Simone Biles’s 8 Tips for Overcoming Sports Anxiety

Simone Biles is an artistic gymnast known for her contributions to the sport. She was a star of the 2016 Olympics, winning gold for the all-around, vault, and floor, as well as bronze for the balance beam. At that same Olympics, she helped the US women’s team, nicknamed the “Final Five,” take home gold.

Sports performance anxiety is common in all levels, from elite athletes on professional teams to student-athletes or adolescents participating in youth sports. It’s similar to performance anxiety, or stage fright, which is the fear of public speaking, performing, or acting in front of an audience. Stage fright can lead to negative thinking and nervousness that may inhibit your performance, affect your self-esteem, or cause you to go into a downward spiral.

You can adopt different coping strategies to ease your competition anxiety. If it takes a toll on your mental health, you can reach out to a sports psychologist for help mitigating stressful situations.

Simone Biles may be one of the most successful gymnasts, but even she gets nervous before an athletic performance. “[I] still get nervous on competition days because every competition is a new day,” she says. “[It’s] a new chance to prove to yourself you can do it and to prove to everybody else what your training was like and what you’re made of.”

Simone is most nervous on her way to the competition and before she salutes because of the anticipation. “It’s that anticipation of waiting and waiting,” she says. “Once I usually salute, and I start on whatever equipment it is, my nerves usually go away.”

When you experience feelings of anxiety, your body experiences a “fight-or-flight” reaction. Anxiety causes physical symptoms like raised heart rate, sweating, shaking, dry mouth, nausea, and rapid breathing—all signals that tell your body it’s in danger. Finding ways to let go or harness your nervous energy can help you overcome anxiety symptoms. Learn how to deal with stage fright and pull off your best performance possible with the following tips from world-champion gymnast Simone Biles:

1. 1. Forget about superstitions. As a young athlete, Simone felt she had to watch the 2006 movie Stick It when traveling. However, as she got older and her traveling conditions changed, it became harder to do, so the habit died down. “I am not a very superstitious person at all,” she says. “I’ve learned over the years of my gymnastics career [that] you never know where gymnastics will take you. We’ve traveled overseas quite a bit. Say I need a certain hair tie, and it breaks. How am I supposed to get that out of the country? I try not to be too fixated on superstitions. I don’t really have any.”
2. 2. Let go of the pressure. Simone gets herself in the right headspace during warmups. “When I’m warming up on a meet day, I’m trying to focus in… so that I have a successful competition,” she says. “I try to let all the pressure out in warmups, so that I’m not too amped up for the competition.”
3. 3. Listen to music. Simone likes to listen to music on her way to the competition to manage her anxiety. Listening to music can help you overcome performance anxiety by getting you out of your head and away from negative thoughts, which can alleviate the jitters and help you calm down. “I like to listen to very upbeat music, nothing too slow, something to get my blood going, and to feel confident for the meet, and something to just shake out some of the nerves,” Simone says. “[Music] gets my mind off of the subject of competing.”
4. 4. Practice self-confidence and positive self-talk. In a high-impact sport like gymnastics, you have to feel confident you can land complex and dangerous maneuvers. Doubting your abilities or engaging in negative self-talk can make you misstep and possibly hurt yourself. “I know that if I’m lacking confidence, then things can turn a little bit iffy and a little bit dangerous for yourself,” she says. “You almost have to fake it so that you can still go out there and be safe.”
5. 5. Remember your training. Every time you set foot on a gymnastics mat or other playing field, remember you’re doing the same skills you did in training. “When I talk to the girls about them being nervous, about qualifying to a bigger meet that they want to go to, I always tell them, ‘It’s the same exact meet. You’re doing the same exact skills that you do in training, and nothing changes besides the name of the meet,’” Simone says. “When you start to overthink… just try not to think so much and then just go with the motions.”
6. 6. Stay focused. Simone stays focused by blocking out other voices before a competition. “I try not to go on social media,” she says. “And I try not to let those outside voices get to me because that’s what makes me a little bit more nervous.”
7. 7. Use adrenaline as fuel. Adrenaline is a stress hormone that can help you. As Simone points out, you may feel your anxiety level rise before a sports competition. “[Adrenaline is] actually there to help you out because you might feel a little bit nervous,” she says. “So I think adrenaline helps everybody get through their routines. You gain more power and a little bit more confidence because it’s almost that nervous energy getting into you.”
8. 8. Work on your breathing. Deep breathing can help you feel more at ease. “When I’m at a meet, and I’m really nervous, and I can feel the adrenaline, and my heart is racing, I try to take a step back and really work on my breathing [because] I feel like if I work on my breathing techniques and my heart’s not racing so fast, I can get into my zone,” Simone says.

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