The Deadly Sins of Mental Preparation Part 3

The third Deadly Sin that we will look at I think all athletes, including myself, have been guilty of without even knowing it.

Deadly Sin #3
Getting caught up on the whole atmosphere of the game and the experience

I can remember when I was playing little league our coach throughout the season had put emphasis on us never being scored on during a game. We were going into the playoff game against a cross town rival. We were so caught up in the hype of playing against another undefeated team on a college football field that we weren't focused and prepared mentally. Ultimately it cost us the game preventing us from going to the championship bowl game that year.

The atmosphere of playing in the big game such as a state championship, a big tournaments, national golf and tennis tournaments, for example, distracts athletes during the pregame routine. Do you feel additional pressure to perform well in the big game when the hype leading up to the big game causes you stress?

Why do you think the Super Bowl, or the NBA Finals, or the World Series have all that hype built up towards the actual game? The media can jump on all the stories and expose every nugget of information about the players and coaches. If you allow the pregame atmosphere to distract you from your real mission, you will not be completely prepared to compete.

Sometimes it doesn't have to be the big game that gets us caught up, we can get caught up in the moment of playing the game and forget the ultimate goal of the team. Take a look at the NBA playoffs recently with the Chicago Bulls and the Boston Celtics. Both teams could not afford to get caught up in the hard fouls to cost them their chance of advancing the next round even though during the series at times that was the turning factor to the outcome of the game. Another example can be seen when a team comes in and tries to play the pace of their opponent forgetting their game plan and instead of playing their style of play.

Finally, athletes and teams must be mindful to not put additional pressures or define certain games as too important. I tell athletes constantly when consulting to define and treat all the games with importance therefore the athlete will not end up with unwanted/additional stress that can cause them to move further away from their goal which is optimal performance.