How to Get Over Performance Anxiety in Sports: 3 Keys for Athletes

If you’re an athlete who performs well in practice but tightens up in games, you’re not alone. Performance anxiety in sports is one of the most common struggles for youth and elite athletes.

You might notice:

• Racing thoughts before competition
• Tightness in your chest or stomach
• Playing “not to mess up” instead of to compete
• Feeling like you’re letting people down

Let's walk through what performance anxiety is, why it shows up, and how mindset coaching for athletes can help you move through it.

What Is Performance Anxiety in Sports?

Performance anxiety is the mix of thoughts, feelings, and body sensations that show up when you care about how you perform. It often sounds like:

• “Don’t mess this up.”
• “Everyone is watching.”
• “If I fail here, it means I’m not good enough.”

A little bit of activation in sports is normal and can even help you perform, but it becomes a problem when the nerves and anxiety gets so strong that it shrinks your game: you play tight, overthink, and stop trusting your training.

Why Performance Anxiety Shows Up

Performance anxiety isn’t usually random. It’s often linked to:

• Fear of failure or letting others down
• Past mistakes or bad games you haven’t fully processed
• High expectations from coaches, parents, or yourself
• Injuries or big changes that shook your confidence
• Stress in other areas of life that you carry into your sport

Coaches and parents might tell you to “just relax” or “be confident” but with mental performance coaching we can look at what’s actually underneath your anxiety and give you mental tools to help you confidently work through your performance anxiety. 

Here’s a few steps to get you started.

Step 1: Name What’s Really Going On

You can’t shift what you won’t name. Before competition, it can help to slow down and ask yourself:

• What am I actually afraid of here?
• What am I making this performance mean about me?
• Where have I felt this feeling before?

Sometimes the fear is less about the sport and more about what you think a bad performance says about your worth, your future, or your identity. Simply putting that into words can reduce some of the intensity. It can move the anxiety from a vague cloud to something you can work with. 

Step 2: Separate Who You Are From How You Perform 

One of the biggest drivers of performance anxiety in sports is tying your entire identity to how you play. When every game feels like a verdict on who you are, of course your body reacts. 

Separating who you are from how you perform is easier said than done. It’s not a one-time mindset shift; it’s something you get to practice over and over. A helpful way to start is to gently shift your attention from outcomes (which you don’t fully control) to what you can control, like:

• Your values (e.g., courage, resilience, positivity)
• Your effort level
• Your attitude and body language
• Your process/technical cues (e.g., “arch on shot,” “quick first step,” “eyes up,” “strong”)
• Your response after mistakes or pressure

These are areas where you can define success in a bigger, more grounded way. Instead of your worth rising and falling with your stats, you’re expanding the ways you can feel proud of how you showed up and competed.

This isn’t about pretending results don’t matter. It’s about giving yourself enough psychological space to compete with more freedom and less fear.

Step 3: Build a Simple Reset You Can Use Under Pressure

Performance anxiety often spikes right before competition or after the first mistake. One error turns into a spiral because your mind jumps to:

• “Here we go again.”
• “Everyone sees me choking.”
• “Coach is going to pull me.”

You need a reset plan for those moments. A few examples:

1. Physical resets
• Exhale slowly and let your lungs naturally fill with air
• Squeeze and release your non-dominant hand for 20-30 seconds.
• Shake out your arms and relax your jaw
2. Mental resets
• Mindfully acknowledge the mistake: “That was one bad play, not the whole game.”
• Remember you’re not alone. Many athletes get nervous or anxious before competition: “It’s normal to feel this way. I can still perform even when I’m not feeling my best.”
• Shift to a single, controllable process cue: “Steady,” “Arch,” “Go,” “Smooth”

Creating a reset routine can help calm the anxiety knowing that you are in control of how you respond to your performance. One mistake doesn’t have to snowball into a bad day.

You Don’t Have to Handle Performance Anxiety Alone

Performance anxiety in sports is not a sign that you’re weak. It’s a sign that you care and that your mind and body are trying to protect you from something that feels risky.

With the right support, you can understand what your anxiety is really trying to protect you from, build tools to navigate big moments with more calm and clarity, and compete more like your confident self instead of an insecure version.

These three steps are just the beginning. In one-on-one sessions we can dive deeper into:

• Leaning into the fear instead of running from it
• Working through deeper roadblocks from past experiences
• Specific breathing and grounding strategies
• Designing a full pre-performance routine
• Reset tools for your specific sport and position

Want Help Working Through Your Performance Anxiety?

If you’re an athlete who:

• Feels strong in practice but anxious in games
• Is tired of overthinking and playing scared
• Wants evidence-informed approaches that actually work

I offer one-on-one mindset coaching for athletes that can help you compete with more confidence, clarity, and resilience. You don’t have to let your performance anxiety hold you back. 

Let's take one step forward together. 

Ashley

[email protected]