I don’t know of a single athlete who would rather play badly than play well. But there’s a big difference between wanting to play well and putting pressure on yourself to play well.
Are you currently putting a lot of pressure on yourself during games? Maybe to the point where the pressure is actually causing you to underperform?
In this article, we’re going to explore what you can do if you currently put pressure on yourself to play well.
First, let’s take a look at where this pressure actually comes from.
Why Athletes Put Pressure on Themselves to Play Well
Everyone wants to play well. But as I said in the introduction, wanting to play well and putting pressure on yourself to play well are two different things.
When athletes put pressure on themselves, this normally comes from a strong desire to control the outcome.
One great example of this is limited playing time.
When you aren’t getting a lot of playing time, it’s natural to put pressure on yourself when you do get the chance to play. Since your time in the game is limited, you want to make the most of the moments you get.
Another reason players will put pressure on themselves to play well is due to worry about what others think.
This could include your coach, but it could also include your teammates, parents, or the fans in general. You don’t want to perform poorly and have them think you’re not a good player, so you put pressure on yourself to succeed.
You may also be coming off a string of bad games and so you put pressure on yourself to play well as a way to turn things around.
There was a baseball player I worked with recently who was struggling to get hits and in turn put pressure on himself to get a hit to pull himself out of his slump.
Unfortunately, the more pressure he put on himself, the tighter he became. This only lowered his chances of getting a hit.
How the Pressure to Play Well Holds You Back
The reason it’s important for us to work on reducing the amount of pressure you place on yourself is because of the negative impact pressure has on your game.
Now, if you play well when you put pressure on yourself, then you have nothing to worry about. However, if you’re reading this article, I am going to imagine that’s not the case.
My guess is, pressure is causing you to underperform…but why?
Well, the baseball player example highlights one of the main ways pressure hurts your play: pressure leads to tight play.
When you put a lot of pressure on yourself, your focus is on the result. This type of outcome-oriented thinking increases stress.
In addition, because you are so focused on the result, it will be natural to try and force the outcome you want. This increased tension inhibits loose and natural play.
We cannot force a certain outcome. And the more we try to, the more tension we play with. Tension that lowers your level of play.
How to Manage the Pressure to Play Well
Just stop putting pressure on yourself, right?
That’s the best solution. That way, you don’t need to worry about anything else. Just don’t put any more pressure on yourself and you’ll be perfectly fine.
I wish it were that easy!
It’s not as simple as saying, just let go of your worry and don’t put pressure on yourself and just let the result happen.
If you can do that, fantastic! If not, we need another strategy.
The other strategy is for us to leverage the idea of you wanting to play well, but focus on it in the correct way.
To do so, we’re going to work on shifting your mindset from the outcome onto the process, and then we will use a simple tool to help keep yourself relaxed and present while competing.
Shifting Your Focus onto the Process
It’s not the pressure to play well that hurts you when you perform, but rather, the focus on how you need to play well.
Yes, they are very similar, but when we look at it as the focus on wanting to do well, what we realize is that it’s not that we need to not pressure ourselves, but instead we need to not focus so much on the outcome while we play.
For example, the hitter I mentioned earlier was thinking before he went up to bat about how he needed to get a hit. That type of thinking led to stress and tension.
However, when we examined his best games and the times when he hit his best, getting a hit was not what was on his mind before going up to bat.
Instead of thinking only about the result, he was thinking about timing up the pitcher, being aggressive at the plate, and being relaxed.
Those actions LED to him getting a hit. Focusing on how badly he wants to get a hit does not lead to him getting a hit consistently.
The idea here is, we are taking your attention off the outcome and instead focusing on what process parts of your game will give you the best chance of succeeding.
That’s what I mean when I say leverage the idea of wanting to play well to help you. Rather than have it be a distraction, we want to use it as motivation to focus on what you actually need to do in order to play well.
The way you can identify what you need to be focused on for yourself is to make a list of everything that is 100% within your control in terms of playing well.
What can you do that increases the chances of success?
Then, select the most important actions from that list and set them as your goals for the competition. Give your full focus to those goals and those goals only.
This will keep your attention off the outcome and on the process of your game. The process that actually leads to the result you want.
Getting You Relaxed and Present While Competing
In addition to focusing on the process of your game, you also want to work on being as relaxed and in-the-moment as possible.
When you think about how badly you need to play well, you’re not present. Your mind is in the future, worrying about how the game will turn out.
When you play with your mind in the future like that, you play with more stress and fear. This, as discussed above, is one of the main reasons putting pressure on yourself causes you to underperform.
To counteract this tendency, you want to work on keeping your mind present while you compete. A great way to do so is through a tool known as conscious breathing.
Conscious breathing involves turning your awareness onto your breath. You don’t even have to change your breathing rhythm or try to breathe deeply. You simply want to become more aware of your breathing.
Focus on it. Feel your breath going in and out of your lungs.
This will work to keep your attention in the present moment.
In addition to using the conscious breathing during the game, you can also set aside five to ten minutes before the competition to perform mindfulness mediation.
In a similar way to conscious breathing, you will focus on your breath. But this time, you will close your eyes and be seated. It is a more formal meditation practice.
Mindfulness meditation is a great way to relax your mind and body pregame and ground yourself in the present moment.
Click here to learn more about how to perform mindfulness meditation.
Final Thoughts
It’s natural to want to play well. But we must be careful that the desire you have to play well doesn’t turn into pressure to play well.
When you put pressure on yourself to play well, this can lead to tense and fearful play.
To manage the pressure you put on yourself to play well, be sure you turn your attention onto the process of your game, and then work on staying present through the use of conscious breathing while you compete.
If you’re interested in a more direct and personalized approach to managing the pressure to play well, click here to learn more about 1-1 mental performance coaching, or fill out the form below.
Thank you for reading and I wish you the best of success in all that you do.
