The Role of Nutrition and Hydration in Managing Soccer Game Day Jitters

Every soccer player wants to enter a match feeling confident and relaxed. When you’re in a good place mentally, it’s easier to focus and make smart decisions that support your team.

However, the most integral element to mental composure is widely overlooked, especially by young athletes. We’re talking about nutrition and hydration. Your body and mind cannot perform to the best of their ability without a full tank of energy. Conversely, a lack of energy inhibits confidence because you feel weaker and less capable of performing.

Fortunately, following the basic fundamentals of nutrition and hydration is all it takes to enter a match with as much energy as possible, putting your mind at ease and sending your confidence sky high.

Energy = Confidence

It’s only natural to feel nervous before a match, but getting too nervous can impede an athlete’s focus. What causes young athletes to become excessively nervous or anxious? It’s often because they’re drained from – you guessed it – lack of energy.

When you feel physically exhausted, you don’t feel prepared to run fast and battle through pain. Likewise, when you feel mentally exhausted, you don’t feel prepared to make decisions, take risks, and proactively communicate with your teammates.

One of the best ways to create the opposite scenario is with proper nutrition and hydration, and that doesn’t just mean eating nutritious foods and drinking lots of water. In fact, WHEN you eat and drink is just as important.

Nutrition and Hydration: Essential Tips

Food needs time to be converted into fuel. When you start a match, it’s the food you ate the night before that will mostly determine how much fuel you have.  So, instead of having that carb-heavy meal the day of the match, you should have it the night before. This gives your body plenty of time to convert the meal into fuel, so you won’t feel sluggish during the match.

As for hydration, you want to give your body at least an hour to process all the water inside of it. In other words, try to be fully hydrated an hour before the match. This will prevent you from feeling weighed down with too much water. When soccer players take a drink of water during matches, you may have noticed that they spit out about half the water they drink. Why do they do this? It’s because they are being super careful about not drinking too much water and weighing down their bodies, but still getting the mental benefit of not feeling parched.

Fuel Your Body, Fuel Your Mind

Eating and drinking at the correct times is key for building a full tank of energy for a match. When the body is ready to perform, the mind naturally follows suit. You’ll be shocked at how much easier it is to feel confident when your body and mind are hitting on all cylinders.

If your athlete is struggling with pre-game jitters or performance anxiety, Beyond Goals Mentoring is here to help. As two retired pros, we know how taxing the mental component of soccer can be. That’s why we use our experience to teach young athletes how to calm their minds with proper nutrition, hydration, and other pre-game routines.

Let’s set up a mentoring session and start putting together a routine that allows your athlete to shine in those big moments.