Pre-Game Anxiety: Why It Happens and How Athletes Can Manage It

Updated October 11, 2026

A Scene Almost Every Athlete Recognizes

In sports, there are moments that never appear in statistics and never make it into the final game photos. They are not on the scoreboard, they don't show up in the highlights, and spectators rarely talk about them. And yet almost every athlete experiences them, sometimes quietly, long before the ball is ever put into play.

For some, pre-game anxiety begins days before the game, with a simple thought that appears in the middle of an otherwise ordinary day.

“Saturday, we have a game.”

It should be just a piece of information. A date on the calendar. But for many athletes, that thought becomes the starting point for a series of scenarios the mind begins to build almost without being asked.

What will the game be like? Who will I be matched up against? What if the pace is too fast?

Short images start to form, almost like scenes from a movie: a forced pass, a turnover, a shot that hits the rim and bounces out. None of these things have happened yet, but somehow it feels as though you've already started playing the game.

The night before sometimes carries a strange kind of quiet. Your routine is the same as always, but your mind seems to be running a movie in the background that won't easily stop. You turn over a few times, and sleep takes longer to arrive than usual.

Game-day morning brings a feeling many athletes recognize immediately. It's not necessarily fear, or even a clear sense of discomfort. It's more like a subtle tension, a kind of energy gathering somewhere between your stomach and your chest. Breakfast suddenly seems less appealing, and your stomach feels a little tight.

The drive to the gym often feels different from any other drive. The city looks exactly the same: cars pass by, people go about their day, traffic lights change at their usual pace. But for you, every minute seems to carry a little more weight.

“What if I miss my first shots?”

“What if I turn the ball over on an important play?”

“What if I don't play as well as my coach expects?”

The harder you try to push these questions away, the more some of them seem to return.

Then you arrive at the gym.

The court has that familiar smell, and the first basketballs bouncing against the floor create a rhythm that slowly fills the space. Some teammates are joking around, others get changed quietly. You take your gear out of your bag, tie your shoes, and for a few seconds, you simply look at the court.

That's when a question appears. One that many athletes have asked themselves at least once: Why am I so nervous before the game has even started?

Maybe you begin to wonder whether you're prepared enough, whether you have enough confidence, or whether the pressure is simply too much.

But feeling nervous before a game doesn't automatically mean you're unprepared or lacking confidence.

Sometimes those emotions appear precisely because you care so much that your mind starts playing the game long before the opening whistle.

What Pre-Game Anxiety Is (and Why It Appears)

After experiencing that scene a few times, it's easy to start thinking that something might be wrong with you. Many athletes reach the same conclusion:

“If I were more confident, I probably wouldn't feel this nervous.”

Or:

“If I were truly prepared, I wouldn't feel like this before a game.”

But the experience is more complex than it seems.

The human brain is constantly anticipating what comes next. It helps us plan, make decisions, and prepare for situations we haven't encountered yet.

In sports, that same ability can sometimes become exhausting.

When you know a game is coming, your mind starts building scenarios about what might happen on the court or field. Some are positive: a good pass, a successful defensive play, a move that works exactly the way you practiced it.

Others are less pleasant: a mistake in the opening minutes, a decision made too late, a missed shot at an important moment.

Anticipation itself isn't a problem. It becomes difficult when the same scenarios keep returning and you begin experiencing them emotionally before they've even happened.

In other words, your mind starts playing the game too many times before the real one begins.

Alongside these imagined scenarios, another important element appears: perceived pressure.

Sometimes that pressure comes from outside. Your coach, parents, or team may have clear expectations. Other times, nobody is asking you to play perfectly, but you still feel that you have something to prove.

To your coach. To your teammates. To your parents or the spectators.

Sometimes, most of all, to yourself.

The pressure you feel is real as an experience, even if the people around you don't perceive it with the same intensity.

And that pressure can create a powerful desire to avoid making mistakes.

Many athletes begin focusing more on what they don't want to do than on playing the game itself. If you'd like to understand this mechanism better, we explore it in more detail in our article about the fear of making mistakes in youth sports.

Mistakes are part of every game. But sometimes the mind turns a single mistake into something that seems to say something about you: how good you are, how much you've improved, or how hard you've worked.

That's when thoughts like these begin to appear:

“I don't want to make a mistake at the beginning.”

Or:

“I hope I don't mess up the first play.”

At the same time, your body is preparing for a situation it considers important. Your level of alertness may increase, your heart may beat faster, and your muscles may become more tense.

In performance psychology, a well-known model associated with the Yerkes–Dodson law, first introduced in 1908, describes the relationship between arousal and performance.

The basic idea is that both very low and very high levels of arousal can negatively affect certain types of performance.

If your level of activation is too low for the demands of the game, you might struggle to find your rhythm. If your tension becomes very intense, your movements may feel rigid, your decisions may become rushed, or your concentration may suffer.

But there's an important distinction.

Not every athlete performs best at the same level of emotional intensity.

One player may need more energy to feel ready. Another may play brilliantly while feeling much calmer. Experience, individual differences, and the type of task all matter.

Research on individual zones of optimal functioning highlights the importance of those differences.

So there is no universal level of nervousness you need to reach before every game.

Seen from this perspective, pre-game emotions don't necessarily look like an obstacle. They can simply be part of how your body responds to competition.

What matters isn't reaching some supposedly perfect emotional state. It's understanding how you respond and discovering what helps you get into the game.

And that understanding can develop over time.

What Happens to Your Emotions When the Game Starts

One interesting thing about emotions in sports is that their intensity can change once the game begins.

Many athletes recognize the experience: in the locker room or on the way to the gym, they feel tense, their thoughts keep circling, and every possible scenario seems to run through their mind.

Then the game starts, and after a few plays, they find themselves more focused on what's happening and less concerned about everything that might go wrong.

But it doesn't happen that way for everyone.

Some athletes continue experiencing anxiety during the game, especially after mistakes, in high-pressure situations, or when they're concerned about how others might judge their performance.

That distinction matters. Research on performance anxiety in young athletes shows that anxiety can occur before, during, and even after competition.

Still, the start of a game can change something important: where an athlete directs their attention.

Before the game, there's plenty of room for imagination. You don't have an opponent directly in front of you yet, you aren't making decisions in fractions of a second, and there's no actual play demanding your full attention.

During the game, things can be different.

The first sprint, the first pass, the first defensive play, or the first rebound gives you something real to focus on.

Imagine a young basketball player sitting in the locker room, tying their shoes.

For the past few minutes, they've been thinking about the same thing: if they miss their first two shots, they'll probably start the game badly.

The more they return to that scenario, the more convincing it becomes.

Then the game starts.

On the first possession, they have to sprint back on defense. A quick change of direction follows, then a pass on the fast break and another sprint toward the baseline.

Suddenly, their attention has another job to do.

Where is the opponent? Who's open? Where do I need to be in the next two seconds?

For that player, the thoughts from the locker room may become less persistent because the game now demands responses to real situations.

That doesn't mean the emotions have disappeared. Their stomach might still feel tight, or there may still be tension in their shoulders.

But those feelings may no longer occupy all their attention.

And if the nervousness continues after the first few plays, it doesn't mean the athlete is doing something wrong. Everyone finds their rhythm differently.

For teenagers, this experience may also be influenced by the changes that come with growing up. Bodies develop, growth happens at different rates, and those differences can temporarily affect how young athletes perceive their own abilities.

We explore this stage of development in more detail in our article about puberty and biological maturation in youth sports.

Understanding these differences matters, especially when you start comparing yourself with other athletes.

Signs of Pre-Game Anxiety

One of the most useful things an athlete can learn about pre-game emotions is how to recognize them when they appear.

Not to eliminate them immediately or interpret them as a sign that something is wrong, but simply to understand what's happening in the body and mind.

Pre-game anxiety doesn't appear only as a thought. You may feel it in your body, notice it in your concentration, or recognize it in the questions that keep returning.

Many athletes first notice the physical sensations.

Your stomach might feel tight, as though your body is preparing for an important effort. Your hands may feel cold, even in a warm gym. Your heart may beat faster, your breathing may become shorter, and energy seems to gather in your body without having anywhere to go yet.

These reactions can accompany the nervous system's response to a situation perceived as demanding.

At the same time, changes may appear in the way your mind works.

One common sign is repetitive thinking. You keep returning to the same questions:

“What if I miss my first shot?”

“What if I lose the ball?”

“What if I don't start the game well?”

Sometimes concentrating becomes more difficult. Instead of paying attention to the warm-up, your teammates, or your coach's instructions, you notice your thoughts drifting back to the game ahead.

Another common sign is a strong desire to avoid mistakes.

Not simply wanting to play well, but wanting, above all, not to mess up.

“I have to start perfectly.”

“I hope I don't ruin the first play.”

At that point, your attention can begin moving away from what you actually need to do and toward the outcomes you're trying to avoid.

Many of these reactions are common before competitions and are not, by themselves, signs of weakness or a lack of preparation.

However, there are situations in which anxiety goes beyond ordinary pre-game nerves. If it persists, causes significant distress, repeatedly affects your sleep, or prevents you from taking part in practices and games, it's worth talking to an adult you trust and, when necessary, a qualified professional. Not every difficulty has to be handled alone with a mental routine.

For ordinary pre-game nerves, the first step can be much simpler.

Notice what's happening without immediately assuming that something is wrong with you.

The Mental Routine Before a Game (Guidelines, Not Recipes)

In competitive sports, there's a strong temptation to look for the “perfect method.” A special technique, a secret routine, or a formula that promises to make emotions disappear completely before competition.

But there is no universal routine that works exactly the same way for every athlete.

Over time, each athlete develops their own way of getting ready for a game. Still, there are a few practical approaches worth trying. They don't promise perfection, but they may help you understand your reactions and prepare for what's ahead.

About 24 Hours Before the Game

Mental preparation often begins long before you step into the gym.

Not with complicated exercises or sophisticated techniques, but with surprisingly simple things.

One of the most important is sleep.

It may seem too ordinary to deserve a place in an article about sports performance, but sleep is one of the most accessible resources for recovery and preparation.

It doesn't require special equipment, a subscription, or a personal trainer standing next to your bed with a stopwatch.

And yet it's easy to underestimate its importance.

Sleep supports physical recovery and cognitive functions involved in learning, attention, and decision-making. Research on sleep and athletic performance shows that athletes have different sleep needs and that insufficient sleep can affect preparation and recovery.

That's why one of the most useful things you can do before a game is protect your usual sleep routine.

That doesn't mean going to bed with the added pressure of thinking that if you don't fall asleep immediately, you'll play badly the next day.

One restless night before a game doesn't automatically predict your performance.

It simply means giving your body the best reasonable chance to recover, without turning sleep into another test you have to pass.

During the hours leading up to the game, it can also help to notice when you start replaying the same negative scenarios.

You don't have to force those thoughts away. Sometimes it helps to direct your attention toward ordinary things: a walk, a relaxed conversation, or an activity that has nothing to do with the game.

The competition is coming anyway.

You don't need to play it fifty times before you even reach the gym.

The Drive to the Gym

The drive to the gym is a special moment in many athletes' routines.

It's that stretch of time when the game hasn't started yet, but it's close enough for the nerves to become stronger.

The scene is familiar: your sports bag in the trunk, music playing through your headphones or the car speakers, the city moving past the window.

It's a strange feeling, somewhere between calm and tension. Part of you is trying to stay relaxed, while another part can sense that the moment when everything begins is getting closer.

At times like these, slow, controlled breathing can be a simple option.

You don't need complicated exercises or elaborate methods. You can try slowing your breathing a little, without forcing each inhale or exhale, and notice whether the tension begins to ease.

For some athletes, a few slower breaths can make their nerves easier to manage. For others, the effect may be smaller or take longer to notice.

Breathing isn't a switch that turns emotions off, and it doesn't guarantee that you'll step onto the court feeling completely relaxed.

It's simply one way to try to regulate your state before the game.

The Warm-Up

For many athletes, the warm-up is the first moment when things begin to change.

In the locker room or on the way to the gym, the mind can be very busy. Thoughts repeat themselves, scenarios come and go, and emotions seem to circle endlessly.

During the warm-up, however, the first real actions begin.

The first light runs, the first passes, the first shots, or the first mobility exercises give you something familiar to focus on.

You feel the ball in your hands, the floor beneath your shoes, the rhythm of your movements.

You don't have to resolve every emotion before you start moving.

Sometimes, simply beginning the activity you've trained for can make thoughts about the game less persistent.

For other athletes, the nervousness remains. The warm-up can still be useful because it gives them something concrete to do.

That's why warming up isn't only about preparing your body for competition. It can also be a moment when you begin to find your rhythm and bring your attention back to the game.

The Final Minutes Before the Start

As the start of the game approaches, many athletes feel their nerves rising again.

The gym gets louder, teams begin lining up, and your eyes move between your opponents and the scoreboard.

It's easy to start thinking about the entire game.

The score, how many minutes you'll play, the mistakes you hope you won't make, or what people might say afterward.

At that moment, simplifying things can help.

Instead of trying to control the entire game in your mind, choose one concrete point of focus.

The first play.

The first pass.

The first defensive stop.

The first good decision.

Not the entire game. Just the beginning.

That kind of focus doesn't guarantee that your nerves will disappear or that your first play will be perfect.

But it gives you a clear direction when so many things around you are beyond your control.

And after the first play comes the second.

Then the third.

You don't have to play the whole game at once.

What Doesn’t Work

If an athlete starts searching online for ways to get rid of pre-game nerves, they'll quickly discover that the internet is full of quick tips, motivational slogans, and “mental tricks” promising to solve the problem in just a few minutes.

Some may sound encouraging. The problem is that when they're presented as universal solutions, they can become unhelpful or even create additional pressure.

Three pieces of advice appear particularly often, in articles, short videos, and well-intentioned conversations between adults and young athletes.

The first is: “Don't think about anything.”

At first glance, it sounds logical. If your thoughts are stressing you out, the solution must be to stop thinking about them.

Except deliberately trying to eliminate a thought doesn't always work the way we'd like.

Let's try something.

If someone tells you right now, “Don't think about a puppy,” what happens?

There's a good chance the image of a puppy pops straight into your mind.

Maybe a little one running around.

Maybe one that has just discovered your shoelaces make excellent toys.

That doesn't mean the mind is incapable of understanding a negative instruction. But deliberately trying to suppress a thought can, under certain conditions, make it more persistent.

This phenomenon is explored in research on the ironic processes of mental control.

Something similar can happen in sports when a player keeps repeating, “Don't think about missing,” or “Don't think about making mistakes.”

The more they check whether they've managed to push that thought away, the more attention they may end up giving it.

Sometimes it can be more helpful to choose something concrete to focus on than to try to empty your mind completely.

The second common piece of advice is: “Relax.”

Again, it sounds reasonable in theory. But in practice, it can become another source of pressure.

An athlete who's already feeling nervous may begin to believe they're doing something wrong.

If everyone around them keeps saying “relax,” but they can't, the conclusion may quickly become:

“I guess I should be calmer, but I'm not.”

Instead of reducing tension, the message can increase it.

The third phrase appears especially often in conversations with young athletes: “There's no reason to be nervous.”

This is almost always said with good intentions. Parents, coaches, or teammates are trying to build confidence and reduce pressure.

But the athlete may hear something different.

That their emotions shouldn't exist.

That they're overreacting.

That they should feel differently from how they actually feel.

Emotions don't simply disappear because someone tells us we have no reason to experience them.

That's why, instead of messages that dismiss an athlete's experience, a more realistic approach can be useful: pre-game emotions may appear, they can be understood, and in many situations, they can be managed.

We don't need to turn them into another problem simply because they're there.

When Emotions Are Actually a Good Sign

In youth sports, there's a common belief that may sound logical at first but can create a lot of confusion: truly great athletes don't get nervous before games.

It's an image we often see in movies or motivational speeches. The calm, unshakable athlete who steps onto the court without the slightest trace of tension.

But athletes' emotional experiences are far more varied than that image suggests.

Some feel a surge of energy before competition. Others are quieter. Some talk constantly in the locker room, while others prefer a few minutes alone.

And some athletes feel very little nervousness before a game.

That doesn't mean they're less motivated, that they haven't worked hard enough, or that the game doesn't matter to them.

Just as feeling intense emotions doesn't automatically mean an athlete is more committed than their teammates.

There is no single emotional response that proves how much you care about your sport.

For some athletes, nerves appear precisely because the upcoming moment matters. Hours of training, the desire to contribute to the team, and personal expectations can all make a competition feel more intense.

For others, that same commitment may come with a sense of calm and focus.

Neither experience is automatically better than the other.

What matters is how the athlete responds to the demands of the game and manages to play.

So when you feel nervous before a game, you don't have to immediately ask yourself how to get rid of those feelings.

It may be more useful to understand what's causing them and what might help you in that moment.

For some athletes, the question gradually changes.

Instead of:

“Why am I nervous?”

It becomes:

“How can I use this energy in the game?”

And if the answer doesn't come immediately, that's fine.

You don't have to turn every emotion into some spectacular advantage.

Sometimes, simply recognizing what you feel, allowing it to be there, and getting on with your game is enough.

The Opening Whistle

There's a moment in almost every game when everything you've imagined over the previous few hours finally meets reality.

It's the moment the opening whistle sounds.

Until then, you've had time to think about your opponents, the opening plays, and everything that might go wrong. Maybe you felt tense in the locker room, maybe you were unusually quiet in the car, or maybe you joked around with your teammates more than usual.

Then the game begins.

The first pass, the first sprint, the first change of direction, or the first battle for the ball asks you to respond to what's happening right in front of you.

Where's the ball?

Where's your opponent?

What do you need to do now?

For some athletes, the nerves begin to ease. For others, they remain, but the game provides something concrete to focus on.

There is no emotional transformation that automatically happens when the whistle blows.

But one thing does change for everyone: the game is no longer just something you've imagined.

It's actually happening.

And for a few moments, maybe you don't need to know how it's going to end.

You just need to see the play unfolding in front of you.

And that's where the real game begins.

Final Note – About the First Shot

There's one scenario that comes up very often in conversations about emotions in sports, and it deserves to be addressed directly because almost every athlete has thought about it at least once.

“But what if my first shot doesn't go in?”

It's a question that usually comes up right after we talk about focusing on the first play, the first pass, or the first decision of the game.

Many athletes have experienced that moment when, if the first shot goes in, everything seems to flow more easily. The ball feels lighter, decisions come naturally, and confidence grows from one play to the next.

And then there's the other side of the story.

The first shot misses. The second one hits the rim and rolls out.

And suddenly, the mind starts whispering:

“Maybe it's just not my day.”

We've seen this happen to athletes of all ages. To children who lose confidence for a few minutes. To teenagers who suddenly start playing too cautiously. And sometimes even to experienced players who need a few good plays to find their rhythm again.

The first play of a game can carry real emotional weight. It's the first contact with the game, and an athlete may begin interpreting that moment as a sign of how the rest of the game will unfold.

But there's a more useful way to look at it.

The first play isn't important because it has to be perfect.

It's important because it gets you into the game.

If the first shot goes in, that's a bonus. If the first pass is good, it's a nice start. But if the first shot misses, that one play doesn't determine how the entire game will unfold.

What may change is the story your mind starts telling about it.

In reality, almost every game contains dozens of plays, and the best performances aren't built on a single shot or a single decision. They're also built on an athlete's ability to stay in the game, play after play, even when the opening minutes don't go perfectly.

And here's a small observation from many years spent in sports gyms: sometimes the athletes who miss their first shot end up playing an excellent game.

Not because the miss was an advantage.

But because they managed to return to the most important thing in the game.

To play the next play.

Because in sports, the first shot doesn't decide the game.

The next fifty just might. 😉

Frequently Asked Questions About Pre-Game Emotions

Is it normal to feel nervous even a few days before a game?

Yes. And if you're an athlete, you've probably experienced it already.

Sometimes the nerves appear two or even three days before a game. Not because the game has already started, but because your mind begins building scenarios about it.

It can happen to young athletes, experienced players, and even those who have competed at the highest level.

For some athletes, the nerves begin to ease after the opening minutes, when their attention shifts toward the actual plays. For others, the nervousness may continue during the game.

Both experiences are possible.

What matters is understanding how you respond, without constantly comparing yourself with everyone else.

If my first shot misses, does it mean the game will go badly?

No.

But the mind loves to believe that.

The first play of a game can carry a lot of emotional weight, and sometimes an athlete starts treating that moment as a prediction of how the rest of the game will go.

If the shot goes in, it suddenly feels like “it's going to be a good day.” If it misses, the thought quickly appears: “Maybe it's not my day.”

The problem is that a game isn't built on a single shot. It's built on dozens of plays.

Plenty of excellent games have started with a missed shot.

The difference isn't necessarily the shot itself, but what the athlete does on the next play.

Are there athletes who don't feel nervous before a game at all?

Yes, there are.

Some athletes feel very little nervousness before competition, while others experience intense emotions even after many years of playing.

The way we experience and express emotions differs from person to person.

A calm athlete can be just as motivated and well-prepared as someone who feels strong tension before the opening whistle.

So the absence of nerves doesn't mean a lack of commitment, just as feeling nervous doesn't mean a lack of preparation.

If you feel nervous before a game, you don't have to automatically see it as a problem.

And if you don't, there's no need to look for something to worry about.

After all, whether they're calm or nervous before a game, plenty of athletes eventually find themselves thinking the same thing: “Okay… can the game just start already?” 🙂

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