Overthinking is one of the most common reasons athletes underperform during competition. It’s also one of the most common things to do as an athlete.
But just because overthinking is natural, and can feel like you’re controlling the situation (more on this later), doesn’t mean it’s helpful.
In this article, we’re going to explore a strategy you can use to stop overthinking as an athlete.
But before we get into the strategy, let’s take a look at why overthinking is such a natural thing for us to do.
Why Athletes Overthink
Mechanics, what coach will think of you, what your stats will be, how you should face off against the opponent…the list of things you can overthink as an athlete goes on and on.
But why do we overthink?
Well, overthinking is present because we desperately want something to go the way we want it. In other words, we are trying to control the situation.
Take overthinking your mechanics as a prime example. You overthink your mechanics because you are trying to perfect your technique. The better your mechanics the better your chances are of success.
You are trying to control your mechanics and so you think about them…a lot!
The same is true when you overthink playing time or what coach will think of you. This is a common focus of overthinking for many of the athletes I work with.
Nobody wants their coach to think they’re a bad player. And you’re not likely wanting to get benched. Therefore, you overthink coach’s opinion of you and whether or not you’ll play in the next game.
In this scenario, you are attempting to control what coach thinks of you and how much playing time you get.
Unfortunately, controlling these different outcomes is not something you have the power to do. Which only results in lower levels of performance.
How Overthinking Hurts Your Play
Trying to control the outcome leads to tension and inhibits free and natural play. That is the main reason overthinking limits your performance.
Let’s think back to the example I gave earlier about overthinking mechanics. This time we’ll assume it’s a baseball player overthinking his mechanics in the batter’s box (mainly because that’s what I used to do all the time).
As he’s standing in the batter’s box, he starts thinking about where his hands should be. Are they in the right position? What about his load…is his load on time?
These types of thoughts fill his head as he’s waiting for the pitch to be delivered.
As he’s thinking all of that, would you imagine he’s also relaxed? Is he present, confident, and fully focused on the ball?
Absolutely not.
He is tense, stressed, and distracted.
That is what happens when a hitter overthinks at the plate.
Another example of an athlete overthinking is a basketball player overthinking her shot. During warm ups she overthinks the mechanics of her shot, much like the baseball player was overthinking his hitting mechanics.
Then, when the game is being played, she overthinks whether or not she should take a shot, overthinks the last shot she took, and stresses about what her coach is thinking and if he’ll pull her.
Again, all of those thoughts are doing nothing but causing increased stress, tension, and hesitation as she plays.
The more you overthink as an athlete, the less free and natural you will play. The more tension will be present and it will lead to you hesitating and holding second guessing yourself.
Simple Strategy to Stop Overthinking During Games
Knowing how harmful overthinking is to your game, what can you do to stop stressing about and overthinking aspects of your game?
Well, no matter what you’re overthinking, whether it be your mechanics or what coach is thinking, the same core principles apply: we want to simplify your thinking and get you present.
Simplify Your Thinking
I like to see overthinking as complicated thinking. You are thinking about so many different things and trying to think way too in-depth about elements of your game that don’t need to be thought about in such a way while competing.
When you play, your goal should be to have your thinking as simple as possible.
A lot of athletes will tell me how they’re best games came when they weren’t thinking. So ultimately the goal is to not think and just play.
Unfortunately, not thinking is a difficult, if not impossible, thing to force yourself to do.
But what we can do, however, is simplify our thinking as much as possible.
What I mean by simplifying your thinking is focusing on one or two things in the moment.
Let’s look back at the baseball player example. To simplify his thinking he could choose one thing to focus on, such as watching the ball come out of the pitcher’s hand.
Or he could choose to repeat a single self-talk statement to himself such as, “See ball, be aggressive.”
The goal is to occupy his mind with a preselected, simple idea to focus on.
For yourself, instead of allowing your mind to run wild during competition, think of a self-talk statement or a single controllable objective to focus on to simplify your thinking.
The goal is not to think your way to playing well. The goal is to simplify your thinking to allow your natural talent to take over.
Be Present
The second key principle to stopping overthinking is to be present.
Peak performance happens in the present moment. When your mind drifts into the past or the future, fear and anxiety set in.
If you want to play naturally and freely, your goal needs to be to keep your mind present.
Simplifying your thinking, as discussed in the previous section, will help keep you present since your mind is focused on one thing in the present moment.
What you can do at other times, though, is use something known as conscious breathing to ensure your mind remains present.
Conscious breathing is where you turn your awareness onto your breath. Yes, you can take deep breaths while you do so, but you don’t have to. Simply bring your awareness onto the sensation of breathing.
Final Thoughts
Overthinking is like a stormy ocean. The waves are wild and rain is pouring down. It is difficult to sail a ship through such waters, just as it is difficult to play your best when you overthink.
What you want to do is calm the sea. You do that by simplifying your thinking and keeping yourself present.
Remember, the goal isn’t to think your way to playing well. It’s to get your mind out of the way to allow your body to take over.
To allow the natural talent and skills you’ve developed to shine through. Something that can only happen once we’ve slowed your racing thoughts.
Thank you for reading and I wish you the best of success in all that you do.
