Controlling Fear in the Boxing Ring - My Experiences and 6 Tips to Manage Your Fears

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As a boxer it is not the done thing to talk in any depth about the fears that you experience in the run up to a fight. You want an aura of fearlessness, an absolute and total demonstration of confidence in your ability to smash to pieces anything that’s put in front of you. You determine to convince yourself and anyone around you, especially your opponent, that you fear nothing and will stop at nothing to get your win.

However, I’m no longer a boxer. I’ve not fought competitively for almost 20 years. So, I can now talk quite freely about the experiences I went through in the weeks, days, hours and minutes before a fight. I simply would not have talked at any length about any of this whilst boxing. I’d acknowledge maybe to my nearest and dearest that I was nervous, but I certainly wouldn’t run into the kind of detail I am going to put across here.

Bear in mind, what I describe here is personal to what I felt at the time. Other boxers may not recognise anything I talk about here. Other boxers may have experienced something similar, or maybe even more profound. But I speak here only for me. I longed at the time to be totally fearless, but there you go. I feel now that the more challenging the fight and associated fears, the more precious and satisfying the victory.

Ok, here goes, 6 tips to deal with fear in boxing:

Tip #1 – Get the preparation right

The more prepared you are in gym time the easier to deal with are the emotions before the fight. If you’ve not put the training and roadwork in, then self-doubts will amplify your fear. There is no cheating yourself in these situations, you need to know that you can fight hard for the duration of the contest. Positive visualisation will be much easier with a solid and committed training regime behind you.

Tip #2 – Simply resign yourself

The word ‘resignation’ generally has negative connotations. You resign the game in chess and lose. You resign from a job and the pay packet and the perks go out of the window. But, when it comes to boxing then resigning yourself to the fact that you are absolutely, positively going to be in a fight will make you more able to put your fears into a context that you are happy to deal with. This context is winning, pure and simple. You are dealing with the fears because you are going to fight and you are going to win!

Tip #3 – Leave Hatred Behind

Avoid becoming embroiled in how much you hate your opponent. Feeling hatred toward someone is easier when fear takes hold. Fear gives you a reason, however irrational, to hate that person. Rather than focusing on hatred, focus on clinical precision, supreme skills and power, all positives in your quest to douse the inferno of fear. Hatred can result in rash actions and an ignorance of skill. Be calm, be collected, be a winner.

Tip #4 – And Breath…

Knots in the stomach are not very pleasant. A practical way to get momentary relief from the discomfort of knots in your stomach is to take a massive, deep breath. At the very top of the breath, the ache will disappear. Of course it will come flooding back when you breathe out, but at least it was good while it lasted.

Tip #5 – Stay frosty…literally

If, like me, you experience the dreaded ‘yawns’, get a good soaking with some ice cold water. Over the head, back and front. This will wake you with a jolt and instantly invigorates the senses.

Tip #6 – Keep your eye on the prize

Finally, focus on that win. Winning just makes all of the fears worth it. Fight off the negative and see your hand raised at the end. It’s why boxer’s do it all, to get that win.

Fact is, when you are heading for a fight fear is going to walk with you every step of the way. Just make sure that you take the positives and manage the negatives. Boxers deal in winning, no more, no less.

Cheers

Fran

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