When an athlete faces his fears, it can make him better, reminds him.
Motor athlete Emma Kimiläinen in an interview with Iltalehti openly told about her fear of drowning. The world champion of the E1 boats keeps its fears and self-functioning in many different ways.
In the world of top-level sports, giving fears is even a taboo.
Sports Psychologist and Psychotherapist Hippu Knows that athletes have much more fears than they publicly admit.
– Among the two, customers talk a lot about fears. It is a very typical subject. Too often, it is thought that an athlete cannot admit that he is afraid. It is interpreted as a sign of weakness. But fear is a human feeling and maintains life. Fear protects us by preparing for situations and being attentive. Encountering fear is the most important thing, he emphasizes.
Of course, athletes, like all people, have many fears.
– The fear of injury and failure, or that something happens to me. Many athletes also experience fear after injury. In this case, there is a realized idea that this can go bad. This, in turn, can affect, for example, relaxation of the performance and, in a way, steer towards the feared thing or situation, Pintilä knows.
Be frightened
Emma Kimiläinen analyzes accurately and speaks openly about her feelings. Jenni Gästgivar
In his work, Pintilä prepares for athletes, among other things, ways to control and encounter fears and what you can learn from scary situations.
– It is important to think about what the athlete was thinking about what the athlete thought in different situations, what happened in the body at the time and how he felt. When you go through thoughts and emotions, you can change them when you first understand what happens in that situation, he says.
Pintilä knows the general idea that, for example, a motorhium, a ski jumper or a downhill skier could not be afraid.
– It’s not true. If an athlete is able to face and overcome fear and take care of their own safety and make sensible decisions despite fear, it can make the athlete even better. Man can not make stupid solutions because he has learned that fear is sometimes a reasonable guide. But if fear makes a person act stupid, then it is better to stop competing in such sports, he sees.
Pintilä emphasizes that fear does not have to control life or prevent things from doing things.
– Often exposure helps. If the fear goes calmly and constructed, at first, even through images, it reduces fear. Similarly, the fact that it anticipates the situation will arouse fear helps to prepare for the feeling of fear and help us regulate our emotional state.
– If a state of fear already exists, it is important to get the body to calm down by activating the parasympathetic nervous system. Breathing is one of the best ways to do this. It allows you to regulate your own state, he says.
Fear or excitement?
Sports psychologist Hippu Pintilä knows that the fear of failure can impair performance. Hippu Pintilä’s album
When one dares to do a scary thing, Pintilä says it is not advisable to stop as soon as possible.
– It’s worth letting go a little over. It further reduces fear. When you win the feeling of fear and continue to do it for a while, it reinforces the feeling that this is not so terrible, he says.
Pintilä points out that tension and fear are in the same “emotional set”.
– The physiological reaction they cause can be very similar. Even excitement can make a person stiff and feel that you do not control your body. But a little tension is good. A tense person is more refreshing, getting more out of himself and being able to concentrate better.
– It is essential for an athlete to see how this can regulate his or her own alertness. If the tension goes over, it can turn into fear. In this case, there may be a fear of failure that is not good for performance.