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By: Psychologist Diana Sosa, member of the World Boxing Council Medical Committee
Boxing is a very tough sport, so the mentality of someone who practices it must be strong, since they must be aware that they are training a sport that requires great determination and that, if they progress within it, they must prepare themselves, both physically and psychologically, to receive blows.
Many people will train at an amateur level and will never engage in sparring or an exhibition or amateur fight, but all those who decide to take that first big step will know that a very large accumulation of emotions is experienced before any fight, tournament or championship.
The vast majority of boxers may experience anxiety or commonly referred to as “nerves” before a fight, especially early in their careers. But this decreases over time, due to the experience they are acquiring, which strengthens their self-confidence.
However, it can happen that on occasions and due to various circumstances, there are high levels of anxiety before a fight, which could distract the fighter and here we are going to give 3 tips for good anxiety management and for the boxer to get into the ring to do what he does best: put up a good fight.
1) Although it is true that a certain degree of anxiety is needed to keep the adrenaline high, when it is exceeded it is not optimal. So the fighter will have to look for his own and personal resources to lower anxiety levels. For example, there are some fighters who have well-established “rituals” before fighting, such as listening to music with headphones, some prefer to be alone, read or talk with their relatives. There are many who meditate, others who pray. The question here is that they know exactly that activity or situation that allows them to be calm without losing focus.
2) Many fighters feel anxious before going up to fight because they focus more on avoiding failure than on achieving success. Some feel pressured not to lose their undefeated, not to be defeated and the key is to do the opposite: focus attention on doing the right thing. They should think about the effort they made during their preparation, the sparring rounds, that they are in good condition and all those extras they gave in training, in order to feel empowered that they have absolutely all the resources to win.
3) If the fighters realize that during recent fights they have lost and it is because anxiety distracts them to the point of not knowing what to do above the ring and not paying attention to what their corner tells them, it is important that they discuss it as a team and go to consult a sports psychologist, who is the one to be able to channel and guide the fighter, finding out what happens in his mind and emotions. In addition to working as a team, they will be able to find an immediate solution and with this, improve the boxer’s sports performance.
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