You’re an athlete.
You practice. You compete. But, for some reason, you always perform better during practice than competition.
Why? Why do you perform well during practice, but not competition?
The answer to this question is simple. You’re focusing on the wrong things.
Think about it. During a stellar practice session, what are you thinking about?
Nothing. You’re fully immersed in the action. The present moment.
You’re focused on the length of your stride, or the amount of water you pull with each stroke. You’re focused on your breathing, or your current pace.
Now, compare that to your thoughts during competition.
Hitting a specific time. Getting a personal best score. Reaching the podium. Nailing an important skill.
These thoughts lead to tension and overthinking, which causes a deterioration in performance.
Thoughts are your enemy. In order to perform well, you must be loose and relaxed, but thoughts cause you to tense up.
So, what’s the solution?
It’s simple. Focus on your current action.
When you are focused on your current action, your senses are simply taking in what’s happening around you and reacting to it. In other words, you aren’t thinking about anything.
This is the same mindset that you have during a stellar practice session, and it makes it easy to maintain a relaxed state.
Focus. This is the difference between your performance in practice and competition.
During practice, when there’s no pressure, your body automatically focuses on the action. But, during competition you are focused on the outcome, which makes you tense up and causes you to perform poorly.
In order to fix this, there are two things you need to do.
- Be aware of when your focus drifts to the results or outcome.
- Quickly bring yourself back to your current action.
These two steps are simple, yet difficult to master. But, with practice, they will become automatic, and with mastery, they will bring consistency to your performance across practice and competition.