mental game + diabetes

georgeadey1

New User
I am currently 17 years old and a county standard tennis player. I also have type 1 diabetes which is managed by an insulin pump. Recently before mathes i have been getting nervous, adrenaline sends my blood sugar all over the place which affects my performance. I was wondering if

1. Anyone has experience of playing tennis to a high standard with diabetes

2. A routine I could follow or any kind of help to stop nerves before my matches

thanks in advance
 

rodick77

New User
I used to have the same problems sophomore and freshman year. I started a pregame warm up that helped. I would listen to some music and eat a banana. I wouldn't think about tennis I would just enjoy the music and kind of meditate. Then when you step on the court just remember to leave it all on their. If you play to not loose you will loose if you know what I mean. You have to play to win. So go all out and if you don't win it's better to know you actually played then to hit dink shots the whole time and loose. Just focus shake off the nerves. The best players can handle the pressure. That's what it is right there. Hope this helps. What state are you in maybe I have played you.
 

jrod

Hall of Fame
Tough problem...

I have had diabetes for over 20 years and have been using an insulin pump for nearly 8 years. I have been playing tennis off and on for over 40 years. I still play competitively.

I think these problems in managing your blood sugar levels are perhaps the most perplexing aspect of living with diabetes. We all learn how food and exercise impacts our blood sugar levels. To a large extent we know how to control this within reason. However, when it comes to physcologically induced blood glucose swings (e.g. stress, hormones, adrenaline) it's rather mysterious. Often, it's extremely hard to predict these events and how to counter them (i.e. bolus amounts, etc.). Furthermore, hormonal and adrenaline can temporarily alter your insulin sensitivity, further compounding strategies to control things.

Fortunately in your case you have a pretty good idea as to what is causing it and perhaps the remedies for dealing with this anxiety and stress are the same as for non-diabetics. In other words, you need to learn to relax and treat these matches as if they are just another form of practice. I realize this can be difficult to pull off, but I don't see any other option. Furthermore, if you are able to do this your results will be better and I suspect that your glucose levels will behave better.

Recently, there have been significant advances in Continuous Glucose Monitoring (CGM) systems. I have been a trial patient for this technology and can provide you with more information about how it works, the pro's and con's, and whether you are a decent candidate for this technology. The primary downside is the cost of the sensors. If your family has good health insurance then most of the costs may be covered.

Shoot me an email if you want to learn more about CGM's.
 
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