Sorry to make another thread related to ladder anxiety. A quick TL + google search didn't find anything on this topic, specifically.
When I ladder SC2 I find my muscles get more and more tensed up, most noticably in my lower back. I can consciously relax them, but they quickly start tensing up more and more as I continue to play. My shoulders become stiffer, and my hand eye coordination seems to suffer. Particularly the fluidity of my mouse movement.
I tense up much less when I play against the AI, or when I'm just practicing a build in YABOT. Hence me thinking it's related to anxiety/ladder anxiety.
I realize I have similar tension when I played cs1.6 competitively. I first noticed it because I was playing better after drinking alcohol, which seemed counter intuitive.
In sc2, I don't really play better after drinking more than a few beer (much more cognitive game, I think) but my muscles are definitely more relaxed.
I've tried to combat it a few different ways, such as focusing on deep breathing while I play, or remaining conscious of my lower back/body tension as I play. These things help, but as soon as I need to think about the game or make any sort of game decisions, the tension comes back quickly. Basically, as soon as I'm distracted.
It seems to come up for me in all competitive gaming activities.
Whenever I F*** something up (which is often!) the tension immediately ramps up a lot as well. If it matters, I'm low diamond Terran. I don't really care about my ladder rank, and losing games doesn't bother me too much.. I've tried to focus on caring less about games, but it hasn't helped much to relax me.
Does anyone else have this issue?
Any one have any general advice on how to keep relaxed posture when gaming?
Any links to recommended reading material?
There's a lot of information out there about how to relax, but I can't find anything that really works well for me WHILE playing...
|
Everything you described is exactly what happens to me when playing competitive games (I'm low diamond zerg). Muscle tension seems to be a huge factor in hindering my desire to play more, because it becomes an unpleasant physical chore for my body. Playing against the computer or practicing build orders I still tense up a bit, but nowhere near as bad as when laddering.
My only guess as to why this happens to us is that subconsciously, adrenaline combined with the social anxiety of losing causes our muscle memory to enter a sort of "fight or flight" mode. By tensing up, they cause you to focus and execute actions faster, giving you a better chance to "win" or survive. However this type of adrenaline flowing through us is only meant to be temporary, to get you out of danger. But games can last for quite some time, so this muscle tension becomes fatiguing after a while.
Why this only happens to some people, like us, I don't know for sure. I'm an extremely shy person, so for me it's most likely a fear of doing things I'm not confident with against another opponent that causes the tension. For the short term, I want to try taking deep breaths periodically during downtime in-game and holding it for a few seconds. Or maybe setting a timer every 30 seconds where I take a deep breath. More oxygen to the brain and muscles should help alleviate the tension a little.
Ultimately though, I feel we just need to practice more and get ourselves accustomed to the high level of stress. Try increasing your play time by about 15 minutes per day if you can. Eventually, our bodies should adapt and at the same time we'll be solidifying game mechanics which will boost confidence and decrease anxiety/muscle tension/ etc.
|
EPT
