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This week's question:

"...My son is a starting guard for his high school basketball team and gets so nervous before games that he literally gets sick. We assume that it's nerves, but he always vomits prior to the game and last week threw up once during the game...and still scored 14 points. Do you have any experience with this sort of thing...and what can you suggest?"

Response...

Pre-performance (Sports) Anxiety can definitely upset sports performance. Whether it is the start of a typical game, a big tournament game or your schools big rivalry game most athletes know the following symptoms:

1. Sweaty hands
2. Heart racing
3. Chest tightening
4. Shallow breathing
5. Fear of failure
6. Stomach tightening
7. Vomiting

I know myself that before the Troy/Piqua football game the anxiety levels are running a little higher for everyone in the locker room prior to taking the field. Most of these symptoms are normal and nearly all athletes experience them in one form or another. If you are experiencing the last one which is continually vomiting before and/or during a game, there should be some effort made to correct this problem.

My recommendation would be that you take your son to see a sports psychologist. They should be able to help pinpoint what is causing all the extreme nervousness prior to a contest. If it is determined to be nervousness they would hopefully be able to provide some solution to prevent this from happening all the time. It may involve some kind of visualization or relaxation techniques but I would be willing to try just about anything if I was getting sick before every game.

Hope This Helps and Good Luck!

Jeff Schultz ATC
Dean of Students
Athletic Trainer
Troy High School

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