Athletes, let me tell you something about my best tryouts as an athlete. It wasn't the ones where I had the most to prove. It wasn't necessarily the ones where I trained the hardest leading up to it, or had the most experience in the gym. My best tryouts were the ones where I showed up, I forgot about the outcome, and I just played. I played the sport that I love every single day And my worst tryouts, those were the ones where I was already walking in trying to convince everyone, including myself, that I belonged there. And here's what I know after coaching athletes through their tryouts. Tryouts are not just a physical test, they're a mental one, and most athletes are completely unprepared for that part. Today, I am giving you three mental training tips that you can use before tryouts to actually show up as your best self, not the nervous, overanalyzing, comparing yourself to everyone version, the version that actually plays the way that you're capable of playing. So let's get into it. If you do not know me yet, my name is Coach Saylor, and I'm a mental performance coach and former dual-sport college athlete, and I work with girl athletes every single day on the mental side of their game inside of The Elite Mental Game. This is the stuff that your coach probably isn't teaching you in practice, but it really does matter just as much as your skills. Here's what happens for most athletes going into tryouts. You care a lot. You really want to make this team. Maybe it's a team that you've been working towards for years, or maybe it's just a new level, and you're not really sure that you're ready, the stakes feel really high. And because the stakes feel high, the nerves start to kick in, which is completely normal, by the way. Here's where it starts to go sideways. Those nerves that you have, they start to convince you of things that are not even true. You start comparing yourself to every other athlete in the room. You start overthinking every touch, every rep, every moment that you might be getting evaluated on. And all of the mental noise, it just pulls you completely out of your game, and you end up playing tighter than you practice. You second-guess decisions that you'd normally just make on an instinct. And the version of you that shows up in that tryout is not actually the version that coaches have been watching all season. You hesitate, you start to doubt yourself, and you're not trusting your skills. This is exactly the kind of thing that we work on inside of The Elite Mental Game. This is our mental training program for athletes. And this is because the mental piece doesn't just show up in games. It shows up in these high-stake moments, just like the ones that you'll experience in tryouts. And here's what the research backs up. A study found that athletes who focus on outcome goals, like, "I need to make this team," perform significantly worse under pressure than athletes who focus on what's called process goals, things like, "I'm going to play my game today." The mental focus piece is not optional. It's actually the thing that is going to separate you from others during tryouts. So let's talk about what you can do instead of focusing on the outcome and really shifting to prioritize your mental game Tip number one is to reframe what tryouts actually are. Most athletes are walking into tryouts thinking, "This is a test that I have to pass." And framing it in that way puts you immediately in this kind of like scarcity mindset, like there's not enough room and you have to earn your right to be there. Here's the reframe. Tryouts are not a test. They are a showcase, and that difference really matters. A test means that you could fail a showcase means that you're there to show what you already have, to let the skills shine through. You've put in the work, you've been to practice, you've been training, and tryouts are just the moment where you get to let that work really be seen. So instead of walking into tryouts thinking, "I hope I'm good enough," I want you to walk in thinking, "I get to show what I've built. I have this strong foundation, and I can trust that." And that one mental shift changes your entire posture in that room. You are going to show up differently. You stop playing scared, and you start playing freely. And playing free is what coaches want to see. They don't need you to be perfect. You do not have to be a perfect athlete. This is one of those core mental training shifts that we teach inside of The Elite Mental Game, away from I have to perform into I get to play. And it sounds very simple, but it really does change everything about how you move and compete and perform. So make sure you write that one down, making that small mental shift away from the have to into the get to, and really experiencing that freedom and the love of the game. If you want to know more about the mental game and the kind of competitor that you already are, we actually have a free quiz, and that tells you about your competitor style. And it's super eye-opening, especially if you're going into high-stakes moments like tryouts. So the link for that competitor style quiz is in the description here. Go take it after you finish this video, and you can find out if you are a pressure player, a self-motivated grinder, or a comeback player. All right, back into it. Tip number two, I want you to use visualization in the days before tryouts, and I'm talking about a very specific kind of visualization, not the like imagine everything is going to go perfectly kind, right? We've already established that coaches don't need you to be the perfect athlete. So not picturing yourself making every single play flawlessly because the thing is, that kind of visualization actually sets you up to be more rattled when something maybe goes wrong. It's not an if you make a mistake, it's a when you make a mistake, and being prepared for that. So the visualization that actually works is replaying a time in your mind that you have already played well in your sport. Think back to a game, a practice, a competition, a moment where you were absolutely locked in, where things felt natural and effortless and you were just in it. Maybe it was a practice where you couldn't miss. Maybe it was a game where everything clicked all at once. Whatever your version of that is, that's what I want you to play back in your head. Here's how to actually do it. Okay? In the days leading up to tryouts, I want you to find five to 10 minutes of quiet time, and you're going to close your eyes. You're going to bring up that memory, that moment, that clip of when you were playing your best. And really go into the details, not just what happened, but what it felt like. What did your body feel like when you were moving well? What did your mind feel like when you were confident? What sounds were you around? What were you focused on? Really see what you would see, hear what you would hear, feel what you would feel as if you were back in that moment. You're not faking your confidence, right? You're reminding your brain that this feeling already exists in you. You've done it before. You're capable of it, and you're going into tryouts to access it again, Think of it kind of like giving your brain a highlight reel to pull from. So instead of walking in fresh with nothing but nerves, you walk in already warmed up mentally, like you've been in this type of a situation before. Because the reality is you probably have been in a trial or a high-stakes pressure situation, and you can lean on those past experiences where you have been confident and playing freely and trusting yourself. And so this visualization is one of the mental training tools that we go really deep inside of The Elite Mental Game, is visualizing a skill. Just like any skill, and the more that you practice it, the more powerful it's going to get. Even doing it a few days before tryouts is going to make a real difference. So do this, like, the night before, the morning of, even in the car ride on the way there. The more that you replay that version of yourself that's playing her very best, the easier it is to access that when it counts And so tip number three, okay, this one's a very big one, is to focus on your strengths, not the rest of the room. Okay? Comparison is one of the biggest confidence killers that I see in athletes at tryouts. You walk in, you look around, and suddenly you're ranking everybody. "She's faster than me. She has more experience. She trained with a better club program." And here's what's wild about the comparison. It almost never goes in your favor because you're comparing your insides to everyone else's outsides really, right? You know every doubt that you have, every mistake that you've made in the last practice or training session, every area that you're still working to improve, but you don't know theirs. And so you're playing this comparison game that you literally cannot win. And here's what I want you to do instead when you catch yourself going down this comparison trap, this comparison spiral. Before you walk into that gym, name three things that you are really good at. Not like, "I'm okay at it." Things that you're actually really good at, your strengths as an athlete. And maybe it's your competitiveness. Maybe it's your footwork. It's how hard you work, or how you communicate, how well you read the game. Whatever it is, those are going to be your anchors. And it might take you a second, and that's okay. As an athlete, we tend to pick on ourselves and only focus on our weaknesses. So it might take you a second to think about these strengths, but that's when you really have to lean into those things because when the comparison creeps in during tryouts, it will, you need to come back to those three things. Come up with those strengths, those anchors ahead of time, not necessarily to convince yourself that you're a better athlete than someone else, but to redirect your focus back to your own game, what you bring, what you do well. And this is actually connected to that quiz I was talking about earlier, that elite competitor style quiz, so understanding the specific way that you compete best because not every athlete performs and competes the exact same way. And knowing your style gives you a huge mental edge in moments like tryouts Coaches are not looking for the most perfect athlete in the room. They're looking for the athletes who know that they are there and can play with that conviction and that confidence. That athlete is always going to stand out. So now let's bring it home, tie it all together. So the three mental training tips before tryouts. Number one, reframe what tryouts are. It's not a test that you pass or fail. It's a showcase of the work that you've already done, that you've already put in. So walk in to show what you've built. Number two, use visualization leading up to tryouts. Replay a past performance where you were playing your best, and let your brain remember that highlight moment, that version of you that already exists. And number three, focus on your strengths, not the room. Name those three things that you do well and keep coming back to them when that comparison tries to take over. And if this helped you in some way, hit subscribe. Share this with a teammate, a friend. And we post mental game tips for athletes every week here, and I don't want you to miss any of them. So stay in the loop, stay in our community. We would love to continue supporting you as you enter your tryout season and especially going into the next season a little bit stronger. And here's something I want you to do before tryouts. Go to that competitor style quiz. Click on the link, and it is going to tell you exactly what kind of competitor you are, your strengths, how you are wired to perform, and you can start to use those things to your advantage. It's free. It just takes a few minutes to understand and learn what your competitor style is. And going into tryouts knowing those things is going to give you a mental edge. So link is in the description for that. Athletes, you have got this. Go show them what you are built for and get after it in tryouts. We'll see you next time