I work with a lot of athletes who are underperforming in games. They do well in practice, and so they know they have more talent than what they’re showing in competition.
But for some reason they aren’t playing well in games.
Why?
Well, one of the main reasons has to do with their mindset. Specifically, exhibiting what’s known as an avoidance mindset.
Avoidance Mindset in Sports Defined
An avoidance mindset in sports means you are playing to avoid a negative outcome, rather than playing to achieve a positive outcome.
This is most often seen in athletes dealing with performance anxiety and fear of failure.
Let’s say there’s a basketball player who’s anxious about turning the ball over and missing shots. He’s had a few bad games in the past that have led to him being benched and yelled at.
These poor performances generated feelings of frustration and embarrassment.
Those negative feelings are what he wants to avoid. As a result, he develops fear and anxiety.
He’s afraid of having another bad game, and so he worries about how the game will go.
If his goal is to avoid mistakes and avoid negative feelings that stem from mistakes, how do you think he’ll play?
He’ll hold himself back, play scared, and hide.
He doesn’t call for the ball as much. He passes up open shots. He doesn’t drive to the basket.
All due to fear. All due to his avoidance motivation.
Wanting to Avoid Negative Outcomes
The basketball player is a prime example of the avoidance mindset in action. It’s a motivation I see in a lot of players. And it’s incredibly frustrating to deal with.
What makes matters worse is, the more you try to avoid, the worse you play. Leading to more negative outcomes and feelings of disappointment, frustration, and embarrassment.
Strengthening the avoidance mindset you already have.
But it’s natural to want to avoid negative outcomes. No player wants to make mistakes. There are times when mistakes can and do lead to painful and very real consequences.
For example, there’s a softball player I worked with whose coach made them do push-ups if they missed a ground ball during practice.
Back in high school, our coach made us run “free nineties” the day after games. Where we had to run suicide sprints for every error or walk that occurred the previous game.
Both of those are physical consequences that are uncomfortable, and can be painful, that you want to avoid.
But there are also emotional consequences and outcomes that can be even more painful and drive even stronger feelings of avoidance than anything physical.
Examples of such emotional pains are letting your team down, getting yelled at by your coach, your parents being mad at you or disappointed in you, or embarrassment.
Whether physical or emotional, negative outcomes and consequences can lead to your goal changing from wanting to play well to wanting to not play poorly. Wanting to not play poorly is the essence of an avoidance mindset.
How an Avoidance Mindset Holds You Back During Games
A common term I hear from athletes when describing their worst performances is, “holding myself back.”
More often than not, worst games happen due to you holding yourself back, hesitating, or playing timidly. Yes, of course, there are games where you do everything right and it still doesn’t go your way.
But those games where you feel ashamed of your performance, those are typically the games where something mental kept you from playing your best.
Now, why would you hold yourself back? Why would you play scared and timidly?
Well, the only reason you would hold yourself back or play timidly is due to fear. Fear about an outcome. Fear that leads to avoidance.
The emotion of fear is there to protect us. Fear signals danger. It’s a way for our brains to scream at us that we need to get the hell out of there and save ourselves!
You feel fear, and then you seek to avoid that which you’re afraid of.
In the wild, this is great. Fear can save you from a life threatening danger.
But during a game fear and the avoidance it creates does nothing but hurt you.
I’ve heard people say the fear of failure isn’t real. I couldn’t disagree with them more. The fear of failure is very real. I’ve seen it in many athletes and I’ve dealt with it myself.
In sports, when you experience fear of failure, there is a consequence that results from failing that you wish to avoid. That consequence can be and probably is painful.
Likely it won’t be physically painful, but emotionally painful. Such as feeling embarrassed, getting benched, or not making the team.
Therefore, a very real sense of avoidance forms in your mind.
However, unlike in the wild, avoiding that which you’re afraid of in sports tends to increase the chances of it happening. Because you play scared, play timidly, and end up underperforming.
That’s how an avoidance mindset holds you back. Your goal is to avoid making mistakes, so you do not allow yourself to play freely. You do not play with confidence. You hold yourself back and you play scared.
A Want To Mindset in Sports
The opposite of an avoidance mindset is what I call a want to mindset.
A want to mindset means you want to succeed. You want to make the play. You want to take the shot. You want to be up to bat in that big moment.
Now, wanting to succeed may seem like a similar goal as not wanting to make mistakes.
But if we take a closer look, in terms of accomplishing the goal and the mindset it creates, the two are vastly different.
Not wanting to make mistakes leads to holding yourself back. Your goal is to avoid failing. Can you avoid failing without necessarily playing well?
Yes, you absolutely can.
When you play to avoid mistakes, you may not make too many mistakes, but you likely won’t be very effective or play a great game. This is where you leave games disappointed in the lack of production and effort you gave.
On the other hand, if you play to succeed, can you still succeed while making mistakes?
Absolutely! In fact, making mistakes is simply part of the success process.
Sure, you’ll have games where you play close to perfectly. But they will be far and few between.
More often than not, you will play well, in spite of the mistakes you made.
When you have the want to mindset, you can’t help but accept the possibility of mistakes. You have to accept mistakes and the potential of making them in order to allow yourself to play freely.
And it is only through free and confident play that you can achieve your goal…which is to play your best.
How to Go From an Avoidance Mindset to a Want To Mindset
If you are currently finding yourself playing with an avoidance mindset and your mindset is focused on not wanting to make mistakes, you must work on shifting this!
Remember, when you play with avoidance motivation, you only increase your chances of underperforming and feeling disappointed after competitions.
I know it can be hard to let go of the fear, since the fear is very real. However, it’s the only way to unlock the potential you have lying dormant inside of you.
To help switch from an avoidance mindset to a want to mindset, there are a two tips you can use.
Tip #1: Alter Your Thinking
Everything stems from your thoughts. The way you think and the words you use create your mindset.
When you play with avoidance motivation, your thoughts will be centered around not making mistakes and not wanting to fail.
This is where you find yourself hoping not to mess up…
Here are some example statements I’ve heard from athletes who play with an avoidance mindset:
- I hope I don’t play badly today.
- I can’t mess up.
- I can’t have another bad game.
- I don’t want to screw this up.
- I don’t want to have another game like last game.
Have you experienced any of these or something similar?
When your thoughts are focused on not wanting to make mistakes, you can’t help but adopt avoidance motivation. Since you’re thinking about not wanting to make mistakes, your mind will react by looking to avoid mistakes. Once more, this is where you find yourself playing it safe.
Instead, you want to change your thinking.
Rather than thinking about what you want to avoid and what you don’t want to have happen, think about what you do want to have happen. Tell yourself reasons you can go out there and succeed. Remind yourself of how good of a player you are.
Altering your thinking isn’t easy. Fearful thoughts have become automatic. It will require work to change your current pattern of thinking. But it’s work that is necessary if you want to drop the avoidance mindset that’s currently driving your play.
Tip #2: Change Your Goal
If you’re playing with an avoidance mindset and your motivation is to avoid mistakes, what would you say is your goal?
Your goal is to not make mistakes.
As we discussed earlier, that goal drives timid play.
To change your mindset, you must change your goal.
Here’s a question you can ask yourself: what is one thing I could focus on that would help me play my best?
When shifting your goal, you want to focus on playing your best instead of not playing badly. But you also want to take it a step farther than that.
Don’t just leave the goal open-ended and say, I want to play well. That’s too vague. Plus, it doesn’t give you anything concrete to focus on for the game.
That’s where the question comes into play.
What do you need to focus on to play your best? And better yet, ask, what do I need to focus on that’s in my control that will help me play my best?
What you’re doing is guiding your attention onto what you want to do instead of what you want to avoid. While simultaneously increasing your chances of success by focusing on a controllable part of the process of your game.
Going into games, make your answer your new goal. Focus on that. Aim to achieve your new goal instead playing to avoid mistakes.
Final Thoughts
Avoidance mindset means you are playing to avoid mistakes. When this happens, you underperform because of safe and timid play.
When you play it safe, you hold yourself back. You play with your foot on the brake.
Instead of an avoidance mindset, play with a want to mindset. Where you are wanting to achieve a positive outcome instead of wanting to avoid a negative one.
To help adopt a want to mindset, begin changing your thinking leading into the game, and alter your goal. Set yourself a controllable, process goal, to focus on that you will aim to achieve.
Thank you for reading and I wish you the best of success in all that you do.
