How to not be nervous before a game (and what to do instead)

The honest answer: nerves are part of the deal

Here’s the uncomfortable part first. There is no trick that makes you feel nothing before a big game. If a page promises that, it’s selling something. Jitters before an important game are not unusual, even for athletes who have played for years, says Peter Lucchio, PsyD, a clinical psychologist who works with athletes at Hartford HealthCare.

His explanation is simple. When your mind knows something important is coming, your body gets ready to act. Faster heart, quick breathing, butterflies. In his words, jitteriness is “the body letting an athlete know that this game matters.” The problem starts when you read those feelings as weakness or as proof you’re not ready. Sport psychologist Vikki Krane, writing for the Association for Applied Sport Psychology, puts it plainly: getting rid of anxiety is not possible, nor desirable. Too much of it is the problem. For the bigger picture, read our guide to sports performance anxiety, and if you want the why in one page, see why do I get nervous before a game?

The 60-second fix when nerves hit

Use this in the locker room, in line for warm-ups or on the bench before you check in. It takes about a minute and nobody needs to know you’re doing it. Dr. Lucchio suggests box breathing: inhale, hold, exhale, hold. If you’re new to it, start with three-second counts. He notes athletes can use it during timeouts and breaks in play too. If you want this built into a full warm-up, start with a pregame mental routine.

1. 01

   Box breathe for four rounds

   In for three. Hold for three. Out for three. Hold for three. Count in your head. The counting gives racing thoughts something to do.

2. 02

   Notice where your head went

   Dr. Lucchio’s check: are your thoughts on winning, the people in the stands or making a mistake? Name it to yourself: “I’m thinking about the scouts.”

3. 03

   Come back to your senses

   Feel your feet in your shoes. Hear the ball bounce. Look at one fixed thing, like the rim or the corner flag. That’s the mindfulness move he recommends: notice the thought, let it go, return to the senses.

4. 04

   Say your cue

   Two or three words that point at your job, like “first step quick” or “talk early.” Say it out loud or in your head.

5. 05

   See the first play

   Picture the first five seconds of the game going right, in real speed. Then stop thinking and move.

Your game-day timeline, start to whistle

Nerves grow when your day feels out of control. A plan you’ve used before takes guesswork off the table. A 2021 meta-analysis in the International Review of Sport and Exercise Psychology found that pre-performance routines helped sport performance, with a small effect in before-and-after studies and moderate-to-large effects in experiments, including under pressure. Routines are not magic, but they give your head a script to follow when it wants to wander.

The bus is late. The warm-up gets cut short. It happens. Have a short version ready: three breaths, your cue, one picture of the first play. Our page on what to do if your pregame routine is disrupted walks through it.

Swap the thoughts that feed the nerves

Most pregame nerves come from thinking about things you can’t control: the score, the crowd, the coach’s decision, the college coach in the bleachers. Krane points out that you can play almost perfectly and still lose. So the AASP advice is to separate playing well from winning and set small, specific goals for how you’ll play. That’s not settling. It’s aiming at the part you can actually hit. See what athletes can control and self-talk for athletes for more.

Pregame nerves by sport: give the first play a job

Your first action matters more than any pep talk. Once you’ve touched the ball, made a tackle or taken a hard first cut, nerves usually drop. So plan that first action in advance, and pick one that doesn’t depend on making a shot or a highlight play.

Go deeper with mental training for basketball, mental training for football and mental training for soccer. Coming off the bench is its own kind of nervous; see how to prepare to enter a game from the bench.

Practice being nervous before game day

The worst time to start working on nerves is the morning of the game. Krane recommends talking through worst-case situations ahead of time, building a coping plan for each, then practicing being uncomfortable and coping well. Her example: pretend the bus is stuck in traffic and plan how you’d start warming up in your seat.

1. 01

   Drill: the pressure rep (three times a week, 5 minutes)

   At practice, pick one skill: a free throw, a penalty kick, a serve. Before each rep, do two rounds of box breathing and say your cue. Add pressure: a teammate counts down from five, or you run a sprint if you miss. Ten reps. The goal is not to make them all. It’s to run the same routine every time.

2. 02

   Drill: the bad-news rehearsal (once before a big game)

   Write three things that could go wrong: early mistake, late arrival, loud crowd. Next to each, write your plan in one sentence. Read it once the night before, then put it away.

3. 03

   Drill: the nervous warm-up (once a week)

   Get your heart rate up with 30 seconds of fast feet, then go straight into a skill rep. Your body learns what it feels like to perform with a racing heart.

For parents and coaches, and when nerves are too much

Pregame nerves that fade after the first few minutes are normal. If an athlete feels sick with dread for days before games, can’t sleep, wants to quit because of the fear, or the worry spills into school and life, talk to a doctor or a licensed mental health professional. Our sports anxiety self-check can help you reflect, but it is not a diagnosis. In a crisis in the US, call or text 988.

Train the reset before you need it

You don’t rise to the moment. You fall back on what you practiced. Athletes who handle pregame nerves well usually aren’t calmer people. They have a routine they’ve rehearsed so many times it runs on its own.

That’s what reset is built for. It’s the mental training app for athletes: two minutes a day, three steps. Notice. Name. Return. Try a 2-minute reset, or join the waitlist.