on August 4th 2024 fans around the world witnessed arguably the greatest ever 100 meters Final in Olympic history during the entrances of the athletes the race favorite Noah LS burst through the doors not with a walk but with a roaring set of energetic bounces these carried him a good 50 MERS up the track away from his opponents who had all rather more calmly taken to their respective lanes for ly this was the first step to challing his pre-race nerves in a way that filled him with the confidence to execute however this routine was not complete because if LS kept up that energy as he settled into the starting blocks he would have been too hyped up something that could easily lead to a false start or a far from free flowing race so in the last seconds prior to the race he brought himself way back down the cameras caught him repeatedly uttering the words to himself thank you God this was of course spiritual but it was just as much psychological at that moment LS was practicing what's known as grounding selft talk a technique that allowed him to channel his nerves into focused energy and a couple of minutes later LS crossed the line first to win Olympic gold by just 5 thousands of a second so what on Earth was L playing at why did he go from explosive WWE style entrance to a calm grounded competitor in the space of a couple of minutes well it's all part of a wider strategy one where LS has got to a point where he's able to leverage and use his pre-race nerves to his Advantage he can strategically Channel nervous and anxious energy into a fuel that has made him become the fastest man in the world and the good news is the same strategies can be used by all athletes whether you're also a track athlete gearing up for a race a fighter heading to the ring for a bout or playing any kind of game or match you can use your nerves to help your performance rather than hinder it and this video will tell you exactly how right so what exactly was happening in those final moments before Noah LS won Olympic gold to understand let's talk about the jks Dodson law the principle explains the relationship between arousal levels in other words how pumped up or calm you are and your performance and the idea is simple too little arousal and you're understimulated too much and you're overwhelmed but there's a sweet spot in the Middle where performance Peaks that's where the magic happens for athletes finding this optimal arousal state is crucial get it wrong and your nerves might just sabotage your performance get it right and those same nerves can become your greatest asset so the first thing athletes must realize is that you actually do want to feel some of the physical characteristics of being nervous before performances because if you don't that's where you're understimulated and if that happens your body won't wake up quick enough to run a fast race or you won't be as reactive as your opponents and they'll sweep you aside but you don't want these feelings to become too intense you don't want your heart rate to increase so much that it feels like it's bursting out of your chest or you don't want the butterflies in your stomach to feel so intense that you want to puke because in those moments where you're over aroused you're more prone to making mistakes errors or have poor form and execution because you're too tense or just too agitated instead and this is the difficult part you want to find the sweet spot where you're hyped up but not too hyped up but at the same time you're composed but not too calm to the point where you're not switched on at all so how as an athlete can you use this law to your advantage well the key is managing your arousal levels through what I call uppers and downers uppers are techniques that boost your energy and get you fired up think of things like upbeat music high energy warm-ups or even a powerful pep talk these are great for sports where you need explosive power like sprinting or weightlifting on the flip side downers are all about calming your nerves bringing you back down to a state of focus relaxation techniques like deep breathing grounding selft talk or even visualizing a peaceful scene in your mind this is especially useful in sports that require precision and control like archery or pistol shooting now here's where it gets tricky finding this balance isn't something that happens overnight it takes years of practice self-awareness and experimentation athletes like noos have spent countless hours fine-tuning their approach to pre-performance arousal they've learned how to read their bodies and Minds perfectly understanding when they need to ramp up the energy and when they need to dial it back so if we look at LS before the 100 meters Olympic final You could argue that he uses his explosive entrance to really hype himself up and even deliberately take himself into the higher arousal Zone and then he engages in his grounding self talk to just nudge himself back into the optimal arousal Zone just before getting into the starting blocks and sometimes certain uppers like no's hyped up entrance actually Burns off some of that excess nervous energy so that you're then forcing your mind and body to then nudge back into the greater sense of calmness and composure that's required for Peak Performance the ability to shift between these Stakes with Precision is what sets Elite athletes apart it's not just about knowing the techniques it's about mastering the timing and intensity of each one and that's something that takes a lot of time patience and a lot of trial and error to get right but once you do it can make all the difference between a good performance and a gold medal winning one so how can you start applying these techniques to your own game well it's impossible for me to say because honestly it varies so much sport to Sport and also what type of competitor and athlete you are but here are three simple steps so that you can work this out for yourself one identify your optimal arousal level take the time to actually understand how your body reacts under different levels of arousal reflect on past performances to identify when you felt just right meaning you're not too hyped up but also not too calm this self-awareness is the foundation for mastering your optimal pre-performance state to experiment with uppers and downers incorporate both uppers and downers into your pregame routine test out different combinations to see what works best for you for example try some deep breathing or meditation a couple of hours before your event starting if you're feeling overly nervous and then use some Hype music to bring you up in the last 30 minutes or so before performing and if you're struggling for ideas here I've put together a simple list of 30 effective uppers and downers you can check that out using the link below it's completely free and then lastly refine through practice remember this is a process that takes time continuously refine your approach by practicing these techniques during training and less critical competitions just like an actor rehearses his or her lines you need to rehearse these routines so that come the Real Performance they run like clockwork and you just have full trust and confidence in them and if you consistently do this over time you'll develop a routine that reliably puts you in that optimal arousal State and and there's also one other super important thing that every athlete must do in order to successfully use their nerves to their advantage so to find out what that is check out this next video here