How to Handle Nerves 

Their palms were sweaty, knees weak, arms were heavy Had vomit on their sticks already Played spaghetti But then they watched PPMD's Nerves video

Hey PP! I wanted to let you know: great video! Two things you're talking about are commonly referred as "reappraisal" and "suppression" techniques of dealing with an anxiety response from the amygdala. Reappraisal is putting anxious feelings in a different perspective; as you said, reframing them as excitement. Suppression is telling yourself there is nothing to worry about (or at least not as much as the intensity of the emotion suggests) and that the emotion doesn't have any use, or as you put it more elegantly, acknowledging the emotion but not holding on to it. Both have been proven to work in scientific studies!

It's astonishing how well this boy can clean up.

These are good general tool tips for competitive play in general. I play Beat Saber competitively and honestly these ideas translate extremely well. Thank you!

There's definitely an alternate universe where pp is a masterful psychologist instead of a melee god

Hello from FRANCE

I was taught the “excited” vs anxious mindset switch as a kid in theatre and it has helped me in my competitive or stressful strides of my life. Thanks for the tips PP!

As a person who doesn't play melee anymore, I still see value in this for playing league of legends. I'm going to try these tips next time I play ranked :)

PP is the energy shaman of melee, perhaps the entirety of gaming altogether. The man has transcended competition.

I experience nerves in pretty much every competitive multiplayer game now. They got so bad I effectively dropped everything I played except for DBD, and then I finally dropped that for different reasons. It sucks :( Definitely feel called out in this video regarding my bad/unhealthy habits haha I really let myself go lately because of how much I don't like my work. Regardless, always happy to hear your input PP

Great video, PP. Looking handsome as heck my man.

Very good advice, I think you provided a good overall basis for working on mental and overcoming nerves. I think emotional control and training focus are the two major things i noted in the video which have worked for me in my experience competing. In terms of maximizing focus in a tense situation, I think grounding yourself and looking for things that are familiar can be extremely beneficial. Drawing my attention to something my opponent does and thinking "I've seen this before, I need to do x and avoid doing y" gives small objectives within the game that shift my attention away from thinking about the big picture where emotional thoughts thrive (like thinking about winning or success/failure). Just focusing on each interaction as it comes and reminding myself that I've been in this in-game position before helps me gain small successes which contribute towards the overall goal of winning. What really compliments this well for me is maintaining the same level of focus between competition and practice settings. Maintaining a high attention to detail in a setting where I don't feel as much pressure allows me to fall back to familiarity in future tense situations. I can see an interaction about to play out and remember all the other times it played out well or poorly for me, depending on what I did. That being said, it isn't as easy as saying "just focus on an objective". As you noted with regard to meditation, many people struggle in the essential moment where their mind wanders, and fail to bring their focus back. Being active in drawing your attention away from wandering thoughts is a skill that has to be developed over time. In meditation, what grounds you is getting your attention back to breathing or back to a mantra. For me, in competition, what grounds me is getting my attention back to looking for familiarity.

Excellent video, super helpful!!

love the holistic approach to melee, so interesting, the kind of thing I want to study and learn abt. Thanks for this PP

looks like you are gaining weight again you should feel proud PP you look like you are getting healthier right now it's good i'm so happy for you

These tips are honestly incredible, I know this video can help so many people and it has honestly helped me a lot even just in casual play, thank you PP

I appreciate this video thank you PP

Thanks pp. I love this.

Thank you for this Dr PP

Thank you, this could help so many people!!

Very unique idea for a video that is relevant to everyone, thank you!

This is insanely insightful and well delivered

Anyone with a genuine intent on learning more about, quite literally, anything, should be able to take away something from your video. Whether they agree with what you said or not, they can pocket it and recall on it later. My point is, I’m happy you posted this without more “paralysis by analysis”. Some people will agree, others won’t, it doesn’t matter. A proper sales technique is “SWSWSW” which stands for “some will, some won’t, so what”. Keep doing you PP :)

This seemed very helpful and I will definitely try some things at my next tournament. Thanks PP

great stuff, very appreciative of you sharing your knowledge. Thanks for the content you put out!

Thanks for the video, PP. This info is important, and you communicated well.

I really loved this video. Did a lot of self reflection

such a great video, great advice for life in general. Appreciate this a lot

My god the questions part really has helped me understand things about myself without even realising the major factors.

I saw your Smashboards post about this and I knew this was coming. Glad I saw it just now. Cheers bro, God bless

Thank you so much for the video PP, I feel like you nailed it and I needed this. I have huge nerve issues in general and it really comes out while playing melee, sometimes even in friendlies. I'm super comfortable playing online in my room but put another real person in the building and there I am making pastas for everyone Would have loved some sort of written editing on screen cause now I gotta go back and rewatch to take notes 😂 but I loved every second of the video and I feel like it gave me a lot of ground to cover. The journey starts now..

I recently got into melee and im really happy you were willing to go over this subject. Nerves hit me hard when it comes to putting myself out there but this really encourages me to do so and really improve myself as a player. Thanks PP

Very nice video! This tips are very useful for every single person that compete in videogames, thank you so much!

in last stock tense situations i always picture myself having already lost. Or that the thing i'm worried about/fear already happened. This way i can just turn it up and play like i have nothing to lose

Great vid! Very holistic view of the competitive melee scene. I’m going to implement meditation into my warmup routine:)

Informed tips from an expert in the field. Very enjoyable video! I'm going to share this with a friend who just started entering competitions.

Hey PP wanted to harp in, played in my local scene today (got 0-2’d) but I want to say what you’ve said actually helped like my first game I got 3 stocked (I play ultimate) but I remembered what you said which held a lot of weight which was the questions about my self and why I’m always anxious. When my anxiety went away I performed exponentially better and lost only by a close game and this was to the person who came 4th place in the tourney and I felt so happy because my nerves just went away and I got to enjoy the game. So this is just a comment to let you know the good you’ve put out into this world much love. Moralcstar ❤️❤️❤️

If your nervous, just imagine PP standing next to you saying: You got this bro. Great Video Maëstro.

This will work for me, tysm PP

thanks doc!

this is 10 months old??? crazy i'm seeing it only now haha. i like this video a lot!

I'm having a presentation tommorow nice timing, now its time to try it out. Edit: Yea, works pretty good.

I'd also recommend the Wim Hof breathing method to calm the body. 30 fast breathes, exhale, hold as long as you can. 3 rounds. Works wonders on nerves/negative thoughts

The Peoples Coach

Good tips for the game but also good tips in real life and I’m going to try and use some of these

Lol I needed this after that game I played on ur stream 😂😂

Great video. You did a good job covering some simple techniques that can help a lot, and also the deep-dive questions you suggested at the end are actually really really important too (looking into your past, evaluating what your support system looked like growing up, etc). Thanks for the great advice!

I have no nerves. I am cool as steel. Hard as pp..md... Untouchable, unbreakable.

Nice video PP. I would like that you make a video about how to integrate your shadow. You seem good with psychology and would like to see your opinion on this. Also the hardest part is not playing the game... its more about dealing with people in general. When someone is acting like a jerk or is toxic... I just want to punch him in the face and its really hard for me to deal with these kind of emotion. I can't even work in a company cause i have big issue with people. I can't deal with toxic boss cause i just can't accept to be the bitch of anyone. Its a big issue in my life.

Deadass thought someone was getting possessed during the slow exhale

I realized that my brain is physically not getting enough oxygen to fuel the mental processes that's needed to win. Just by simply controlling by breathing (counting to 8 making sure my lungs fill up O2 and empty out all the CO2) my performance sky rockets. When its time to to be patient in the fight, Its not as painful and its easier to punish my opponent when they themselves are freaking out.

W

literally played spaghetti melee 5 seconds ago

Nerves makes my hands play faster than the game, which results in everything turning into misinputs. I have trouble regulating myself when this happens.

the thumb nails lmfao

This stuff doesn't really help me calm my nerves. Meditation for me has been completely useless etc. and I can't learn to deal with the feeling. It's just the specific environments in the specific contexts that really make me drop the ball. The only time I have issues with nerves is simply whenever I'm putting my pride on the line and 1v1 someone who challenged me, or who I challenged. I know I'm better but there's always that voice at the back of my mind thinking, what if I f**k up. I can't let the other person to think they're better than me when they're really not. My performance really drops whenever it's a battle of the egos. I can play in competitive envrionments without a problem. I can play in tournaments without an issue. But whenever it's a you trying to prove yourself in a 1v1, something in me just clicks. I guess it's the fear of shame if I do lose and been in therapy for that stuff and just nothing helps me cope/deal with it.

ppmd bastien finds you beautiful

💯 p̶r̶o̶m̶o̶s̶m̶

Thanks dude, God Bless You And EveryOne Here IN JESUS NAME I PRAY AMEN ✝🙏❤🥰☺😊