Fighting Ladder Anxiety

What is ladder anxiety?

How many of you have been in this situation, you just finished watching a great pro match or fun stream and are pumped to play some Starcraft! You log into the game but suddenly are overcome with a strange feeling and aren't sure what to do. Maybe you poke around your portraits for a while, change your decal, or check out your friend's match history, but you never seem to hit that play button. Then you my friend, may be suffering from ladder anxiety. In other words an almost petrified state to play a game for fear of a loss or poor showing. Well I am here to tell you, you are not alone in this struggle.

How to beat ladder anxiety

So many people struggle with the fear of losing a game or just getting wrecked by some sort of cheesy strategy. Maybe that 8 game losing streak is preventing you from playing. Whatever it is you're dealing with, it is important to learn how to manage these feelings and to keep playing and improving. I cannot tell you how many times I have been plagued by cheese, proxys, and all-ins. So many times I have simply not wanted to play and would just stare at the screen knowing some sort of cheesy build awaited me if I hit the play button.

The most important thing you can take away from a game are the things that you need to improve on and the things you did correctly! My advice to you is to open a word document and start writing down the things you did right and the things that need improving. This way you will have clear cut intentions in game and can focus on improvement instead of those quick and easy wins.

 

It is okay to lose!

An impressive record in Starcraft isn't everything. While it may look flashy on the outside, unless you are actually practicing your skills what are you really gaining from those wins? When those cheese players reach a higher league, cheese will cease to work for the most part and their losses will start piling up and they have no idea how to get back on track because they simply lack a basic foundation.

To gain some momentum and positive take aways from your games, start setting reachable goals and small milestones instead of large ones. It is good to have long term goals but saying you are going to get GM in a week is simply not possible. Instead, focus on the small goals such as playing at least 5 games a day or focus on keeping up your SCV or drone count. This way you feel you accomplished your daily goal and improved some mechanics at the same time! This will give you an increasing amount of confidence and help to fight those hesitant feelings when it comes to playing games. 

 

Final thoughts and conclusions

When it's all said and done, the largest part of beating ladder anxiety is just fighting that feeling and hitting play! Once you're in game you can focus on actually playing those feelings of anxiety float away. After all, you beat ladder anxiety just by playing games! Even if playing 4 or 5 games a night is all you do, you still have beaten ladder anxiety! Don't worry about your rating and that win/loss record, keep focusing on the basics and your short term goals, make notes on your games in your word document and before you know it, those wins will start stacking up! Until next time just remember to hit that play button and keep your head held high!