Hello and welcome back to the Raising Elite Competitors podcast. I'm Coach Saylor, a mental performance coach inside the elite competitor, and I am here to bring you today's special mindset tip, which is geared for athletes. This one is for you athletes, and we are going to be talking all about how to rise up in pressure moments that you experience in competition, because let's be honest, we've all been there. We've all been in those. Big moments. It's a big game. It's a big stage, and we either rise up or we crumble and we want to give you the tools to be able to consistently trust your skills and rise up in those pressure moments so that you can be a reliable pressure player. That's what it's all about. So I'm excited to give you some tangible tips today and help you reframe your mindset about pressure. Before we get into today's episode, I want to give a quick shout out to Asha. Asha is in our elite mental game, our proven signature program for girl athletes and their parents. And Asha recently messaged us and she said. We had a game on Tuesday and I was so proud of how I totally owned my spot. Then we played on Thursday and I was really proud of how I did the positive technique. Talking is really helping me, even when I make a mistake, I know it's not me messing up every time because I trust myself to get the next one and I can really lock in for the next rep. So thank you very much for that piece of feedback. Asha, we are so proud of you. This is a huge win for you and congrats on being able to bounce back really quickly. That means that you're truly putting in the work and you can see it pay off, and that's gonna be something that we talk about in today's episode in regards to being a pressure player as well. Being a pressure player. Not being a player who is perfect, but being a player who is adaptable and versatile and can bounce back after mistakes. So thank you so much Asha for messaging us, and we're excited to hear from other athletes inside the elite mental game as well. Okay, let's get into today's tip about. Pressure because we're all gonna be in those pressure moments. It is something that is just going to happen, and we have to be ready for those moments. The first thing that you need to do is actually start to redefine pressure. And something that we like to say is that pressure is a privilege. Pressure is a privilege. It doesn't always feel that way, but it is. When you are in those pressure moments, guess what? You earned it. You worked hard to get to that spot, and so we don't have to view pressure as this big, bad, negative thing. It's really. Not, it is a privilege and it's a great opportunity to be able to rise up and to really trust our skills. So that's gonna be the first quick reframe is just understanding that pressure is a privilege. And the other thing about pressure moments, a lot of times these pressure moments come because we put a lot of expectations on a certain competition, right? Again, we think of it as a bigger stage, like there's higher stakes in that competition. And something that Coach Bri says is, it's just another Turkey dinner, right? It's just another Turkey dinner. And what this means is that you could have Turkey dinner any day of the year. But on Thanksgiving, we somehow make it this like big thing, right? We get all dressed up, we gather the entire family around a table and it's a fancy Turkey dinner, but the reality is it's just another Turkey dinner. You could have that any other time. And so athletes for you, remembering that in those pressure moments, it is just another competition. You don't have to make it out in your head to be something that is so huge because. That's when we start to crumble. That's when we're like, Ooh, I'm not sure that I can actually trust my abilities, like it's this huge thing that I'm up against. It's just another competition. It's just another opportunity for you to go out there and play the sport that you love. So being able to reframe those two things is going to be really important. Knowing that pressure is a privilege and knowing that it's just another competition. It's just another opportunity for you to play your sport. And the other thing is you do not rise up to the occasion. You actually fall to the level of your. Training. And so we want to be really intentional about how we train. So being able to rise up in these pressure moments, so to speak, actually starts in our training. Being able to bring the intensity and make our training, make our practices as game-like as possible, as competition, like as possible, is really going to give you. And extra edge. So in practice, in training, being able to up the intensity, being able to focus on getting really quality reps, being able to play mini games with yourself, maybe keeping stats, sometimes making it as real as possible so that, again, you can trust it. It's like I've been here before. I know exactly what to do. When these moments come, because we're not necessarily rising up in competition, we are falling to the level of our training. So we have to be really sure that our training is a solid foundation. Make sure to be really intentional about how you're training and the intensity and focus that you are bringing and trying to recreate some of those pressure moments. Before they even happen. And that leads me to my next tip for you, create those pressure moments before they even happen. I want you to do some scenario planning and kinda get ahead of the challenges and those moments that might arise for you. In a competition, and so there's a few different ways that you can do this, but what I would recommend is actually getting out like a piece of paper or a journal, your notes app on your phone, and just thinking about an upcoming competition that you have, and writing down some challenges that you might come up against. Just writing down some of those pressure moments that might happen maybe it's something like the score is tied at the very end of the game. Maybe it's something like I am being relied on to take the last shot, whatever comes to mind of what you imagine as a pressure moment that you've experienced in your sport. Just do some pre-planning of like what could happen, what are some of those scenarios that might be challenging, that might have a little bit of a roadblock in the way. And then once you've identified those, you don't need to do a ton of them. I would stick to like three scenarios that might come up for you. I want you to write out how you want to actually respond to those, how you want to behave, what you want your thoughts to be, your body language, what kind of teammate you wanna be. All of those things are going to be important to really build out that response so that you can plan for, not if they're gonna happen, but when they're gonna happen. You're gonna come up against the pressure moments somehow. So being able to pre-plan for those. Scenarios. So identify the scenario and then come up with your response. How do you want to respond in that pressure moment? Another thing that I want you to keep in mind, we call it a hype number in the elite mental game, a hype number is kind of what energy level you need to be at to play your very best. And often we think of it as a pre competition, pre-practice number of. Helping you create your, pre-competition routine, but being able to maintain your hype number is going to be really important for these pressure moments as well, because we do have to have a little bit of stress to actually play our best, which is kind of crazy, but you can probably think about it. Think about when you have competed against a team who you should beat. Right a team that you should be better than. A lot of times we play to their standards, we end up playing lower and it's because we usually didn't have enough stress pushing us. And then there's times when we have too much stress and that's like when we crumble, when we don't really have the skills to overcome that. When you think about your best moments, those have been times where you've probably experienced a little bit of stress, a little bit of pressure, but it's been a good stress. Not all stress is bad. There is actually such a thing as good stress, which is crazy to think about, but you need some stress. Again, these pressure moments, you do need to have a little bit of that stress. You do need to be keeping your hype number in mind and maintaining that level that you want to play at, because that's when peak performance is actually going to happen. When we have some of that stress, some of that intensity, excitement, nerves flowing through us, we can be in that zone and we're gonna be competing. At our best level and some other things I want to remind you of when you're in those moments, these mantras if you will, to take with you. Your self-talk is really going to matter. Like in those pressure moments, it's you and your thoughts, and you get to choose the thoughts that you have in those moments. So instead of being fearful, instead of being scared, instead of doubting yourself, I want you to fill yourself with confidence and power and belief. And so a few of these mantras that I think would be useful in these pressure moments are something like, I was made for this. I was made for this. Right? Doesn't that just fill you with. Belief. Bring it on. Right? Bring it on. That's another one where you're just going head first into this battle. In the pressure moment, bring it on. I can trust my skills. Again, that is just empowering you. I can trust my skills, I can trust my training. And then the last one, I've done this before and I can do it again. Relying on your past experiences. I know that I've put in the work, I know that I've put myself through pressure moments and practice, and I can do it again right now. So those are some quick mantras. As a recap in these pressure moments, I need you to first reframe what pressure actually means. Again, pressure and stress can actually be a good thing. It's a privilege and it does mean that you have the skills to rise up and be sure to make your training, your practices. As competition, like as you can while still being able to foster an environment where you can learn and grow and feel safe to fail and make mistakes, but make it competition, like up the intensity when you're able to. And then remember, it's just another competition. It's just another opportunity for you to go out there and do the sport that you love, and then really focus on building up your belief so that you can reach that peak performance. Tap into your thoughts. All of that is going to matter for you too. Rise up and be the pressure player that you wanna be. Alright, athletes, thanks for tuning in and joining me for this week's episode on the Raising Elite Competitors Podcast. And I will see you next time.