keep calm.
I'm glad you found my post pleasing to read, Gurkanwal. My goal is to give positive advice to the readers. I can relate to you by being nervous before a math test. I have encountered nervousness many times in other situations other than basketball. The thing is, we just have to remember that being nervous is normal and not let it effect us negatively in any way.
DeleteGreat post, Tiffani, this post is totally relatable. I will be taking this advice whenever I'm either nervous taking a PK in soccer or taking a game winning free throw in basketball. Those times in my life are the ones I get most nervous about, this advice is really going to help me get through it. Some more advice I’d give to help you calm down during those times is to just tell yourself "you've got this" it really helps you gain confidence and calm yourself down.
ReplyDeleteI appreciate your comment, Abby. Yes, I agree, there are many times nervousness can be experienced in sports, and I have experienced taking the game winning free throw in a basketball game situation, or even when making mistakes are crucial when people are depending on you. Thank you for your advice of helping myself with nervousness by telling myself that "you've got this". Having confidence is a really big part of being nervous.
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