Anxiety and panic attacks can stop your sporting career in its tracks Anxiety and panic attacks can have a devastating effect on the performance of an athlete.
No matter how much talent and skill you have you'll never perform at your best if you live in fear and anxiety before every event.
To rid yourself of anxiety and panic attacks forever you must break the cycle that starts with the fear of your next attack.
If you suffer from anxiety and panic attacks then you most likely experience some or all of the conditions below and more:

• Periods of dizziness that lead to a panic attack.
  
• Shortness in your breath and tightness in your throat and chest.
  
• Accelerated heartbeat and sensations of tingling.
  
• You have obsessive worries and thoughts that you could do without.
  
• An overwhelming feeling of doom approaching.
  

If you're an athlete and you experience any of these symptoms during an event then it's no wonder that you don't do as well as you could.
This is how anxiety affects sporting performance.
Controlling the cycle of fear, anxiety and panic In order to be completely free of panic attacks you need to break the cycle that starts with the fear of your next attack and ends with the attack itself.
Curing your panic attacks totally is beyond the scope of this article but if you want more information please click the link at the bottom.
The following techniques have been found to help to minimise the effects of panic attacks and even prevent attacks on occasion.

• Prepare well for a sporting event.
  Make sure that you are as good as you are ever going to be when you perform.
  This helps to build confidence.
  
• Use relaxation techniques such as deep breathing.
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• Try to convince yourself that the symptoms you experience are outside of your body and therefore not your problem to deal with.
  
• Positive thinking is important.
  Believe in your ability at all times.
  
• Focus on the task of preparing for the event and exclude everything else.
  
• Work hard as a team if at all possible.
  Working with others gives you a sense of purpose and keeps you focused.
  
• Always give your best performance.
  Never accept second best.
  

How anxiety affects sporting performance varies from individual to individual but it is usually very damaging.
The techniques above can help to minimise the effects but if you're a serious athlete, or even if you aren't, then you should be looking for ways to break the cycle of fear, anxiety and panic attacks in a more permanent way.