Perform Your Best Under Pressure In Sport

The biggest problem every athlete has isnlearning how to create unshakable confidence under pressure.n nMost sport psychologists will never tell you nthat virtually all athletes have the exact same reaction nwhen they are not performing well. nnFirst, they become frustrated and a bit angry. nnSecond, they lose their confidence, worried nthey're going to get worse and worse. nnThird, they tell themselves to 'get over' ntheir loss of confidence put pressure on nthemselves to feel better, fast. nnNone of these reactions leads to consistent, nmagnificent athletic performance. nnPerforming your best under pressure in sportnis a matter of emotional self-mastery nin the key moments of competition. nnMastering Fear and Performance AnxietynnTo be confident under pressure, you must knownhow to handle your fear, frustration, and performance anxiety. nnWhy? Because these negative feelingsnhave to potential to destroy your ability to trustnyourself under pressure. nnFor example, nn(a) Let's imagine that you are playing tennis nand you start hitting your shots into the net.nn(b) Instantly, you become upset, because younwant to be more consistent. Frustrated, you try nand guide or steer the ball, which interferes with yourntechnique enough to erode your game. nn(c) By knowing a better way to handle your angernthan trying to steer the ball, you can prevent nthis from happening again. Instead, you have a betternplan for how to deal with your anger. As a result, nyour emotional climate does not change; you play neven better after your bad shots.nn(d) As you get better at mastering fear, you become more nunflappable, more consistent under pressure, and more nimpressive to everyone-- especially yourself.nnBy understanding exactly how to managenfear and frustration when you perform poorly,nyou can become immune to virtually any distraction.nnSince you found this article, you probably nalready know that there many self-help nand sport psychology techniques out there. nYou¡¯ve probably even tried some of them.nnThe problem is that most of these techniquesndon't work. nnWhy Many Sport Psychology Techniques Fail Long TermnnAffirmations, positive thinking, and visualizationn(or whatever) pump you up temporarily, but the momentnyou stop doing them, your fear and performance anxietyncome back.nnThis is because you are using a lone ¡°technique¡± thatnmay or may not fit the competitive situation you are facing. nnLet me give you an example...nnHave you ever been told by a coach or nsport psychologist to re-gain your confidence nby thinking more positively? nnDid it work?nnI'm betting that it worked sometimes, butnother times, it only made you more frustratednand anxious. nnThere are times in competition when positive thinking nis the wrong technique. In these situations,nyou're better off not pressuring yourself to be positive. nHere's why: being positive means finding nsomething good in the situation, e.g., n'It's great that I lost that competition nbecause I need a day off.' nnThe problem with trying to be positive in all situationsnis that there may not be anything good nabout the problem you are facing. Trying nto force a positive reaction in such a situation will only ndeflate you. nnCase in point:nnRather than telling yourself to be positive nwhen things are collapsing around you, na better idea is to ask yourself for optimism instead.nnOptimism is not being positive. nnOptimism is the ability to find hope bynbelieving that the challenges you arenfacing are temporary. nnIf you follow football, you know that the New England Patriots gotnoff to a rocky start back in 2006. nnOne cause was the subpar play of Tom Brady,nNew England's Superbowl MVP quarterback. nBrady finally admitted that the trade of antop receiver and the loss of other offensivenplayers upset him and the team.nnBut, like the champion he is, Brady nviewed the slump as temporary. In the middlenof the slump, he said: ''We'll improve neverybody's state of mind and body language. nIt will be good for our confidence to go outnand play to the level we're capable of."nnTo restore your confidence in a slump, nrelease yourself from the burden of tryingnto be happy and positive right away. nInstead, just try to be optimistic. nFind as many rational reasons as npossible to believe your slump is ntemporary. Then, quietly channel nyour frustration into performing better. nnSoon, you'll light it up other there, and your confidencenwill return. nnYou can see now that there are many other mental toughnessnand sport psychology techniques than positive thinking¡ªnand the sooner you educate yourself in them, the better off you'll be.nnYour friend,nLisa Lane Brownn