What Helps you Perform your Best During Competition?
In other words, what is your recipe for peak performance?
Most athletes are dumbfounded when asked this question. They may come up with a few elements on the fly, such as working hard in practice, improving their mechanics, or practicing more.
However, those elements are general and limited. If you have no recipe for peak performance, your training and preparation will be haphazard.
During competitions, you will perform inconsistently. You will have a game where you are crushing it and feel unstoppable, and your next game will be riddled with mistakes.
With no success recipe, your confidence will be low because you won’t know for sure that you are optimally prepared to compete.
What is a peak performance recipe?
A peak performance recipe is a specifically designed preparation regimen intended to optimize an athlete’s competitive performance.
Elements of a peak performance recipe can include pre-game visualization, long-term and short-term goals, consistent competitive routines, practice goals, weekly performance evaluations, mental skills training, specific diet, weight training, etc.
When creating a peak performance recipe, you should consider three key components:
- (Specific) What particular elements aid peak performance? The goal is to define steps that contribute to peak play, such as nutrition, recovery strategies, mental focus techniques, and training regimens.
- (Personal) What works for you? Certain elements that help others perform at their peak may not work for you. Reviewing past successful competitions will help you identify factors that foster peak performance.
- (Positive) What should I do rather than what should I avoid? Focusing on what you should do rather than what to avoid shifts your mindset toward proactive, positive action.
This empowering approach gives you a sense of control during competitions and leads to high confidence. Defining your peak performance recipe helps you perform better and leads to greater consistency during competitions.
During the fourth quarter of the NFL Wildcard game against the Green Bay Packers, Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver A.J. Brown was on the sidelines reading a book about inner excellence.
Brown said he brings the book to every game. While the defense is on the field, Brown reads highlighted passages that help him maintain his composure and focus.
Brown: “It gives me a sense of peace. That’s a book I bring every single game. My teammates call it a recipe. … It’s got a lot of points in there. A lot of mental game. I use it to refocus and lock in despite what may transpire in the game, good or bad.”
Brown’s sideline routine is an element that helps him perform at his peak. You cannot be haphazard in your preparation and perform at your peak.
Personal athletic success requires knowing what to do, when to do it, and how to do it.
The first step in creating a peak performance recipe is determining what has contributed to successful past performances.
Try writing down as many elements as possible that have produced positive results. Then, create a Top 10 list of the most impactful aspects… That will be your peak performance recipe!
Related Sports Psychology Article
- Peak Performance Under Pressure
- Improve Self-Talk to Reach Your Peak Performance
- Mental Training For Peak Performance in Golf
The Focused Athlete (Digital Download)
“The Focused Athlete” audio and workbook program helps you or your athletes overcome distractions and sharpen your concentration during competition. You learn how to get locked in during practice and competition so you can improve and perform better.
“First, I would like to thank you for the help given to me through your programs, ‘The Confident Athlete’ and ‘The Focused Athlete.’ I have made tremendous sacrifices though all these years to become a top Olympic Trap shooter but something was missing. This missing part was with my mental game. My scores increased tremendously in record time and others said that I was a different shooter.“
~Marios Kapodistria