Sports Psychology Tips
In this article, I will give you 12 sports psychology tips to help you instantly improve motivation, results and performance when it counts! Even if you are not a competitive athlete, these tips can help you to achieve your fitness goals or even your goals outside of the gym.
The 12 sports psychology tips are:
- Get into the Zone
- Manage your Energy
- Find your Optimal Arousal Levels
- Harness Anxiety to Help You
- Aim for Success but Don’t Fear Failure
- Take Ownership of your Training
- Reinforce Instead of Punish
- Have Fun
- Use the Right Cues
- Use Relaxation Techniques
- Use Positive Self Talk
- Set SMART Goals
Read on to learn how to implement each of these sports psychology tips for better mental performance.
Get into the Zone
Getting into the ideal performance state can help you to achieve better performance during workouts or competitions. This state is sometimes referred to as “being in the zone.” Some characteristics of this state of mind include:
- Sense of Personal Control
- Time seems to stand still
- Focus on task at hand
- No Fear of Failure
- Not thinking about performance
- Sense of Effortlessness
How do you get into the zone? To get into the zone, you need to relax. Performing deep breathing, visualizing your ideal performance and minimizing distractions can help you get into the zone!
Manage your Energy
Reaching your best performances requires energy management. Stress, worry, and fear before a big lift or important run can sap all your energy. So next time you are in a big pressure scenario, try to maintain a sense of calm and save your energy for when it counts.
Learn how to turn up your energy when it counts and turn down into a relaxed state when you should be resting and recovering.
Find your Optimal Arousal Levels
According to arousal theory, each athlete has an optimal level of arousal where they are neither too stale nor too keyed up and anxious to perform their best.
If you are very extroverted, you actually may do better getting more amped up. More introverted athletes often perform better with less arousal since they have more going on in their own heads anyways.
You need to try out both modes to find out which works best for you. During practice, try performing with loud music and amped up. Then, try another practice with a relaxed demeanor, soft music or no music.
Compare which feels best to you and note under which circumstance you perform best.
Simple sport skills like a one rep max deadlift usually require higher levels of arousal. More complex skills–like a double double dismount off the uneven bars–require less arousal to keep your attention on all the important elements of the skill.
You can use your knowledge of your sport, your personality and your environment to determine what state you will perform best in. Then you can adjust your personal arousal level to match your needs.
Harness Anxiety to Help You
Many athletes experience feelings of anxiety and sweaty palms, increased heart rate and upset stomach before a big race or meet. Many athletes feel anxiety is a sign they are going to fail.
However, anxiety is your body’s way of helping you fight to a good outcome. Anxiety is there to help you!
So next time you feel those sweaty palms, realize it is your body’s way of helping you achieve a good outcome.
If you perceive the anxiety as a positive sign that your body is preparing for battle, rather than a sign you are going to fail, you can harness your anxiety for improved performance!
Aim for Success but Don’t Fear Failure
Many athletes are so afraid of failure that they set goals and make plans that help them avoid failure rather than achieve success. They have such a high ego investment in the outcome that they often avoid challenging themselves.
If this is you, it is important to realize how this behavior could sabotage you from taking on bigger challenges and reaching a higher level of success.
You need to stretch your abilities and operate outside of our comfort zone to make progress in sport. That is why it is so important to put yourself in situations where success is not guaranteed! That is how you get to the next level!
Take Ownership of your Training
When you control certain elements of your own training and preparation, you increase your own motivation and desire to excel. Things like choosing your own training time and picking your own competitions will enhance motivation and self-efficacy.
So even if you are working with a coach, make sure you take some responsibility for some elements of your program so that you take a more active role in your own success.
Reinforce Instead of Punish
Positive reinforcement for what you did well is more effective than negative reinforcement for what you did poorly!
So if you really want to take your performance to the next level, focus on the wins instead of beating yourself up about the losses. Positive reinforcement is more likely to help you achieve positive future performances anyway!
Have Fun
Having fun can help you to feel more motivated and make better progress. So make sure you aim to enjoy your training or at least certain elements of it. Having fun can help you increase motivation and help you stick through the plateaus.
Use the Right Cues
Depending on your experience level in your sport, you need different cues to achieve your best performance.
The first phase is called the Cognitive Phase. You are in this phase when you are not very experienced at your activity. During this stage, you want to focus on verbal cues for all the parts of a movement. Frequent feedback and corrections from a coach is helpful.
The second phase is called the Associative Stage. During this stage, you are gaining some more experience with a certain skill but you still are not an expert yet. Quick cues on one or two aspects of a movement can help you to maximize your performance.
The third phase is called the Automatic Stage and this is when you reach expert status. Once you have been practicing a skill or movement long enough, you should keep your mind clear and free from verbal cues. Your body knows what to do! Thinking too much could hinder performance.
Use Relaxation Techniques
If you are feeling stressed before a big workout, race or competition, try out some relaxation techniques.
Progressive muscular relaxation is a tool to reduce muscle tension and improve performance. With this approach, you lie down, focusing on tensing and then relaxing each muscle group, one at a time.
This approach can help you realize how tense you are, so that you can relax and perform your movement smoothly.
Use Positive Self-Talk
Self-talk is a more crucial component to meeting your performance goals than you might realize. Talking positively about yourself, your performance, and speaking kindly to yourself when you make a mistake can help you perform better now and in the future.
So learn to be kinder to yourself! After all, it feels better anyway!
Set SMART Goals
Setting effective goals can help improve motivation and effort by creating the contingency of success.
Effective goals are specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time-based. You should set goals that are possible, but not so easy that you won’t have to work for them.
Short term goals and long term goals should be interdependent. Each small goal should serve as a stepping stone towards the big goal.
Sports Psychology Tips for Better Performance
Using one or more of these 12 sports psychology techniques can help you improve your performance and results. Getting your mind right can go a long way towards helping you achieve your goals!
Please let me know how you like this article in the comments below. Do you use any of these 12 sports psychology tips to improve your performance?
