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I have a huge problem with StarCraft right now: I get too nervous when I play. Sometimes its not that bad, but just thinking about or joining a game makes me nervous.
Sometimes I am playing a game and I am shaking pretty bad, I cant even play right.
It feels exactly like stage fright. I am supposed to be performing well and it makes me so nervous. I don't have this problem with other games.
I think it came from the fact that I watched SC pro games for so long before trying to pick up the game in a serious way.
I'm just curious of other people have had this problem. Now that I think of it, its feels EXACTLY like stage fright, but nobody's watching...
I feel so stupid that I have this weird issue with just a game. I thought playing on iccup would make it go away so I have played about 30 games over this past week, but I just played a game (played very stupidly) and got the shakes again really bad. They last forever even if I don't play the game for 20 min or so I still feel shaky and nervous.
Help!
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Maybe your room is too cold.
Honestly I cant see anyone shaking from playing a game non competitively... 
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On December 13 2009 09:16 BuGzlToOnl wrote:Maybe your room is too cold. Honestly I cant see anyone shaking from playing a game non competitively...
Its not a heat issue, its like performance anxiety... and I am laddering on iccup, so I am playing as competitively as possible.
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You're nervous from the pressure of winning. It happens all the time in competition, BW's not excluded. A lot of it probably also has to do with the fog of war, since you are literally in the dark to what your opponent is doing. Calm down by breaking this game down. Knowing timings well would do good for a start, since you'll at least know when to expect things to happen. Get to know a few practice partners well and have them help you.
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On December 13 2009 09:14 leetchaos wrote:
I have a huge problem with StarCraft right now: I get too nervous when I play. Sometimes its not that bad, but just thinking about or joining a game makes me nervous.
Sometimes I am playing a game and I am shaking pretty bad, I cant even play right.
It feels exactly like stage fright. I am supposed to be performing well and it makes me so nervous. I don't have this problem with other games.
I think it came from the fact that I watched SC pro games for so long before trying to pick up the game in a serious way.
I'm just curious of other people have had this problem. Now that I think of it, its feels EXACTLY like stage fright, but nobody's watching...
I feel so stupid that I have this weird issue with just a game. I thought playing on iccup would make it go away so I have played about 30 games over this past week, but I just played a game (played very stupidly) and got the shakes again really bad. They last forever even if I don't play the game for 20 min or so I still feel shaky and nervous.
Help!
i use to have this symptom. My friend told me i was mind fucked >>... cheese alot of pubs during the afternoon will make it go away. lol.
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When I played I used to get that, If I was playing with friends or something it was fine but like on WGT (Lol old league) or in a clan war or something I would.
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I used to have this too when i was a d/d- nooby and i would still have it a lot in matches when i felt pressure like clan tryouts. The only solution is to play a lot then you will stop being nervous
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Canada780 Posts
On December 13 2009 09:17 leetchaos wrote:Show nested quote +On December 13 2009 09:16 BuGzlToOnl wrote:Maybe your room is too cold. Honestly I cant see anyone shaking from playing a game non competitively... Its not a heat issue, its like performance anxiety... and I am laddering on iccup, so I am playing as competitively as possible.
I know this will sound weird, but play on another account with a different name and smurf. It will make you feel less pressure, just like if you are practicing or playing ums.
After a while, you will eventually realize that you don't need to play to prove anything and the anxiety will go away.
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gain map vision. use observers. scout your opponent. you won't be as nervous xD
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Yeah making a smurf account is a good idea, to ease the tension of laddering/playing competitively.
I tried it out by making a smurf account where I would practice weird strategies and stuff so it wouldn't affect my points on iccup. By doing this I was able to get a new understanding of timings and also discover things about particular builds because I didn't care and tried crazy stuff.
Also if you make a smurf account and you play D/D+ players (assuming you are higher rank) it will boost your confidence because you should be able to beat them convincingly.
I never got the shakes but yeah maybe you're taking laddering a bit too seriously ;o?
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just play a shitload of games and it will go away. Youll realize 1 game in bw is nothing.
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United States889 Posts
Though I feel the fool, I'll admit this has happened to me, though it's only really when I'm in a super heated game and I'm doing something risky, or I'm battling for my life.
It goes away the more you play though. Just make sure your bladder is empty, take a deep breath, and go proxy hatch someone. Once that's done, proceed as usual.
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When it starts, breathe in very deeply multiple times for like 10-20 seconds. Think about the build you want to do, then just do it. If you realize that there's no reason to get excited, you can calm down naturally.
Yeah silly common advice, but it works for me.
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Here are some tips:
- Play some calming music in the background. Try something that isn't too slow, but is still calm. Example: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metaphorical_Music
I would suggest acid jazz or some laid-back hip-hop beats without vocals. Choose a calming album in your itunes or winamp or whatever and put it on repeat all. Then put the music in Starcraft to silence. Adjust the relative volumes of the in-game sound effects and music so that you won't miss any sound effect cues.
I remember a scientific study using Midtown Madness that showed people got in fewer wrecks when listening to calm music and more when listening to harsh music. I learned this lesson well before I read about this study through my experience playing Cruisin' USA. That game lets you choose the song that the car's in-dash radio plays. At first, I chose the cool sounding rock songs. I would get overwhelmed easily by obstacles. I found that if I switched to the boring, calming song I could get into a good groove or flow ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flow_(psychology) ). This flow state is much more important for Starcraft than for more simple driving games. So don't listen to metal or crazy fast techno that will get your blood pressure up so that you shake too much. If you aren't listening to any music and you are shaky, try calming music.
After a while, you will begin to associate Starcraft with the mood that the calming music evokes. After you get comfortable, maybe you can listen to confident music (like how Jaedong listens to Eminem) but if you do that before becoming comfortable you will probably hear Eminem as your opponent and get intimidated.
Look at movies and how critical music is to set the mood. I'm sure you've seen some movie (like A Clockwork Orange) or something that uses music to put you in one mood even though the action on screen would suggest another if music wasn't around. You can use music to consciously and then subconsciously train yourself to assume a certain mood during a certain activity. This isn't a novel revelation, it goes at least all the way back to Aristotle.
- Turn the heat up. Even if you don't think it is a heat issue, being warm can make you less clammy and more comfortable.
- Think about what makes you nervous and try to pick a map that will minimize it (if possible) and play that map for a while. I used to get nervous not knowing where my opponent started, so I hosted a bunch of iccup games on a 2 player map (HBR). I got comfortable with that one map and now scouting on 3/4 player maps doesn't seem like such a big deal.
- If you are really good, play easier opponents for a while to get more comfortable.
- Try to envision how the game will play out before you start. Not just a build order, but an idea for what you might do in midgame all the way to winning. Don't hold to it so mechanically that you form rigid gears in your brain that wrenches will inevitably be thrown into. But a vision will help you from falling into the floundering state of "oh shit what do I do next". Instead of drowning in a sea of all possible paths, you will just be choosing between actions that follow your path, and actions chosen to counter / respond to / react to your opponent.
- Face your fears. In my second to last game, I used shuttle/reaver for the first time. I feared it was too micro intensive for me so I avoided it like the plague. Even though this was my first game trying a reaver drop I managed to kill every scv at my opponents main. I was getting shaky during this drop part because it was new even though the rest of the game didn't make me shake. I bet in the future I won't be so shaky when doing shuttle/reaver. I also wasn't using music during this game, or the next game when I tried using high templar and storm for the first time (also made me shake and I also killed every SCV in the main).
- Arrian is totally right about having an empty bladder.
- Caffeine can also cause these symptoms.
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I've got the problem similar to arian's. It doesn't bother me when i'm iccuping or playing public games but if i play someone i acknowledge as being superior or, more rarely, during an intense game my hands sometimes start shaking.
The only advice i can give is to let off some steam somehow and try not to take the games seriously. Annihilating newbies seemed to help settle me down but if i wasn't calm it'd just come back so take deep breaths and try not to think about it.
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LOL I Have this exact same problem
The shaking is so bad T.T
Like everyone says, just play more and it'll get better
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On December 13 2009 09:43 Pyrrhuloxia wrote:- Play some calming music in the background. Try something that isn't too slow, but is still calm. Example: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metaphorical_MusicI would suggest acid jazz or some laid-back hip-hop beats without vocals. Choose a calming album in your itunes or winamp or whatever and put it on repeat all. Then put the music in Starcraft to silence. Adjust the relative volumes of the in-game sound effects and music so that you won't miss any sound effect cues.
This works with everything computer-related! Listen to slow paced stuff, usually The Appleseed Cast/Espers for me
Only time I've shaken is when I've drunk some crazy energy drinks, definitely avoid them lol
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WOW. Thanks for tons of advice!
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My friend get shaky when he plays too... basically just when he's excited from winning actually. Music is a great way of calming you down, but playing lots of fun games and making a conscious effort to relax helps.
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United States4126 Posts
Like you and others, I have this problem too, but usually only when I come back from a long hiatus of not playing. I'd assume it's because of nervousness/anxiety/pressure to win. It usually goes away after playing several games. Don't let losses affect your mindset, just play for the fun of it and not for winning. Also, play at a comfortable temperature. I shake a lot more often when it's cold because it seems to add unneeded stress to my game.
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EPT
