Understand The Ups and Downs Of Your Performance
How do you overcome slumps?
When you’ve had a few bad games or performances, do you expect that trend to continue?
Here’s what I see a lot… It starts with a bad game…
Your confidence takes a little hit… You begin to doubt your ability due to a poor performance…
You start playing “not to lose” instead of “playing to win” and you over-think every aspect of your game…
You go in search for ways to break the bad performance cycle but it continues anyway.
All athletes go through performance dips throughout their careers — you can’t be “on” 100% of the time.
First, many athletes talk themselves into slumps by labeling their performance dip a “slump” which intensifies its effects.
The first step in getting out of a slump is stop telling yourself that you are in a slump.
By understanding the ups and downs that are inherent to performance, you can let go of those perfectionist standards and expectations.
The Columbus Blue Jackets are having a rough start to their 2014 NHL season despite reaching the playoffs last year.
Through the first 23 games of the 2014-15 campaign, the Blue Jackets have the worst record in the NHL.
The Blue Jackets are in the midst of a six-game winless stretch, during which they have been shut out twice.
Columbus head coach Nick Foligno feels his team has altered their style of play during their performance dip.
Foligno believes his team is over-thinking their play on the ice and looking for the perfect opportunity to score, rather than just taking shots.
FOLIGNO: “When things are going well, the puck is going at the net. Everyone’s crashing, pucks are bouncing off you and there are pucks that are open and you somehow just bang it in. Right now, we’re trying an extra play because we’re not confident enough to get the puck on net.”
Due to how his team is viewing their win-less stretch, Foligno feels his team has the wrong mindset, which intensifies when they make a mistake or are trailing in a game.
FOLIGNO: “It just seems like we don’t have enough confidence. It sounds stupid, but it’s kind of the thing I notice the most. When we get scored on, it’s like we just deflate. It’s a mental toughness that we need to have and we don’t have it right now.”
Try these tips to recover from a drop-off in performance:
- Tip #1: Every game is a new opportunity for success. A “slump” is a focus on games that have already passed. When you focus on the past, your expectation is that things will remain the same, what’s called an over-generalization.
- Tip#2: Play to your strengths and avoid trying too hard or looking for the perfect play. Trying to do too much or be perfect interferes with the natural flow of your game and does not allow you to trust in what you practice.
Successful athletes have learned to overcome fear, perfectionism, and to perform with trust!
We’ve created The Fearless Athlete Workbook Program to help you do this.
Related Sports Psychology Articles
- Your Mental Game and Performance Slumps
- Break Slumps: How to Get Past a Performance Slump
- Breaking Through Performance Slumps
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