“Too often in life, something happens and we blame other people for us not being happy or satisfied or fulfilled. So, the point is, we all have choices, and we make the choice to accept people or situations or to not accept situations.” Tom Brady

Every player has a fear of failure, but you cannot let failure stop you from giving your best or weaken your mental game.

And you cannot let worrying thoughts get in the way of your performance, or you will not reach your full potential.

If you find yourself being self-conscious, or fretful about how your actions will look to others, here’s how it can affect you mentally and how you can overcome being self-conscious.

How worrying can affect you mentally.

One of the biggest threats to mental toughness is worrying and being too self-conscious.

The reason for this is because it can have tremendous adverse effects on your brain.

Firstly, your brain reacts to worrying the same way it would to physical danger.

Which means it releases stress hormones, and you will be heavily breathing while your heart races as if you are face to face with danger.

The commonly used term for this reaction is called “fight or flight” response because, at this moment, your brain is ready to either fight the danger or run away from it.

In a football game, neither of these options are doable, leaving you in a tough situation.

At this point, your football mind will be weak due to an overwhelming feeling of anxiety, and you will not be able to perform well.

Another thing to keep in mind is that worrying will disrupt the peacefulness of your brain and hinder your football mental game, which will prevent you from focusing on important tasks.

In football, it is so important to keep your full focus on the game instead of being concerned about what other people think. Worrying is just a form of distraction that will do nothing but weaken your game and not allow you to achieve peak performance.

Physiological Effects on the Game

Apart from the apparent mental harm anxiety causes, it can also cause a great deal of muscle pain which can ultimately affect your overall performance.

Football psychologists state that tension and worry can cause your muscles to tighten or be strained which will lead to cramps.

If stress arises very suddenly, then your body may remain in a state of emergency which can leave the muscles to stay tight and tense.

During a game, this can be fatal.

The pain can range from slightly painful to extremely agonizing to the point that you cannot participate in the game anymore. This can be experienced in any part of the body like your legs, arms, back, chest, etc.

Your performance will slow down a great deal due to this, and if it is an often occurrence, your performance may not improve.

An incident like this occurring on the field in front of several people can be overwhelming players, resulting in a massive lack of football confidence.

These can be avoided through various techniques of relaxation like yoga, meditation or by consulting a sports psychologist who can help you overcome anxiety.

*Download the free mental game assessment and get started on improving your Mental Game in Football.