How to Win Under Pressure
The season is coming to a close and it’s make-or-break time. It’s time to win under pressure or the season ends. Why is it that some athletes elevate during these moments and others freeze or falter? We are going to identify a few important things you can do to get it done when it matters. We will be examining these principles from the perspective of the track and field athlete, but they can be applied to all sports and any pressure situations in life.
1. Recognize that being nervous is not bad
If you are nervous going into a competition, especially a championship meet, it suggests that you care about the outcome. More time and effort invested into a goal usually leads to more care about the outcome, and therefore more nervousness or perceived pressure. Being nervous actually means that there is additional energy available. If you follow the other principles below, you might be able to stay focused and use this extra energy to rise up to meet the challenge. From here on out it’s time to start thinking about pressure and nerves as energy.
2. Hope for the best, prepare for the worst
As an important competition approaches, do everything you can to influence the outcome by visualizing yourself succeeding. It is easier to do something that you have already done than something you haven’t (even if you’ve only done it in your head). It’s also important to think of any potential problems that could arise and have a plan to deal with them. What if there is traffic on the route to the stadium? What if the weather is terrible? What if warm-up space or time is limited? What if the officials are making bad calls? Plan ahead and know how to handle these situations with efficiency and relaxation so that your focus is not impacted.
3. Stick with what got you there
Whatever you’ve been doing this season has been working to some extent...it got you here to this moment that matters. When the pressure is on and failure is not an option, it feels like it is time to do something new or different to meet the occasion. This is exactly the wrong thing to do. You’ve already built the sword, now it’s time to use it. Trying to build a new sword in the days leading up to the competition or at the competition will result in less focused swings. Staying focused on the things that have worked in the lead up to this moment and executing them to the best of your ability is going to give you the best chance to succeed.
4. Focus on what you can control
I hope you took my advice and have already planned for the worst. Now that the worst has happened, ask yourself, “Is this within my control to change?” If yes, go ahead and change it. If no, move on immediately. Do not spend a moment with your feelings of frustration, unfairness, discomfort etc. If the competition is delayed for weather, leave emotions out of it and revise the plan. If other competitors are complaining, don’t join them. Take joy in the fact that they are being negatively impacted while you are not. If the measuring tape breaks or the laser system goes down and the competition is delayed, know that it is out of your control and you will be the athlete who is not impacted. If your coach's kid gets sick and can’t be at the meet, do not waste a moment feeling bad about yourself. Revise the plan and continue to focus on the things you can control. Focusing on what you can control not only keeps you from spending energy on things outside of your control, but it also reinforces the feeling of having control over the outcome of the competition, which is a good feeling to have.
5. Let the pressure (energy) of the competition elevate your performance
If you are executing the above principles, you are more likely to be able to stay focused and let the energy of the competition bring you up. If the crowd is extra loud, a college coach is there to recruit you, your family is in attendance, or the competition is especially close, you have the opportunity to let the pressure lift you up. Trying to pretend like the pressure doesn’t exist isn’t going to help. The focus that you have built is like a funnel that allows you to take in additional energy from external sources and feed it into your performance. The more focused you can stay, the bigger your funnel is. The best athletes have such a big funnel, that they can absorb the energy of the Olympic Stadium where there are 80,000 people in attendance, millions watching from home, the greatest competitors in the world to compete against, and the hopes of their entire nation on their back to lift them to the greatest performances that humankind has ever seen. While you may not be competing in the Olympic Stadium, any competition where you feel pressure is an opportunity to test the strength of your focus and its ability to translate pressure into positive energy.
These principles are not like a light switch. Reading them and attempting to apply them will not result in perfect results immediately. They are the foundations of mental skills that require consistent effort and focus to execute.
Craig Kinsley is a co-founder of Field and Track Club and an NCAA Champion and Olympian in the javelin. He currently works as the throws coach at Brown University. He doesn’t particularly enjoy writing about himself in the third person but will do so when appropriate.
