Q-and-A: How do I get a good night’s sleep the night before a game? (Part 1)

SPARQ has partnered with Pinnacle Performance Inc. to provide mental training techniques to help you thrive under pressure. You can send mental training questions to Dr. Michael Gervais, CEO of Pinnacle Performance at:  mentaltraining@sparqtraining.com

 

Question:

I get so nervous the night before games that I often have trouble sleeping.  I know that not getting a good night’s sleep can hurt my performance on the field, so is there anything I can do or techniques I can use to calm my nerves so I can sleep?

Dr. Michael Gervais answers:

 

You bring up two really important points: quality sleep and nervous energy. Both are so important that I want to separate them out in two responses. This week, let’s take a quick look at quality sleep.

 

You are absolutely correct that sleep is important. During sleep is when our mind and body recover from the stress we experience throughout the day. As a matter of fact, sleep is so important that elite athletes spend quite a bit of time planning out the recovery part of their training program – with routine quality sleep being an absolute critical ingredient for performing at the highest level.

 

Let’s first address why you have nervous energy the night before the game. An NFL Super Bowl Champion explained to me that the only reason we loose sleep is because we’re paying to much attention to the outcome of the upcoming event. He said, “As soon as I notice that I’m loosing sleep, I know that my priorities are out of balance. My job is to show up game day and perform the way that I’ve trained in practice. That’s it. I can’t do more than that.” At that point, he would get out of bed and remind himself of what he loved about his sport. He would then restart his pre-sleep routine (see below).

 

Also keep in mind, the sleep two nights before a game has a greater impact on performance than the sleep the night of. It’s not until a few days after a sleepless night when the body says, “hey, I need to shut’er-down…I can’t keep up at this pace.” It’s in those subsequent days when we feel a bit sluggish, a bit slower than usual (both mentally and physically).

 

So, using the wisdom from a Super Bowl Champion, keep things in perspective by placing trust in your training and preparation. Also make sure that two nights before your event you get plenty of shut-eye.

 

We recommend that you build a solid pre-sleep routine. Make it a habit to train your body to ‘get ready’ for sleep. Here’s what some professional athletes have found successful:

 

1) Finish your last big meal well before you want to fall asleep

2) Reduce or eliminate caffeine intake

3) Go to sleep at the same time every night

4) When your head hits the pillow, spend 1 minute on deep breathing (from your stomach) and focus all of your attention on your relaxing breath…you’ll fall right asleep doing this!

6) If you can’t fall asleep within in 15-20 minutes, get up and do something mindless for a few minutes (like brushing your teeth)

7) If you find your mind wandering with anxiety, write down on a piece of paper, all the things that are keeping you up. Dump them on the pad (we call it the ‘dump pad’). Know that you can look at the paper in the morning to remind you of the tasks for the day.

 

Dr. Gervais, as the CEO of Pinnacle Performance, Inc., is an authority on the psychology of performance excellence.  He develops systems and strategies for improving performance for individuals and organizations to better “thrive under pressure.”

Throughout the past 15 years, Dr. Gervais has consulted with numerous NHL, NBA, NFL, MLS, AVP, Mixed Martial Arts fighters, Olympic, collegiate, and high school athletes.

Dr. Gervais is the program developer of FOCUS-coach, a system that credentials coaches how to deliver mental skills training to their athletes, and FOCUS-mental conditioning, a program for athletes to learn the essential mental skills to “thrive under pressure.”

For more information on Pinnacle Performance or Dr. Michael Gervais, please visit www.pinnacle-performer.com