Fergie Time

 How to tackle performance anxiety by Daniel Ferguson It’s 7am, you’ve just woken up to that alarm you didn’t want to set, you feel tired and you don’t want to move. You’re dreading that cross country run you have at 9am and you can feel the ‘butterflies’ in your stomach just from the thought of doing it. You enjoy running for your athletics club, but these feelings overwhelm you. This is a classic case of performance anxiety. Now what is this and what are ways we can deal with it? Battling performance anxiety What is performance anxiety? Performance anxiety is having feelings of stress and worry before a performance or competition. These feelings are usually due to the individual having high expectations of themselves and the anxiety results from feeling unable to meet these expectations. There could also be added pressures due to an audience.  What does it look like? Physical symptoms include: Faster heartbeat Sweating ‘Butterflies’ in the stomach Fatigue Muscle tension...

 Coaching Crisis How to tackle the difficulties of team selection for coaches - by Daniel Ferguson As much as spectators can comment on a coach's team selection, have you ever pictured yourself being the coach? With so many factors influencing your decisions and lots of weight on your shoulders to pick the right team, how do you make the right choice? As Gareth Southgate (England Manager 2016-2024) said himself, "you pick certain personnel in place of others and it goes wrong, you're dead." Southgate during the 2018 World Cup From a player's perspective they want to be selected. They desire to play week in, week out. Being consistently selected has  associations with improving player's emotional well-being, life satisfaction and enjoyment, plus reduced stress. From a coach's perspective they're required to cater for many needs. They must consider the career impacts on the players and make decisions whilst surrounded by the influences of parents, agent...

 Ready, Set, Return How to prepare your mind for returning a serve in tennis - by Daniel Ferguson In tennis, it can feel like you’re at a disadvantage when being on the end of a serve. Serve effectiveness , which shows the percentage of points in which a player’s serve creates an advantage, is a useful tool in expressing this disadvantage . It includes aces, service winners, unreturned serves and points where the player is on the attack after a first serve. In 2023, the ATP tour average for serve effectiveness was 58%. In Wimbledon 2024, there was an average of 63% of first serves in out of the first 100 men’s games. This shows the player taking the serve has the advantage. However, out of the 8 leading players for first serves in during Wimbledon, only two won their match. So what should go on inside the mind of the receiver? Roger Federer serving against Novak Djokovic in the 2019 wimbledon final Picture this: you’re in the playground at school and see an apple core on the floor...