Do you thrive under pressure or do you choke under pressure?
We admire athletes who come up clutch in pressure situations. And as an athlete, if you don’t currently thrive under pressure, this is a skill I imagine you want to develop.
To get yourself to the point where you thrive under pressure, you want to mirror what successful athletes do in these high stress situations.
As a mental performance coach, I have worked with athletes who fall into both categories: athletes who thrive under pressure, and athletes who struggle under pressure, but we’ve gotten them to the point where they do perform well under pressure.
And the way we get them to play their best under pressure is by applying a couple key principles. Principles that show up in athletes who repeatedly thrive in pressure-filled moments.
What I’m going to do in this article is break down the two main reasons athletes thrive under pressure, and then give you one simple tip you can use to play your best in pressure situations.
Reason 1 Athletes Thrive Under Pressure: They Use Pressure to Their Advantage
Why is it that pressure holds you back?
Think about the last time you were in a big moment and you underperformed…what happened?
Did you get tight? Did you start to think about everything that could go wrong which led to fear and playing not to mess up instead of playing to succeed?
This is one of the most common challenges athletes who don’t perform well under pressure face. The pressure causes them to play tight and timid since they don’t want to mess up.
This means they are playing with the fear of making mistakes. Fear that does nothing but increase your chances of performing poorly.
However, athletes who thrive under pressure have an opposite reaction.
Instead of having the pressure lead to stress and fear, they use the pressure to their advantage. But what, exactly, does that mean?
It means that, instead of getting caught up in what could go wrong and hoping they don’t mess up, they hyper-focus on the process and what they need to do to succeed.
The situation is a pressure situation because it’s important. Whether there are runners on base, it’s late in the game, the clock is winding down, or for any other reason…this moment feels more important than all the rest. And it probably is!
Now what does that mean, for a moment to be important?
It means that succeeding or failing will have a direct impact on the outcome.
If you walk this batter, your team loses. If you make this shot, you walk off the court a hero.
Succeeding and failing are amplified due to the situation and moment within the game.
This means you want to succeed even more, but it also means you desperately do not want to fail.
When pressure causes you to choke, it’s likely you get caught up thinking about desperately not wanting to fail. You get stuck thinking about a negative outcome.
This leads to fear and tight play. Simply put, you underperform.
Similarly, if you get stuck thinking about succeeding, while not quite as bad, it can still distract you and keep you out of the moment.
Athletes who thrive under pressure focus on succeeding more, but that doesn’t mean they get stuck thinking about it.
Instead, no matter if they are driven by the desire to succeed or the desire not to fail, they use the pressure they feel to turn their attention onto the process of their game.
They focus on how they succeed or how not to fail.
They focus on what matters.
Reason #2 Athletes Thrive Under Pressure: They Keep Things Simple
What matters are the simple, process elements of your game.
When athletes use pressure to their advantage, the pressure doesn’t cause them to press and try to do too much.
They know that by pressing, they only play more tight and underperform.
Instead, they keep things simple.
They focus on the controllable, process elements of their game. And they don’t try to do too much.
It’s easy in big moments to tighten up and try to force something to happen. A prime example of this comes from my own experience playing baseball.
My only walk-off hit in college came by pure luck.
It was the bottom of the ninth and the game was tied. I was up to bat with a runner on third. I was stiff as a board and hell bent on hitting the runner in.
I don’t remember much else from the at bat other than the hit. It was about the most pitiful and lucky hit I’ve ever gotten.
Because I was so stiff, I tried to do too much and I muscled up the ball. I swung as hard as I could at an outside pitch, pulled off, and barely hit it with the end of my bat for a bloop single to right field.
It was a horrible swing, but I didn’t complain. I got lucky and walked off the game.
But that was one lucky occasion. Many more times in my career I can remember being so tight and trying to do too much at the plate that and I ended up striking out or swinging at bad pitches, or the weak hit didn’t fall.
Trying to hit the home run did more harm than good over my career.
However, when I played in Europe after college I had a different approach. I finally learned to keep things simple for myself.
There was a two home run game I had where both home runs came in big moments and the truth was, I wasn’t thinking about the situation or the score. I was focused purely on my routine and just getting a good pitch to hit.
I focused on the simple, process elements of hitting.
So I know first hand how hurtful trying to do too much can be and how much your game improves when you keep things simple for yourself.
When you find yourself in a pressure situation, do not force. Focus on what you normally focus on.
Don’t get stuck thinking about the outcome or trying to be the hero.
Keep things simple for yourself. Do the little things well and stay process-focused.
Tip to Play Your Best Under Pressure
Athletes who thrive under pressure use pressure to their advantage and they keep things simple.
We are going to take these two ideas and combine them together. That way, you can ensure that you are putting yourself in the best position to succeed in crunch time moments. When the pressure is on!
The way we’re going to combine the two ideas is by focusing on routines.
Depending on your sport, the type of routine you use will vary. But the same underlying principle applies.
In moments of pressure, you want to keep things simple. The way you keep things simple is by sticking to what you’ve done up to that point.
You don’t want to try and do anything special or try to force something to happen.
A routine is a great way to ensure you are focusing on the little things that will help you succeed in that moment.
When pressure is used to your advantage, it’s because the pressure causes you to hyper-focus on the process. On what you need to do in order to succeed.
A routine will be made up of the process elements. Meaning, by sticking to your routine, you are using the pressure to your advantage.
So a routine will help you keep things simple and keep your mind focused on what matters.
But what should your routine look like?
Well, like I said, your routine will vary based on your sport. It may be long, or it may be just a few seconds.
A great example is a pre at bat routine in baseball or a pre serve routine in tennis.
In basketball it may be your free throw routine. For football it could be a pre drive routine you do on the sideline or a pre play routine that involves something you tell yourself.
Routines do not need to be long. They just need to work to keep you focused on the process of your game and keep your mind present.
By utilizing a routine, you increase your chances of succeeding in pressure-filled moments.
Final Thoughts
Athletes who thrive under pressure know how to use pressure to their advantage and they keep things simple.
They don’t allow the pressure to drive stress and fear. And they don’t try to do too much in these moments.
They stay within themselves and trust in their skills.
The same will be true for you if you follow those two principles. And a great way you can make sure you do is by sticking to a routine in pressure situations.
By doing so, you can become an athlete who thrives under pressure.
Thank you for reading and I wish you the best of success in all that you do.
