You will hear that the best athletes do not get nervous. Talk to enough of them and you will find that is not what they say about themselves.
What the feeling actually is
Fast heart. Tight stomach. Wanting to be somewhere else for a minute. That is your body getting ready — more blood, more oxygen, more alert. It is the same machinery that makes you fast.
And it only shows up before things that matter. Nobody gets nervous about a game they do not care about. So the feeling is not evidence that something is wrong. It is evidence that you are about to compete for something.
The second layer is the problem
Where athletes lose is not the nerves. It is being nervous about being nervous — deciding the feeling means you are not ready, and then spending the warm-up trying to make it go away.
That fight is exhausting in a way the game is not. You arrive at the first whistle already tired, and you have taught yourself that the feeling is an enemy, which guarantees it shows up bigger next time.
What to do instead
Name it plainly. "This is me caring." Both words matter. You are not denying the feeling and you are not obeying it.
Give it somewhere to go. Nerves sit still badly. Jog, shake the arms out, start your warm-up earlier than usual. The feeling is energy and energy wants a direction.
Go back to the four minutes. This is exactly what a routine is for. When your head is loud, you do not need a decision, you need a sequence you have already rehearsed.
Where the line is
Everything above is about performance — the ordinary nerves that come with competing.
If what you are feeling is bigger than that, if it is there on days you are not competing, or it is not going away, that is not a mental performance problem and I am not the right person for it. Tell a parent, a coach, or your doctor. That is not weakness and it is not quitting. It is the same as telling someone your knee hurts.
This week's work
Next time it shows up, say "this is me caring," and then carry on with the warm-up without trying to make it stop.
Afterwards, ask yourself one question honestly: would you actually want to compete in something that gave you none of this feeling at all?