Nerves are normal – here’s what to do with them

At a workshop I ran, I showed how my hands were shaking.

I’ve tried to make it go away, but nothing has worked. So I stopped trying to fix it.

When we feel nervous on court, we often tell ourselves we can’t feel this way. We try to fight it and find solutions.

And when nothing works, we get stressed because we think we can’t feel this way.

But sometimes nothing works. And that’s okay.

I’ve accepted that my hands shake and I don’t let it affect me. 🙂

Think about what happens when your legs get tired in a match.

You don’t stop playing. You don’t think about why your legs are tired or what it means.

You just keep going, because tired legs are a normal part of tennis.

But with nerves, we do the opposite.

We start to overthink and overanalyze.

Nerves are the same as tired legs. They’re a normal part of competing. 

Do the same with nerves as you do with tired legs.

Just tell yourself: “I’m nervous and that’s okay. Now I’ll play my game.” 🙂