For elite sportspeople like UC Capitals point and shooting guard Issy Palmer, a healthy amount of nerves is good. Photo: Judd Green.
With the shot clock ticking down and the roar of a hostile away crowd ringing in her ears, UC Capitals’ new guard Issy Palmer feels a familiar surge of adrenaline. For a basketballer operating at her level, it’s a gift.
Research consistently shows elite sportspeople are no less prone to nerves than anyone else. The difference lies in how they label, interpret and regulate that anxiety.
Within the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS), a “facilitative anxiety response” is a cornerstone of performance psychology, allowing elite athletes to reframe physiological responses, like an elevated heart rate, as excitement and readiness.
Palmer nods: “Nerves, to me, indicate I’m mentally prepared. If I have no nerves, I actually find it means I’m a bit flat, I don’t have my head in the game.”
Sports psychology research often points to the “growth versus fixed mindset” paradigm, which dictates whether an athlete views anxiety as a threat or as fuel. Supporting this, a NSW Office of Sport report showed that elite athletes rely heavily on process-oriented goals to anchor their focus, rather than hyperfocusing on outcomes like winning or mistakes, which significantly increase performance anxiety.
For Palmer, much of this hinges on preparation that begins well before game day.
“Playing at this level, you’re aware of the importance of training to preserve your strength, muscle memory, skills and, importantly, your mind,” she says.
“Outside of the team-organised things we all do, in the week leading up to a game, I’ll do my own film prep on my opponents, clocking their strengths and weaknesses, getting to know who I’m really going up against.
“Are they a 3-point shooting threat? Aggressive on defence? Left or right-handed? There’s no space for figuring that out on game day. At this level, you need every little edge you can get.”
Palmer (pictured here at age 12, playing for the Newcastle Hunters at the U14 Club Nationals) says that social and club-level basketball can shape a player and impart valuable life lessons. Photo: UC Capitals.
Palmer started in Newcastle’s junior ranks at age nine.
“In some ways I miss playing at that level, where community is everything,” she says.
“Social and club level basketball is where you get to understand how impactful relationships are in sport, and how basketball can shape you as a person and teach you valuable life lessons.”
She went on to represent Australia as a junior before entering the highly regimented arena of US college basketball. This season marks her WNBL debut with a team she grew familiar with during a stint at the AIS Centre of Excellence.
“I was with Newcastle, but we had close relationships with the Canberra coaches. Scotty Balsar was instrumental in my development,” she says.
“We trained alongside WNBL players Marianna Tolo, Kelsey Griffin, and Kristy Wallace. It was amazing to have those female stars to look up to. We didn’t really have that a decade ago. I watched a lot of male basketball growing up.
“I’m stoked to now be playing with the Caps.”
Data from Science for Sport shows that elite performers utilise highly refined pre-performance routines to return their autonomic nervous system to baseline under pressure. In Palmer’s experience, this looks very different for each player.
“Some need hype-up music to get amped; I’m the opposite. I’m intrinsically motivated, so I get my energy from myself,” she says.
“A lot of my rituals revolve around simplifying life to clear the mental fog. I’ll avoid social media, read more, listen to more relaxing music, go for morning walks, and if I’m near a beach, a cold plunge is great. I used to be dismissive of meditation and breath work. I’ve come to realise that when I’m intentional about it, it benefits my nervous system.”
Game-day preparations highlight the wide range of ways players get into the zone.
“There can be an element of superstition. I’ve personally had ‘lucky’ hair ties. I’ve seen players with lucky underwear; others will wear their hair a certain way until they have an off game, then they’ll change it up. One girl needed to put on one sock, then one shoe, then the other sock and the other shoe, which is just nuts to me,” she laughs.
The more serious side of game day prep also differs. Palmer prefers to eat her game day meal a full three hours before tip-off—much earlier than most. She also avoids napping, and in the hours leading up to tip-off, that’s when the prep pays off, laser-focusing her mind.
“A lot of people get immersed in the game, I try to compartmentalise until a couple of hours leading up to it. Then, I’ll eliminate any outside noise that’s not relevant to the game,” she says.
“After that, I have to trust in my prep. The work’s done, what’s going to happen will happen, so might as well just give it your all and have fun.”
The UC Capitals‘ first WNBL game of the season takes place on Saturday 17 October.
