To manage stress in sports, you need to be present. Your mind needs to be in the here and now, instead of worrying about everything that could go wrong.
Think about the last game you played when you were stressed. What were you thinking about before and during the game?
Now, think about a game when you played in a calm and relaxed state. One where everything felt easy and you played great. What were you thinking about before and during the game?
Were they the same types of thoughts between the stressful game and the relaxed game? Or were they different?
I would imagine that for the stressful game, your thoughts were more directed toward what you don’t want to have happen. Your mind was full of worries.
During the relaxed game, however, I would imagine your mind was more present and you were thinking more about what you were doing in the moment and what you wanted to have happen.
Managing stress in sports is all about managing your thinking. If you can control your thoughts better and keep your mind more in the present moment, you will see stress reduced.
There’s a simple, yet powerful, exercise you can do pregame that will center your attention in the present and manage the stress you feel going into the game. But before explaining the exercise, let’s take a closer look at the relationship between stress in sports and your thinking.
The Connection Between Stress in Sports & Your Thinking
It’s easy to blame stress on external things. Such as your coach yelling, what your stats will look like, getting recruited, and so on.
And while those are all drivers of stress, they are not the root cause of the stress you feel in the moment.
The stress you feel is caused by your thoughts about the external thing.
For example, I am working with an athlete right now who is heavy in the recruiting process for college. She has been attending camps all throughout the summer and done her best to put herself in front of as many coaches as possible.
This is an incredibly stressful time for her. She and her family have sacrificed greatly for this dream of hers. And with each no she gets from schools, the stress only grows.
Still, it is her thinking about the recruiting process that is driving her stress. And that is what she and I have been working on.
Getting recruited is exciting but also heartbreaking. Largely because getting recruited, once you’ve done all the work to reach out and get yourself in front of schools, is largely out of your control.
There’s not much you can do to change a coach’s mind or make the decision for them. Plus, there is the added frustration of connections some players have and how that helps them get recruited.
Unfortunately, the athlete I am working with doesn’t have too many connections like that. She is a highly talented player, though, and will find herself on a solid team.
What she and I have been working on is recognizing stressful patterns of thinking. Thoughts that only make her stress worse and lead to more and more worries.
She has seen a reduction in stress, even in the midst of such a stressful time, simply due to managing her thoughts better.
What about an example on a smaller scale? How does thinking lead to stress going into a game and during a game?
Well, what is the number one reason you get stressed for games? Because you want to play well, right? Or we could say, because you don’t want to play badly.
To be feeling stress about how you play, you must be thinking of the outcome of a game. Your mind has to have traveled into the future and begun to think of all the outcomes you want to avoid and all the negative consequences that will happen if you mess up.
It is that type of outcome-oriented thinking that creates stress. And as I said, when you think about the outcome, you think about the future. Which means, your mind is not present.
The more present you can be, the less you will think of all that could go wrong and how much you want to play well. The less you think about that, the more you are able to manage stress during a game.
Pregame Exercise to Manage Stress in Sports
Stress comes from thinking about what could happen, what you don’t want to have happen, and all the consequences that will follow if what you don’t want to have happen happens.
There is a lot on your mind when you’re stressed.
And what’s on your mind will be actions you need to take and outcomes that will occur in the future. It’s safe to say your mind is not present.
When you are present, completely in the here and now, your mind is calm. It is not racing with many stressful thoughts and shooting from one thing to another.
You are present. You are calm. And you are in a position to perform your best!
Therefore, going into games, your goal needs to be to get your mind present. That is how you manage stress going into games. By being in the here and now.
Managing Stress in Sports Through Your Breathing
Being present means your attention is focused in the present moment. When you’re thinking about what could go wrong or everything you need to do in order to play well, your attention has shot away from the present.
Our goal is to bring your attention back into the present moment. By doing so, stressful thoughts will fade away.
I was on a call with a young baseball player and he and I were talking about this idea of being present. He dealt with a lot of stress and anxiety while playing.
I asked him to take one minute and try to be present. As soon as I said Go, I watched as his eyes went up and to the right. They remained in that position for the entire minute, until I told him to stop.
When I asked him what he was looking at, he said he was looking at a chess board on a shelf on the wall. I then asked him why and the answer he gave was really cool…because it’s in the present moment.
He had naturally stumbled upon the idea behind getting yourself present: you must focus on something in the present moment.
The mind wants to wander. It’s nature is to roam. To think and try to figure things out. Unfortunately, during games, this thinking and trying to figure things out turns into overthinking and stress.
What this tells us, though, is that being present must be an active process. It involves you working to center your awareness in the here and now.
To do so, you must give yourself something in the present moment to focus on.
For the young baseball player, it was the chess board. For you, it will be your breath.
After he told me that the chess board was in the present moment, I then introduced him to the breathing exercise I am introducing to you.
Because before games, he is not able to focus on a chess board…unless he puts it in his bat bag. But no matter what situation he’s in, game or no game, he can always focus on his breath.
And your breathing is and always will be taking place in the present moment.
Here’s what I told him to do, and what I encourage you to do pregame to manage your stress…
- Set a timer for five minutes.
- Close your eyes and take a few deep breaths to calm your mind and center yourself in the present moment.
- Begin using count breathing. Inhale for a count of four and exhale for a count of eight. Make your exhale slow and controlled.
- Continue with the count breathing until the timer goes off.
How does this simple breathing exercise help manage stress going into games?
By centering your mind in the present moment.
As you focus on the counting and you take deep breaths, your mind is present. Your attention, instead of being on everything that will happen during the game, is in the here and now.
Taking time to go through a breathing exercise like this before games primes your mind to be present and calms your racing thoughts.
Then what you can do while the game is happening is continue to use the count breathing whenever you become stressed.
If you’re in the dugout, on the sideline, sitting on the bench, take some deep breaths and focus on the counting.
If you’re in the middle of the game and on the field or court and you start to become stressed, quickly take a few deep breaths to center your attention in the present.
The more you focus on your breathing, the more present you will be. The more present you are, the more you are able to manage stress while playing.
Final Thoughts
Managing stress in sports requires you to be present.
When you’re stressed, your mind is full of racing thoughts and you are thinking about what may happen, what has happened, and what you don’t want to have happen.
Your mind is everywhere but the present moment when you are stressed during games.
To manage your stress, use the five minute count breathing exercise before you play. Then, focus on your breathing as much as you can while competing.
It’s a simple exercise, but by focusing on your breathing, you keep your mind present. Keeping your mind present is how you manage stress in sports. Thank you for reading and I wish you the best of success in all that you do.
