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Authors: D. C. Gonzalez
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environment, the athlete equips
himself with an invaluable tactic to use against the building tension and
pressure that he may be feeling in a competitive environment. The ability to instantly
relax muscles not only relieves tension, but also serves to calm your mind and
reduce the pressures you’re feeling. With a little practice you can get really
good at triggering physical relaxation quickly. Be sure to learn and practice
the induction technique introduced in Chapter 7, which is extremely popular
among the world’s top athletes and performers.
Some athletes find that they
deal best with performance pressures by using coping affirmations. The ability
to talk yourself through a pressure situation is an important skill. Coping
affirmations are powerful because they help you to deal with the pressure—not
to pretend that the pressure doesn’t exist. Many champions create and have
their own personal affirmations. (I’m good; I’m fast; I’m strong; this is my
time; believe; I dominate.) What they may be doesn’t matter as long as they
help you take the pressure off yourself. Create three quick affirmations
(positive statements) you can fire off to yourself to complement the breathing
and relaxation techniques mentioned above.
Another method some athletes
use to deal with pressure is simply thinking about something that relaxes
them. Some do this while wearing headphones listening to whatever it may be
that helps them take the pressure off themselves. They may be sitting in their
chair at a crossover in a serious international tennis match, but they’re
actually no longer there. In their minds, they have transported themselves
somewhere else, perhaps to a tranquil mountain stream where they sit peacefully
as the sun reflects in the running water. How’s that for a simple approach
that can make a big difference? Be sure to take the time to practice and
develop this type of mental focus.
Some champions admit to using a
technique from sports psychology where they allow themselves to let go of the
need to achieve any particular outcome. This is all about feeling the
pressure—and then warmly accepting it. Such athletes approach performances
with the exhilaration of knowing that all their hard training is about to pay
off and that it’s time to go out and enjoy performing their sport. They set
out to compete with the feeling that they have nothing to lose. Confident that
their years of solid training will take over, they let go of any remaining worries
and set out to perform with uninhibited abandon. Some athletes talk about
having experienced their greatest moment in sports through releasing themselves
from any fear of failure.
In other words, not being
focused on the outcome allowed them to become enjoyably absorbed in the
process. One can sense this attitude at times when a youthful challenger
“takes on” a top seed. He (or she) is almost carefree with the sense that
they, at least, have nothing to lose. Some spectacular upsets have happened when
a challenger has convinced himself to release the weight of his own
expectations in this way. Afterwards, such athletes sometimes describe how
they weren’t worried about doing well, how they became completely immersed in
the activity of the moment. Their chances of achieving the outcome that they
desired increased dramatically when they took the pressure off themselves and
let go of the need to achieve any specific outcome.
Other athletes have a ritual or
pre-game routine that they like to stick with and that helps them deal with the
pressure. If this is you (and it works) why mess with it?
And finally, one other approach
is to recall a time when you managed a pressurized situation really well. Go
back in your mind’s eye and take note of exactly what you did right. What
worked? What did you do? Were you still for a while before going into the
match? Were you able to lose yourself in the moment? What was
himself with an invaluable tactic to use against the building tension and
pressure that he may be feeling in a competitive environment. The ability to instantly
relax muscles not only relieves tension, but also serves to calm your mind and
reduce the pressures you’re feeling. With a little practice you can get really
good at triggering physical relaxation quickly. Be sure to learn and practice
the induction technique introduced in Chapter 7, which is extremely popular
among the world’s top athletes and performers.
Some athletes find that they
deal best with performance pressures by using coping affirmations. The ability
to talk yourself through a pressure situation is an important skill. Coping
affirmations are powerful because they help you to deal with the pressure—not
to pretend that the pressure doesn’t exist. Many champions create and have
their own personal affirmations. (I’m good; I’m fast; I’m strong; this is my
time; believe; I dominate.) What they may be doesn’t matter as long as they
help you take the pressure off yourself. Create three quick affirmations
(positive statements) you can fire off to yourself to complement the breathing
and relaxation techniques mentioned above.
Another method some athletes
use to deal with pressure is simply thinking about something that relaxes
them. Some do this while wearing headphones listening to whatever it may be
that helps them take the pressure off themselves. They may be sitting in their
chair at a crossover in a serious international tennis match, but they’re
actually no longer there. In their minds, they have transported themselves
somewhere else, perhaps to a tranquil mountain stream where they sit peacefully
as the sun reflects in the running water. How’s that for a simple approach
that can make a big difference? Be sure to take the time to practice and
develop this type of mental focus.
Some champions admit to using a
technique from sports psychology where they allow themselves to let go of the
need to achieve any particular outcome. This is all about feeling the
pressure—and then warmly accepting it. Such athletes approach performances
with the exhilaration of knowing that all their hard training is about to pay
off and that it’s time to go out and enjoy performing their sport. They set
out to compete with the feeling that they have nothing to lose. Confident that
their years of solid training will take over, they let go of any remaining worries
and set out to perform with uninhibited abandon. Some athletes talk about
having experienced their greatest moment in sports through releasing themselves
from any fear of failure.
In other words, not being
focused on the outcome allowed them to become enjoyably absorbed in the
process. One can sense this attitude at times when a youthful challenger
“takes on” a top seed. He (or she) is almost carefree with the sense that
they, at least, have nothing to lose. Some spectacular upsets have happened when
a challenger has convinced himself to release the weight of his own
expectations in this way. Afterwards, such athletes sometimes describe how
they weren’t worried about doing well, how they became completely immersed in
the activity of the moment. Their chances of achieving the outcome that they
desired increased dramatically when they took the pressure off themselves and
let go of the need to achieve any specific outcome.
Other athletes have a ritual or
pre-game routine that they like to stick with and that helps them deal with the
pressure. If this is you (and it works) why mess with it?
And finally, one other approach
is to recall a time when you managed a pressurized situation really well. Go
back in your mind’s eye and take note of exactly what you did right. What
worked? What did you do? Were you still for a while before going into the
match? Were you able to lose yourself in the moment? What was
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