Intimidation is a massive mental barrier for many athletes. It often happens when you compare yourself to your opponent’s skills before competition. Most intimidation in sports comes from psyching yourself out, which I call self-intimidation. Your first task to overcoming intimidation is to be very honest with yourself and recognize when you psych yourself out.
Look for the following signs including: giving too much energy to your competition during pregame; Doubting your skills to perform well against a certain competitor or team; losing your focus when in awe of the situation or hoopla of the competitive environment; or feeling inferior to the competition and make comparisons to others.
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