Tournaments can be exciting and nerve wracking at the same time as you face the challenge of putting your skills on display in your local area or in central hubs near condos such as River Opus. When you are nervous you are prone to be more stressed, get tilted easily, throw away any gameplans that you have made, and lose control of a game that you might just easily win. Here are some things to do to calm your nerves for an upcoming tournament.
Positive Reinforcement
When you lose one match don’t get tilted, but reset and head to the next game. Use positive reinforcement instead of thinking negatively, take the short time on character selection or drafting to think where it went wrong. Be confident and trust your practice and let the performance speak for itself. No one is out of touch, you just have to perform well.
Breathing Techniques
Practice breathing techniques to keep yourself in check. A technique to reduce your heart rate so you stay calm is by breathing through your nose 4 times, holding the last breath for a few seconds and then exhaling from your mouth. Take deep breaths before sets and during your sets to stay focused.
Enjoy the Game
When you have fun, you forget all about the stress and nerves that have been bothering you up to that point. Having fun also allows you to be more confident and perform better, makes you sharper mentally, boosts your resilience, allowing for comebacks to happen. Instead of thinking of the perfect gameplay, just have fun. You simply forget about the pressure on your shoulders.
Stop Worrying
When trying to meet other peoples expectations comes tournament day, it makes you more nervous than ever because what if you underperform? Throw expectations from other people away and meet your own. Every set you win and advancement you make is a huge step.