Have you ever had the thought, “I really hope I can keep playing this well”?
Maybe it happened after a great start to a game, a great round of golf, or the beginning of a strong season. Things are going well, you’re performing at a high level, and then suddenly that thought enters your mind.
This is something I see frequently in my work as a mental performance coach. Unfortunately, it’s also something that often leads to the exact opposite outcome athletes want. Instead of continuing to play freely and confidently, they begin overthinking, trying too hard, and moving away from the mindset that helped them perform well in the first place.
In this article, I want to explain why that happens and what you can do when you notice yourself falling into that pattern.
Why Good Starts Sometimes Turn into Poor Finishes
A golfer I work with recently experienced this throughout his sophomore season of college golf. Multiple times, he would start a round well and then struggle later in the round. The front nine would be strong, but the back nine would fall apart.
That can be incredibly frustrating because it seems like the opposite should happen. If you’ve built momentum and established a rhythm, it feels natural to assume that good play should continue.
But for many athletes, a strong start creates a new challenge. Once they recognize that they’re playing well, they begin thinking about maintaining that performance. The thought becomes, “I hope I can keep this up.”
The problem is that this thought often leads to overthinking, forcefulness, and increased control. Most importantly, it pulls athletes away from the mentality that led to the successful start in the first place.
At the beginning, they were simply playing. They were focused on their process, present in the moment, and trusting themselves. Then the results started showing up.
Now they have something to live up to.
And they also have something to lose.
As a result, they begin trying to hold on to their success. They start stressing, overthinking, and attempting to control outcomes. In doing so, they move further away from the mindset that helped them perform well.
If you’ve experienced this, you know exactly what it feels like. Early in the game, things seem effortless. You’re reacting naturally and playing freely.
Then at some point, everything changes.
You start trying harder, thinking more, and forcing things. Your swing feels different. Your shot feels different. It can almost feel like you’ve forgotten how to play the way you were playing earlier.
In reality, the biggest change is often your mentality. Once you become aware that you’re playing well and start worrying about continuing that success, you can easily get caught in an overthinking cycle that disrupts your performance.
Tip #1: Remind Yourself That You Don’t Need to Do Anything New
When you notice yourself thinking, “I hope I can keep playing this well,” remind yourself that you do not need to do anything new or special.
What has led to your success up to that point will continue to help you succeed if you trust it.
That may involve your playing style. It may involve your effort level. But more than anything, it usually involves your focus and your thinking.
When athletes are playing well, they are rarely forcing outcomes. They’re typically present, trusting themselves, and allowing their training and instincts to take over. They’re playing freely instead of trying to manufacture success.
If you want to continue playing well, the goal is not to find something extra. The goal is to continue with the same mentality that helped create the success.
So when that thought appears—”I hope I keep this up”—remind yourself that you can continue playing well if you stay consistent with your mindset and your approach. Keep things simple. Trust what has already been working.
Tip #2: Take Responsibility for Playing Well
The second tip is to take responsibility for the fact that you’ve been playing well.
At first, this might sound strange.
But think about what you’re really saying when you think, “I hope I keep this up.” In many cases, that thought suggests that your success has been largely due to luck or chance.
It’s almost as if you’re saying, “I hope the good fortune continues.”
Of course, every sport contains some degree of luck. Golf, baseball, basketball, tennis, and every other sport have moments where things bounce your way.
But if you’ve been playing well over a meaningful period of time—whether that’s the first half of a game, the front nine of a round, or the beginning of a season—there are probably things you’ve been doing consistently that have contributed to that success.
- Recognize those things.
- Acknowledge them.
- Take responsibility for them.
When you do that, you reinforce the first tip. If certain actions, habits, and mental approaches have helped you succeed, then continuing those same things gives you the best chance of continuing your success.
When athletes dismiss good performance as luck, they often become anxious about how to maintain it. They start trying to figure out how to keep the success going.
But when they recognize what has actually contributed to their success, they can focus on continuing those behaviors instead.
Taking responsibility for your success builds confidence because it reminds you that your performance wasn’t completely random. You played a role in creating it.
Tip #3: Stay Present
The third tip is to work on staying present.
This is where many athletes struggle once they start performing well.
Using golf as an example, a player might have an excellent front nine. As they move into the back nine, they begin thinking about their score and what kind of round they could shoot.
Now they’re carrying the weight of the front nine with them.
Instead of focusing on the next shot, they start calculating future outcomes. They think about what a bad hole might do to their score or what a strong finish might mean.
Their attention shifts away from the present moment.
The same thing happens in other sports.
At the beginning of a season, there isn’t much to live up to. You’re simply excited to see what happens. You’re focused on competing and playing.
Then success starts to build.
- You begin thinking about your statistics.
- You begin thinking about how the season might finish.
- You begin thinking about how disappointing it would be if everything fell apart.
Without realizing it, your attention moves away from what you’re doing right now and toward future possibilities.
The more that happens, the harder it becomes to stay fully engaged in the present moment.
But if you can remain focused on what’s happening right now, it doesn’t matter how well you’ve played in the past or how poorly you’ve played in the past. You’re giving yourself the best opportunity to perform well in the current moment.
So when you catch yourself thinking, “I hope I keep this up,” bring yourself back to the present.
- Focus on the shot you’re hitting.
- Focus on the at-bat you’re taking.
- Focus on the play in front of you.
Stay where your performance actually happens.
How These Three Tips Work Together
These three ideas fit together naturally.
- First, you remind yourself that you don’t need to do anything special. You simply need to continue doing what has already helped you succeed.
- Second, you take responsibility for your success. You recognize that your performance wasn’t entirely based on luck and that there are things within your control that have helped create positive results.
- Third, you bring your attention back to the present moment so you can focus on what matters right now instead of worrying about future outcomes.
When you combine these three approaches, you move away from the mindset of trying to protect success and return to the mindset that helped create success in the first place.
Instead of getting caught up in thoughts about whether you’ll keep playing well, you focus on what you can do right now.
And that’s often what helps athletes stay more consistent throughout a game, a round, or an entire season.
Final Thoughts
One of the biggest traps athletes fall into is becoming aware that they’re playing well and then trying to make sure they continue playing well.
The more you try to hold on to success, the easier it becomes to overthink, force outcomes, and move away from the mentality that created the success in the first place.
When you notice yourself thinking, “I hope I can keep this up,” remind yourself that you don’t need to do anything special, take responsibility for the things you’ve done well, and bring your focus back to the present moment.
If you can do that, you’ll give yourself a much better chance of continuing to perform freely and consistently.
If you’re struggling with this pattern, mental performance coaching can help. A lot of the athletes I work with deal with the exact same challenge. They start performing well, become aware of their success, begin putting pressure on themselves to maintain it, and then find themselves overthinking instead of trusting their game.
Through one-on-one coaching, we work on building the mental skills needed to stay present, trust your preparation, manage pressure, and perform more consistently throughout games, rounds, and seasons.
The goal is not to eliminate nerves or force confidence. The goal is to help you develop a mindset that allows you to compete freely and trust yourself regardless of the situation.
Click here to learn more about one-on-one mental performance coaching, or fill out the form below.
Thank you for reading, and I wish you the best of success in all that you do.
