{"id":2967,"date":"2013-07-17T15:28:38","date_gmt":"2013-07-17T15:28:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.peaksports.com\/sports_psychology_blog\/?p=2967"},"modified":"2025-06-12T05:59:32","modified_gmt":"2025-06-12T09:59:32","slug":"4-tips-for-smart-athletes-over-analyze-in-competition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.peaksports.com\/sports-psychology-blog\/4-tips-for-smart-athletes-over-analyze-in-competition\/","title":{"rendered":"4 Tips for Smart Athletes Who Over Analyze in Competition"},"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\/2013\/07\/softball-over-analyze.jpg\" alt=\"Over Analyzing in Competition\" class=\"wp-image-6148\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.peaksports.com\/sports-psychology-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/softball-over-analyze.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.peaksports.com\/sports-psychology-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/softball-over-analyze-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=\"Over_Thinking_During_Competition\"><\/span>Over Thinking During Competition<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\/4-tips-for-smart-athletes-over-analyze-in-competition\/#Over_Thinking_During_Competition\" >Over Thinking During Competition<\/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\/4-tips-for-smart-athletes-over-analyze-in-competition\/#Here_a_recent_question_from_a_sports_parent_that_highlights_the_issue\" >Here a recent question from a sports parent that highlights the issue:<\/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\/4-tips-for-smart-athletes-over-analyze-in-competition\/#4_tips_to_quiet_the_mind_in_competition\" >4 tips to quiet the mind in competition:<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/www.peaksports.com\/sports-psychology-blog\/4-tips-for-smart-athletes-over-analyze-in-competition\/#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-5\" href=\"https:\/\/www.peaksports.com\/sports-psychology-blog\/4-tips-for-smart-athletes-over-analyze-in-competition\/#The_Fearless_Athlete\" >The Fearless Athlete<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n\n\n\n\n<p>Does being a smart athlete help you (or your players) perform better in competition?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>What do I mean by smart? You can consider two types of smarts for athletes: (1) Ability to critically analyze, and (2) game intelligence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You want #2 smarts: the ability to understand your sport and apply tactics and strategies to be an intelligent player, such as to know what play to run and when.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As for #1, the ability to critically analyze can be both helpful and harmful to your performance. The good news, smart athletes can excel in learning and practice situations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The bad news, smart athletes can over think or over analyze in competition if they don\u2019t quiet this part of their minds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Here_a_recent_question_from_a_sports_parent_that_highlights_the_issue\"><\/span>Here a recent question from a sports parent that highlights the issue:<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cMy daughter, Lauren, is about to start college athletics in a few weeks. Her major problem: She is incredibly smart and overthinks a lot. One well-meaning comment from a fan or coach will get her thinking of mechanics or overanalyzing again in the middle of the game. Therefore in practice she does amazing, but put into the game situation she starts the over analysis. How can she stop overthinking her game?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Why do smart athletes sabotage their performance by over thinking?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>First, this is a characteristic we see with athletes who have some perfectionist tendencies. They think trying to be perfect is the best way to perform well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Second, if this sounds like you, you try super hard to perform well. Trying hard includes thinking too much about how to perform. You don\u2019t trust your athletic ability honed through practice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Many of the athletes I work with are too serious about competition, \u201cThis is important now, make sure you do everything right and not make any mistakes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"4_tips_to_quiet_the_mind_in_competition\"><\/span>4 tips to quiet the mind in competition:<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>1. Remind yourself or your athletes that practice is complete at the start of competition. Rely on what you have already learned in practice. Stop \u201cpracticing\u201d your mechanics in competition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>2. Adopt a functional mindset instead a trying to be perfect. This is supper important for perfectionists that think they have to be perfect in competition. A functional mindset is what tennis coach, Brad Gilbert, calls winning ugly\u2014Just get the job done and don\u2019t worry about how it looks or feels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>3. Avoid \u201cfixing\u201d what may not be broken. Instead of analyzing what went wrong on the last mistake and how to fix it\u2014during competition\u2014move on to the next play, move, or shot and trust your ability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>4. See the ball\u2014hit the ball. We use this saying for softball and baseball players who tend to overthink. React to the input from your eyes. Simplify the number of cues you need to perform. Don\u2019t think about every single tip your coach has told you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you enjoy reading my mental game tips, please forward this email to others athletes and coaches who would appreciate it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The top CD program for trusting your skills in competition is <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.peaksports.com\/the-fearless-athlete-cd-program\/\" title=\"The Fearless Athlete\">The Fearless Athlete<\/a>.<\/strong><\/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-win-close-competitions\/\"><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.peaksports.com\/sports-psychology-blog\/how-over-thinking-sabotages-athletes-performance\/\"><strong>How Over Thinking Sabotages Athletes\u2019 Performance<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.peaksports.com\/sports-psychology-blog\/how-to-stop-overthinking-in-competition\/\"><strong>How to Stop Overthinking in Competition<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.peaksports.com\/sports-psychology-blog\/how-to-overcome-what-if-thinking\/\"><strong>How to Overcome \u201cWhat-If\u201d Thinking<\/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>Over Thinking During Competition Does being a smart athlete help you (or your players) perform better in competition? What do I mean by smart? You can consider two types of smarts for athletes: (1) Ability to critically analyze, and (2) game intelligence. You want #2 smarts: the ability to understand your sport and apply tactics and strategies to &#8230; <a title=\"4 Tips for Smart Athletes Who Over Analyze in Competition\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.peaksports.com\/sports-psychology-blog\/4-tips-for-smart-athletes-over-analyze-in-competition\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about 4 Tips for Smart Athletes Who Over Analyze in Competition\">Sport Psychology Article&#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6150,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[142,239],"tags":[324,501],"class_list":["post-2967","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports-psychology-tips","category-smart-athletes","tag-focus-in-sports","tag-overthinking-in-sports"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t<!-- All in One SEO Pro 4.9.5.2 - aioseo.com -->\n\t<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Why do smart athletes sabotage their performance by over thinking? 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sports.\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.peaksports.com\\\/sports-psychology-blog\\\/\",\"email\":\"coach@peaksports.com\",\"telephone\":\"+14079091700\",\"foundingDate\":\"1996-08-01\",\"numberOfEmployees\":{\"@type\":\"QuantitativeValue\",\"value\":5},\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.peaksports.com\\\/sports-psychology-blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/06\\\/cropped-2022-Logo-Ball-Blue.jpg\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.peaksports.com\\\/sports-psychology-blog\\\/4-tips-for-smart-athletes-over-analyze-in-competition\\\/#organizationLogo\",\"width\":512,\"height\":512,\"caption\":\"Sports Psychology for 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