Mental Moment-Is that Preparation

Athletes don’t usually think about the mental preparation they need for practice and competition. I wrote an article a few months ago about becoming aware of how much energy you need to facilitate good performance. Today I am going to give you an example of what pre-performance preparation might look like.

One of my newer clients was telling me about the anxiety she has before she competes. She calls this her ‘freak out’. I asked her to explain her ‘freak out’ to me. She was feeling and thinking doubts, worries, shallow breathing and a knot in her throat. When I asked her what happens next, she said nothing. Nothing? Nothing! She said that once competition starts she just does it. She doesn’t even think about it. What is happening here?

Her freak out is actually her minds way of preparing. It doesn’t impact her competition performance (versus practice performance) as a matter of fact it helps. After the doubts, worries, shallow breathing and knot in her throat go away she is able to move into a state of flow. She was able to dispose of the doubts and worries before her performance so that all she has left to do, is perform. She has naturally found her state of flow without knowing of it or thinking about it.

Here’s where it gets interesting. She had no clue that what she was doing hence calling it a ‘freak out’ was a disguise for preparation. I then suggested that instead of calling these preparation moments a freak out she called it preparation. I asked her how this felt. She said it made complete sense, it felt less heavy and negative and helped her to accept it what she was doing as facilitative.

For my client these moments before competition were new. She’d never competed. The only words she had for them was ‘freak out’. Freak out is so accurate to these feelings. She experiences doubts, worries, shallow breathing and knot in her throat and for the first time and all at once. What would you call it? 🙂

Preparation takes on different forms for people. The keys to preparation are knowing that you need it and to know what works for you.

Happy Thursday!

Dr. Michelle

Photo credit: Speshul Ted