#258 – The Key to Performing Under Pressure

In this episode, I share a simple mindset shift teen athletes can use to perform at their peak when it really counts.

Please reach out to me with any questions! brennen@behighperforming.com

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Hey everyone, welcome to episode 258 of Mental Mastery for Teen Athletes: A Parents Guide. Today I want to talk to you about how to help your athlete actually perform when it counts. Because so many young athletes fall into the trap of performing effectively in practice, they're executing all sorts of skills effectively, they're learning, they're growing, they're improving, they have this great momentum. And then competition day comes and things kind of go downhill. Things don't quite come together like they were in practice. And this is very natural. It happens because ultimately there's just less pressure in practice than in competition. And when athletes feel pressure, most of them respond ineffectively to that pressure. So today I want to talk about how they can respond effectively to that pressure. And it's really just a mindset shift. If they respond effectively to the feeling of pressure, they can actually use it to their advantage and perform at peak levels because of the feeling of pressure. Ultimately, what is pressure? Pressure is just the feeling that something matters. And when something matters, our body is designed to implement systems and processes that help us to meet the challenge ahead of us. So that's called the stress response, or I like to call it the challenge response, because it happens every time we face a challenge. The body releases all sorts of hormones, primarily adrenaline and noradrenaline and cortisol, and those have various effects in the body. They cause an increased heart rate, an increased breathing rate, they cause maybe a little bit of sweating, they cause increased blood flow to the brain and to the muscles, they narrow the focus. And all of those things are very adaptive for meeting the challenge. But again, so many young athletes tell themselves that that's a bad thing. They respond to this in a way that's ineffective and actually hurts them instead of using it to their advantage. They say to themselves, if I'm feeling these feelings, if I'm feeling these nerves, this nervous energy, then that means I'm not going to be able to shoot effectively, I'm not going to be able to pass effectively. They tell themselves that that feeling of pressure, the activation of their body in the stress response, aka the challenge response, is going to hinder their abilities and hinder their performance. I promise you that that is both completely true and completely a lie. It's only true because they're telling themselves that it's true, so it actually makes it true. When they tell themselves that they're in an impaired state because of the body's challenge response, then yes, that is going to become true simply because they're believing it. When you believe something, your actions tend to follow that belief. So if an athlete is sitting there at the free throw line and they're saying to themselves, I'm too nervous right now to shoot effectively, I'm too nervous to make this shot, then they are so much more likely to miss that shot than to make it. And it's because, not because of some mystical force, but because since they're believing that, they're probably going to shoot with not the right technique, not the best, you know, not the right force, not the right whatever, because they believe that they're going to miss it. So your belief affects your actions. So what should teen athletes do instead? They should simply interpret the body's challenge response in a different way. They need to start telling themselves this is high performance energy. My body is giving me what I need to perform at my best right now. So the fact that I feel these nerves, the fact that I feel the tingling, the fact that I feel the increased heart rate, the increased breathing rate, the fact that I feel the sweating, that means that I'm going to perform at my best because my body is giving me what I need to perform at my best. So many fascinating research studies show that when you interpret the body's challenge response in a way that it's a tool rather than a hindrance, it becomes a tool. And you use it and you use it for what it's meant for, which is to help you. So share with your athlete. This is high performance energy. And instead of trying to get rid of it, instead of telling themselves that they're gonna fail because they're feeling too nervous, no, help them see it as the tool that it is and go in, have a blast, focus on their skills, and it will work out. Thank you so much for listening today. I really appreciate it. Shoot me an email at Brennan at behighperforming.com to tell me how this goes or if you have any questions. Let's be high performing today.