How to Play Freely in Sports
Do you or your athletes need to “get out of your own way” when competing? You might be thinking: “What does it mean to get out of your own way?”
Allow me to answer this question in one moment…
What prompted me to write this post was an interview I saw after the 2008 Cox Classic, a Nationwide Tour event.
Ryan Hietala earned the title in a playoff. In an interview, he said he did not know how to define “Get out of your own way,” but his goal was to stay in the present and not put pressure on himself:
“I was just trying to stay in the present and not get ahead of myself. I’ve never been able to define ‘Get out of your own way.’ I don’t know what that means. I don’t understand that. I guess it means not to put pressure on yourself.” ~Ryan Hietala
In one sense, Ryan is correct about the pressure athletes place on themselves to win.
I have another definition of “get out of your own way.” When an athlete is unable to get out of his own way, the mind interferes with his physical talent.
In a general sense, your mind sabotages your well-learned physical skills. The mental game misfires.
But another specific definition is also appropriate when discussing getting out of your own way…
Most of the time, athletes who can’t “get out of your own way” try way too hard, force their game, think too much, or over analyze.
I’ve conducted a massive amount of research with athletes on performing in the zone. These athletes talk about how they were able to perform without the mental handcuffs of over analysis…
Many athletes described an experience in which they felt like observers (of their own performance) allowing their performance to just happen. As if they were performing on autopilot.
Thus if you over think or over analyze your game, try to force it on every play or shot, and don’t trust your performance, you are guilty of getting in your own way.
When you get out of your own way, you allow yourself to play freely without added pressure. You allow yourself to just do it and trust in your skills.
To help my students get out of their own way, I created “The Fearless Athlete” Program, which is the fourth addition to my popular Confident Athlete series.
The Fearless Athlete program is ideal mental preparation especially for perfectionist athletes who want to over-control and over think their performance.
You can read more about The Fearless Athlete and my students’ reaction.
Your Mental Game Coach,
Patrick J. Cohn, Ph.D.,
Related Sports Psychology Articles
- Golf Podcast: How to Play Freely in Tournaments
- How to Break Free From Losing Streaks
- What Causes Golfers to Freeze Over The Ball?
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The Fearless Athlete
For the last two decades, I’ve been working with athletes and helping them optimize their physical ability by teaching them the secrets of top performing athletes. Now, you too can learn how to regain that child-like fearless attitude.
Mental toughness is what separates the winner from the loser in any competition. Champion athletes train hard in practice, perform without fear in competition, and trust their skills in crunch-time.
The Fearless Athlete program is ideal for any athlete that wants to overcome fear of failure and uncover inhibiting perfectionistic traits; or for any coach or parent who wants to teach athletes to perform with trust and freedom in competition.