Do You Do Better in Practice Than in Competition - Advice for Athletes During the Coronavirus Crisis

Many athletes struggle with the incredibly frustrating problem of consistently performing better in practice, when it doesn't count, than in competition. The reason for this is because they make a very common concentration mistake both before and during their performances. They allow their focus to go to outcome and what's at stake and away from the flow of the action in the "NOW," one moment at a time.
These are Unprecedented and Scary Times. As Sports Performance Consultants, we’re here to help athletes, coaches and parents manage this incredible stress and help them stay calm, motivated and mentally tough!
Dr. Goldberg is known for his one-on-one coaching sessions, (over Skype, FaceTime or Zoom), with athletes worldwide. He specializes in helping athletes overcome sports fears & blocks, snap out of slumps, and perform to their potential.
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Dr. Alan Goldberg, Sports Performance Consultant
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[@m11w888]

Wow this is exactly my headspace in football matches, in training I know I'm not good so I put the pressure of and enjoy in the moment to get good to improve my skills, hence I play with freedom and seem to improve a lot, in a match I fumble I get tense/nervous and play even worse or just bland. It's because in the match I'm thinking I've got to get the ball, I need to score, I need to play better and put not just a high expectation but too much pressure on myself. Wow thankyou for this video I will put this video into practice right away

[@Nikolai1]

Amazing advice. You are a lifesaver, Dr. Goldberg.

[@TheCompetitivedge]

Thanks so much and glad you're finding this info helpful!

[@davidhowcroft4703]

Great advice! Makes much more sense since I suffer from this problem myself in competition and practise.

[@Jitender448]

Thank a lot @dr. Goldberg. You r doing wonderful job for parents like us who are unable to pay for such kind of sports consultancy for my kids. My daughter & son are playing badminton from last 3years now they are 10 & 12year & both are doing good, but from last few months I think my son feel pressure in tournament because of my reaction. This video is game changer for me 🙏👏🍻

[@MD-uu5nt]

Hi Dr. Goldberg. I really appreciate this video and all of your videos. I find that I have this nervousness you talk about here, not only when I am in competition but even when I am with my friends. My sport is mountain biking and I have reached a bit of a low point after 6-7 years of competing. I find I am totally tight and I really don't know where to start. I have had a few stand out results but by and large I have under performed, sometimes by a staggering amount. I know I have some top notch skills but I feel I can't access them at all anymore. It's very distressing after spending the best part of a decade trying to improve. I feel like I am back to where I was when I just started. I don't even enjoy it for fun at the moment. I'm thinking I need a break from the sport but I just wish I felt the way I used to about it.

[@TheCompetitivedge]

Much of what you describe here is largely driven by having the wrong focus of concentration both before and during practice and competitions. When you focus on the wrong things, you'll get nervous, physically tighten up, lose your confidence and then, as a result, underperform. You need to learn to become aware of the concentration differences between your best and worst practices/competitions. When you look at these side by side, you'll probably find that when you struggle performance wise, it's because you're over thinking and focusing either on results/outcome or who you're racing against. When you look at your best performances, you'll find that your focus is virtually devoid of thoughts and instead on the feel of what you're doing in the moment, moment by moment! When you focus on what YOU are doing in the "NOW," you'll stay calm, remain physically loose, have access to your confidence and as a result, perform to your potential. What this means is that you need to do some systematic work on this part of your racing. I can tell you what you need to do, but you really need to learn how and practice these skills. I might recommend a brand new program that I've just produced called, Performing Like A Champion - From Performance Blocks To Performance Breakthroughs. It's a 19 track audio set and track by track guidebook that will help you understand what you're currently doing wrong, what you need to do to correct those mental mistakes and calm your nervous system down, and then teach you HOW to do this. The program has not yet been posted on my site so if you're interested, give me a call at 413 549 1085 and I can explain it further and help you order it if you were so inclined!

[@MD-uu5nt]

@@TheCompetitivedge hi Dr. Goldberg. I appreciate you taking the time to reply to me. What you are saying makes a lot of sense, I probably have not put the time into changing my thought patterns before now, but in the last week or so I have noticed how negative my thinking could be. I previously tried lots of positive thinking but I never found it had the desired effect as it would not overcome my nervousness. I am currently reading two books Learned Optimism by Martin Seligman and It takes what it takes by Trevor Moawad. Both of these are much more focussed on eliminating negative thinking which I am finding much more effective. I will keep an eye out for your course on the website.

[@TheCompetitivedge]

Keep in mind that trying to replace negative thinking with positive thoughts to calm your nervous system down rarely works! Both negative thinking and positive thinking are still thinking! Thinking distracts our focus from what's important and actually jacks up our nervous system! The skill you need to learn to develop is to learn to let your thoughts go when they arise, (they're absolutely normal, even the negative ones!) and distract yourself from them by focusing on what you are doing in that moment. We don't want to engage the negative thoughts (that is listen to them, believe them, fight with them, try to force them away, etc.). Instead, we want to be aware that right now our focus is on our thinking and then we want to quickly reset our focus on what we are doing in that moment. For you, in your sport, that would mean focusing more on the terrain immediately in front of you and on what you're doing in that moment on the bike. This does not involve thinking, but instead involves "seeing and reacting." That is, seeing what's in front of you moment by moment and then instinctively reacting to it. This takes no time. It's just a product of you staying focused on what you're doing moment by moment on the bike and your "read" of the terrain.

[@zhaoyanzi]

Very helpful information Dr. thank you very much. I wonder if you could make a video on how to bring up motivation for young athlete. I have a 11 year old son, he loves playing tennis competitively, but when coming to fitness training or practice only serving, he says it’s boring, reluctant to do them. I don’t know how to get his self motivation out of him. When talking about future goals or dreams in tennis, he doesn’t want to talk about it either.

[@alfinavais7357]

Dear coach Goldberg, what you are saying makes a lot of sense! But, then, it’s really hard honestly to always stay in the now, to not lose our focus or not get distracted and tempted by goals or outcome in the mid of competition. Is there anything we can do in our practice to train our mental muscle to handle all those waves inside our head, coach? Is there any specific training for that..🤔? I really appreciate you for sharing, stay safe coach..!🙏

[@TheCompetitivedge]

Tary, Staying in the now and "resetting each and every time you drift is a learned skill and with practice, you can train this skill into your muscle memory. There are several ways that you can learn to strengthen this and other mental muscles. One is to go thru my channel and look up the videos related to concentration. Also you can go on my site, competitivedge.com and if you go thru my blog, you will also find other exercises to train concentration and other mental skills. The other thing I'd recommend would be to work with one of my mental toughness training programs which usually consist of an audio and PDF guidebook. Depending upon your sport, you will fine some very easy to work with programs that can help you develop and strengthen your mental muscles!

[@notsok1415]

I love the advice on staying in the present during games, and not brining your goals into them. Does anyone know any strategies though on how to do this? Most of the time I try not to overthink and put pressure on myself, but I can't get any my thoughts to shut up. Any strategies?

[@Jotaro95]

Great Video i played Basketball for 8 Years every time we play somewhere far away from our City and my Family not cant come to look the game i was like the best 3point shooter 10 shots 8 go in but when we play in our Hometown from 10 just 2 go in

[@moussamounir1909]

as a coach I like see my goals of training session in the game. what do you think? ?

[@Anascr13]

Hi there Dr, love your video. how could we get in contact?

[@Anascr13]

I am on the urge of becoming a pro with scouts and trials coming very soon. Need some help somethings i’d like to share

[@romaaf9954]

Hello. That is a great video. Can you recommend or direct me somewhere. What mental advice can you recommend for youth 14 y.old. Training well but doesn't translate to a game as yet. Still learning skills and the sport. Thanks in advance