Bouncing Back: How Athletes Overcome Setbacks and Refocus Under Pressure

You make a mistake.

Maybe you miss an easy shot. Maybe you get called for a penalty. Maybe your opponent scores. Maybe your coach says something that gets under your skin.

And then you start thinking about it.

How did I miss that?

I can't believe I just did that.

What if I mess up again?

Before you know it, you're thinking more about the last play than the play that's happening right now.

That's the beginning of a mental spiral.

In this episode of The Mentally Fit Athlete, Lidia Garcia and I talk about how athletes can recognize when they're starting to spiral and, more importantly, what they can do to get themselves back on track.

The key is catching it early.

Don't wait for the red light

One of the ideas we talk about in the episode comes from Ken Ravizza, a pioneer in sport psychology and co-author of Heads-Up Baseball.

He used a traffic light analogy to describe what's happening mentally during competition.

When you're performing well and things are going the way you want, you're in the green light. You're focused, you're responding to what's happening, and you're able to perform without getting stuck in your head.

Then something happens.

That's the yellow light.

Maybe it's a mistake. Maybe it's a bad call from a referee. Maybe your opponent makes a big play. Maybe you're feeling anxious before the competition even starts. It could be something relatively small.

The important thing is that you notice it.

Because if you don't, that yellow light can turn into a red light.

A red light might be getting benched, getting into an argument with a teammate, or becoming so frustrated that you can't focus on what's happening anymore.

And once you're at the red light, it's a lot harder to get yourself back.

So rather than waiting until you're completely spiraling, learn to recognize your yellow lights.

Start with your breathing

When you're getting anxious or frustrated, your body usually knows before your brain does.

Your breathing might get faster or shallower. You might start holding your breath. Your shoulders might tense up. You might feel your heart racing.

These physical changes can make it even harder to think clearly.

That's why breathing is such an important foundation for mental skills.

If you're feeling overly anxious or amped up, try slowing down your breathing and emphasizing a longer exhale. You can also use something like box breathing if that works well for you.

You probably aren't going to stop in the middle of a soccer game and meditate for five minutes.

That's okay.

Look for the natural pauses in your sport.

A baseball player can step out of the batter's box. A runner might have a moment during a longer race to check their breathing and posture. Other sports have their own transitions, breaks, or moments when you can take a breath and reset.

You don't need a huge reset.

Sometimes you just need a breath.

Then, get back to your plan

Once you've gotten yourself back under control, you can return to what you actually want to do.

Ravizza described this as "playing one pitch at a time." The idea can apply to pretty much any sport.

First, get control of yourself.

Second, have a plan.

Third, commit to the plan.

Your plan should be simple.

If you're a baseball player, maybe it's "see the ball, hit the ball."

When I competed in weightlifting, some of my cues were as simple as "strong legs" or "strong back."

That's it.

You don't need a paragraph running through your head while you're trying to perform.

And once you have your plan, you have to trust it.

I've definitely experienced the opposite of this. When I was wrestling in high school, I could spend an entire week working on a particular move. I had a plan. I knew what I wanted to do.

Then the match started, I lost confidence in the plan, and I tried something else.

It usually didn't work.

That's one of the frustrating things about competition. Sometimes we know exactly what we should do, and then pressure makes us abandon it.

Practice getting out of the spiral

This is also why mental skills need to be practiced during practice.

If you only practice your breathing, self-talk, visualization, or other mental skills when you're in the biggest competition of the season, you're asking a lot of yourself.

Practice is actually a great place to work on this.

Practice doesn't have to go perfectly. In fact, it shouldn't.

When you find yourself getting frustrated or getting into your head during practice, pay attention to what's happening.

What triggered it?

What do you notice in your body?

What are you saying to yourself?

What helps?

What makes it worse?

You can even practice visualizing setbacks. Instead of only imagining yourself having the perfect competition, imagine something going wrong. Imagine making a mistake or falling behind. Then imagine yourself taking a breath, returning to your cue, and getting back to your plan.

The goal isn't to guarantee that you'll never spiral.

That's probably not realistic.

The goal is to get better at recognizing the spiral and knowing what to do when it starts.

Eventually, you want these skills to become more automatic. You don't want to be standing there in the middle of a competition thinking, Okay, now I need to remember step one of my breathing technique...

You want to have practiced enough that you can just do it.

Catch the yellow light

Mental toughness doesn't mean that nothing bothers you.

You're going to make mistakes. You're going to get frustrated. You're going to feel nervous. Sometimes you're going to get in your head.

That's part of being an athlete.

The goal is to notice when you're heading in that direction and give yourself a chance to reset before things get worse.

Yellow light. Breathe. Get back to your plan. Commit.

Then get back to competing.

If you're having trouble catching the yellow light, that's something we can work on. In my clinical sport psychology work, I help athletes understand what's happening when they get anxious, frustrated, or stuck in their heads, and then develop practical ways to respond without letting one mistake turn into an entire bad performance. I work with athletes throughout Los Angeles, Long Beach, and the South Bay, as well as throughout California through telehealth. You can learn more about my work with Los Angeles athletes, athletes in Long Beach, and athletes in the South Bay. If you're not sure whether working with a sport psychologist is right for you, you can also schedule a free consultation