A stressed mind will only hold you back.
When you are unable to get mentally relaxed for competition, we will see sports performance anxiety, fear of failure, and many other mental game challenges take over.
Challenges that will cause you to underperform.
In this article, I’m going to go over a strategy you can use to get mentally relaxed going into a game.
But before going into the strategy, let’s take a look at what it actually means to be mentally relaxed for competition.
What it Means to Be Mentally Relaxed
I was talking to an athlete on a coaching call one day and we were going over the idea of being mentally relaxed. I was talking to him about how we want to get his mind calmer when competing.
He pushed back a bit because to him, he didn’t want to be calm. Calm meant slow. It meant he would not be mentally sharp and he wouldn’t be as quick as he needed to be.
This is an association we need to break. Being mentally relaxed does not mean you are dull or slow mentally. Quite the opposite, in fact.
When you are mentally relaxed and your mind is calm, you are actually sharper and you can think more clearly.
Being mentally relaxed means your mind is calm. You are not experiencing a ton of racing thoughts. You are focused in the present moment and are thinking clearly.
The opposite of a relaxed mind is an anxious mind. One where your mind is full of worrisome thoughts about the future and thoughts of fear and thoughts of doubt.
Now, if you had to choose between two mindsets, and you were choosing the one that would give you the best chance of succeeding during a game, which would you choose?
- a.) A calm and focused mindset.
- b.) An anxious mindset where you have racing thoughts.
A calm and clear mind allows you to be more focused, have quicker reactions, and not be as stressed and afraid when you compete. All of which lead to greater levels of performance.
The Role of Thinking in a Relaxed Mind
When I described the opposite of a relaxed mind, I used the term racing thoughts. That’s because when it comes to a calm mind, what we’re really talking about is how much thinking you’re doing.
When you overthink, your mind is not calm. Your mind is stressed.
The more you think about something, the less relaxed your mind is.
But now you may be concerned because you know you need to think about what you’re going to do in the game and you need to strategize and game plan.
Yes, you do. But none of that requires overthinking. In fact, overthinking limits your ability to think clearly and strategize.
Think about a quarterback at the line of scrimmage. If their mind is racing all over the place and is full of uncontrollable worries, will they make the best decision?
No, definitely not.
But a quarterback still needs to be reading the defense and making quick decisions. So they need to be thinking. But the thinking needs to happen in a calm mind.
In fact, the calmer and more relaxed their mind is, the better their decisions will be.
This is what it means to slow the game down. You are slowing it down mentally to give yourself more control over the situation. But that control really comes because you have more control over calming your own mind.
Learning to Relax and Calm Your Mind
So how do you go about relaxing your mind to help you play better?
We’re going to take a long-term and a short-term approach.
The long-term approach will involve an exercise you can use to strengthen the skill of having a present mind (the more present your mind, the more relaxed it will be).
The short-term approach is a way for you to relax your mind going into a game.
Both approaches paired together will help you have a more relaxed mindset moving forward. And remember, the calmer and more relaxed your mind is, the better you will perform.
Long-Term Approach to Relaxing Your Mind
A present mind is a calm mind.
When your mind is in the present moment, you aren’t thinking about the past or future. More importantly, you aren’t stressing about the future or dwelling on the past.
Both of which keep you from having a calm mind.
Our goal needs to be for you to live and compete in the present moment as much as possible. And that takes practice!
To train your ability to be present, you can use mindfulness meditation.
Mindfulness meditation is a simple exercise where you focus on your breathing for a specific amount of time.
As you are focusing on your breathing, your mind will drift. When it does, all you need to do is notice that your mind is drifting and then bring it back onto your breath.
I’ve written a more in-depth article about mindfulness meditation if you’d like to learn more.
Your goal should be to practice the meditation for five to ten minutes every day.
The more you do, the more you will be building the skill of being present. And being present is the best way for you to relax your mind going into a game.
Short-Term Approach to Being Mentally Relaxed for a Game
It’s important you begin using mindfulness meditation on a consistent basis. If you do, you will be training your ability to be present. And a present mind is a relaxed mind.
In addition to training mindfulness consistently, we also need to have a strategy in place for you to get yourself into a relaxed state going into a game.
This will once again involve using mindfulness meditation before the game begins, but will also involve using self-talk and objectives to keep your mind calm.
Mindfulness can be performed before you get to the field or court, or during warm-ups. This way, you are grounding yourself in the present moment.
After you perform the mindfulness meditation, you want to read a self-talk routine that is focused on building confidence and helping you feel more positive going into the game.
Here is an example list:
- I believe in myself.
- I compete with a calm mind.
- I am ready to compete and trust in my skills.
- I am a great player.
- I am grateful to get to compete today.
After reading over the self-talk list, it’s time to get your mind centered on what you need to be focused on to play your best. This is known as setting your objectives for the day.
To keep things simple, a great objective for you would be to focus on your breathing throughout the competition. That will help you stay present throughout the game.
Another good objective is to focus on having positive thoughts while you play.
By using this routine going into a game, you will be instilling a calmer and more relaxed mindset which will stick with you as you compete.
Final Thoughts
Competing with a calm and relaxed mind is key to peak performance.
When you play with a stressed out mind and have a lot of overthinking occurring, you will continually underperform.
To help compete with a relaxed mind, use mindfulness meditation on a daily basis to train your ability to be present.
In addition to the mindfulness training, you also want to use a pregame routine to help generate a calm and relaxed mental state going into the game.
If you’re interested in a more personalized approach to helping you manage stress and overthinking and play with a relaxed mindset, click here to schedule a free introductory call to learn more about one-on-one mental coaching.
Thank you for reading and I wish you the best of success in all that you do.
