{"id":2567,"date":"2012-05-02T13:14:00","date_gmt":"2012-05-02T13:14:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.peaksports.com\/sports_psychology_blog\/?p=2567"},"modified":"2025-06-12T07:41:24","modified_gmt":"2025-06-12T11:41:24","slug":"when-athletes-are-paralyzed-mentally-by-fear","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.peaksports.com\/sports-psychology-blog\/when-athletes-are-paralyzed-mentally-by-fear\/","title":{"rendered":"When Athletes Are Paralyzed Mentally by Fear"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"600\" height=\"300\" src=\"https:\/\/www.peaksports.com\/sports-psychology-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/fear-of-failure.jpg\" alt=\"Fear of Failure\" class=\"wp-image-6262\" title=\"Sports Performance Anxiety\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.peaksports.com\/sports-psychology-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/fear-of-failure.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.peaksports.com\/sports-psychology-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/fear-of-failure-300x150.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Do_you_Freeze\"><\/span>Do you Freeze? <span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2><div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_82_2 ez-toc-wrap-center counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-transparent ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Article Table of Contents<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" aria-label=\"Toggle Table of Content\"><span class=\"ez-toc-js-icon-con\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #0769bf;color:#0769bf\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #0769bf;color:#0769bf\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/www.peaksports.com\/sports-psychology-blog\/when-athletes-are-paralyzed-mentally-by-fear\/#Do_you_Freeze\" >Do you Freeze?<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/www.peaksports.com\/sports-psychology-blog\/when-athletes-are-paralyzed-mentally-by-fear\/#Related_Sports_Psychology_Articles\" >Related Sports Psychology Articles<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/www.peaksports.com\/sports-psychology-blog\/when-athletes-are-paralyzed-mentally-by-fear\/#The_Fearless_Athlete\" >The Fearless Athlete<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s common in my work as a mental coach to hear athletes talk about the fear of mistakes and the fear of not disappointing a coach of a teammate. Of course, no one wants to miss the last shot to lose a game by one point or miss a winning field goal attempt on the last play of the game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, the fear of making mistakes can paralyze some athletes for an entire game, not just the last moments of the competition when it&#8217;s crunch-time\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>One of the most common fears I hear is athletes who are afraid to let down a teammate or coach. This is just one fear that supports the fear of failure. Here\u2019s an example from a high school athlete that\u2019s scared to disappoint his team:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>\u201cI play high school baseball and have a fear of making mistakes. Every time I\u2019m on the field, I just feel butterflies in my stomach. I put a lot of pressure on myself to perform. I feel that if I make mistakes, I\u2019ll let my teammates and coaches down.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I replied to him saying that he was focusing too much on what others think instead of playing the game. I said: \u201cThe problem is you worry too much about what others think about your game. You have to first let go of what others think and play for yourself, not to make others happy.\u201d<br><a href=\"https:\/\/www.peaksports.com\/sports-insights-archives\/\">Read When Athletes are Paralyzed Mentally by Fear<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-dots\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Related_Sports_Psychology_Articles\"><\/span>Related Sports Psychology Articles<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.peaksports.com\/sports-psychology-blog\/how-to-overcome-the-fear-of-negative-outcomes\/\"><strong>How to Overcome the Fear of Negative Outcomes<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.peaksports.com\/sports-psychology-blog\/overcoming-fear-to-return-to-the-golf-course\/\"><strong>Overcoming Fear to Return to The Golf Course<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.peaksports.com\/sports-psychology-blog\/how-to-help-young-athletes-with-fear-of-failure\/\"><strong>How To Help Young Athletes With Fear of Failure<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p id=\"block-dca36a64-5c8f-4fcf-8dfb-da8bd663e456\">*Subscribe to\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/sports-psychology-podcast-by-peaksports-com\/id152566009\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>The Sports Psychology Podcast<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0on iTunes<br>*Subscribe to <a href=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/show\/0ynyaalKxbnNmsoeL8gF5X?si=8224669de9b3435b\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>The Sports Psychology Podcast<\/strong><\/a> on Spotify<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p id=\"block-370496de-1ed7-41e2-a009-254e9ec866b2\"><strong>Download a&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.peaksports.com\/mental-toughness-report-athletes\/\">free sports psychology report<\/a>&nbsp;to improve your mental game!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p id=\"block-af5321a1-562b-4266-b2e9-068b5b1e1556\"><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.peaksports.com\/sport-psychology-training-athletes\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Learn more about our one-on-one mental game coaching.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-css-opacity is-style-dots\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"The_Fearless_Athlete\"><\/span>The Fearless Athlete <span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"540\" height=\"600\" src=\"https:\/\/www.peaksports.com\/sports-psychology-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/03\/fearless-athlete-large.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-4435\" style=\"width:213px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.peaksports.com\/sports-psychology-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/03\/fearless-athlete-large.jpg 540w, https:\/\/www.peaksports.com\/sports-psychology-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/03\/fearless-athlete-large-270x300.jpg 270w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 540px) 100vw, 540px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>For the last two decades, I\u2019ve been working with athletes and helping them optimize their physical ability by teaching them the secrets of top performing athletes. Now, you too can <strong>learn how to regain that child-like fearless attitude.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Mental toughness is what separates the winner<\/strong> from the loser in any competition. Champion athletes train hard in practice, perform without fear in competition, and trust their skills in crunch-time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The Fearless Athlete program<\/strong> is ideal for any athlete that wants to overcome fear of failure and uncover inhibiting perfectionistic traits; or for any coach or parent who wants to teach athletes to perform with trust and freedom in competition.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"gb-container gb-container-d86f0f1f\">\n\n<a class=\"gb-button gb-button-15746978 gb-button-text\" href=\"https:\/\/www.peaksports.com\/the-fearless-athlete-cd-program\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">GET DETAILS<\/a>\n\n\n\n<a class=\"gb-button gb-button-5e1cf75e gb-button-text\" href=\"https:\/\/shop.peaksports.com\/collections\/the-confident-athlete-series-digital-download\/products\/the-fearless-athlete-digital\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">BUY NOW<\/a>\n\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Do you Freeze? It\u2019s common in my work as a mental coach to hear athletes talk about the fear of mistakes and the fear of not disappointing a coach of a teammate. Of course, no one wants to miss the last shot to lose a game by one point or miss a winning field goal attempt on the &#8230; <a title=\"When Athletes Are Paralyzed Mentally by Fear\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.peaksports.com\/sports-psychology-blog\/when-athletes-are-paralyzed-mentally-by-fear\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about When Athletes Are Paralyzed Mentally by Fear\">Sport Psychology Article&#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6263,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[142,219],"tags":[72,726,727],"class_list":["post-2567","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports-psychology-tips","category-sport-psychology-newsletter","tag-fear-of-failure","tag-fear-of-mistakes","tag-missing-routine-plays"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t<!-- All in One SEO Pro 4.9.5.2 - aioseo.com -->\n\t<meta name=\"description\" content=\"One of the most common fears I hear is athletes are afraid to let down a teammate or coach. 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