The following post is an excerpt from Emotional Aptitude In Sports NOW available through most online retailers! Click Here to Order
Solutions to Popular Performance Anxieties
To illustrate how unique personalities operate differently, I’d like to reintroduce you to the twins: Evan and Jarrod. Let’s again call upon the brothers to offer their take on the following top ten performance anxieties.
Handling Pressure
Evan: I thrive under pressure because I’ve focused on it every practice session. I enjoy the negative scoring drills. These stress-buster exercises keep me focused throughout the practice session. They make me accountable for every sloppy error. They help me not only with my fundamentals but with my decision making, my problem solving and my self-coaching/internal dialog.
Jarrod: Dude, I just like to crank the tunes in practice and groove. I don’t need to think about my emotions. So what…? I get mad when I compete…I’m not worried about it!
Frank’s Tip: Multitask and incorporate stress simulation scoring into daily training. This develops the emotional muscle as well as the technique.
Mental Toughness
Evan: I’m probably more successful than my peers, but not because I’m a better athlete, but because I prepare my psychological responses to game time stress. I think it’s because we make the time to discuss all the emotional scenarios and have pre-set the appropriate protocols.
Jarrod: I don’t care about mental toughness in practice. I’ll save my focus and concentration for the real match. You mean players actually train their concentration and intensity levels? Wimps…
Frank’s Tip: Athletes and coaches often categorize emotional toughness as mental toughness. In my opinion, there is a difference between mental (X’s & O’s of strategy) and emotional (performance anxieties.) It’s important to correctly categorize the cause of the performance inabilities. For instance, is the athlete unaware of the proper strategy to be implemented or is the athlete so nervous and fearful their strategy is un-accessible under stress? Identifying the cause will help define the solution.
