What does it mean to let go during games? What are you trying to let go of? And is this really needed in order for you to play your best?
In this article, I’m going to discuss what it actually means to let go when you play and how you can use this concept to increase your performance on the field or court.
What Does It Mean to Let Go During Games?
When I use the term letting go within my work, I am referring to the idea of letting go of trying to force or control the outcome. We don’t want to go into a competition trying to control what happens.
Now, I know that might seem strange because getting a certain score or getting a certain stat line is the ultimate reason why you are there. That’s going to help you win the game. It’s going to help you reach the next level and reach your goals within your sport.
But when we think about how this mentality of trying to force or control what happens impacts your performance, we see it turn into unnecessary forcefulness that will become present when you play.
And while you are competing, we want everything to be very natural and athletic. You want to be in the flow state.
There’s no way for you to be in the flow state when you are trying to force things or trying to control the future and control the result.
That’s really what it means to let go — to let go of this forcefulness, let go of trying to control what happens, be fully in the present moment, and allow yourself to play freely.
Why is Letting Go During Games So Difficult?
By no means is letting go an easy thing to do. It’s probably one of the most difficult mentalities or mindsets to adopt as an athlete.
When you’re going into a game, of course you want all of these things to happen. And the worse you’ve been doing recently, the more you will try to force things to turn around.
But when you bring that level of forcefulness into your performance, you’re actually causing yourself to keep underperforming.
This is why you may have found yourself recently or in the past stuck in a slump where you just can’t seem to pull yourself out of the string of bad games.
A lot of that has to do with the fact that the worse you do, the more you end up trying to turn things around by force instead of just allowing yourself to play freely.
When you’re playing well, you trust yourself more. You let go of this need to control, and you end up doing your best.
How to Apply the Idea of Letting Go to Games
As contradictory as it sounds, I have found the most success in helping athletes let go of the result and this need to force things by helping them focus more on what they actually can control when they play.
Now, if you’ve listened to any of my podcast episodes, read any of my articles, or watched any of my YouTube videos, you will have heard me use the term focus on what you can control.
And it’s because I think it’s one of the most important parts of having a strong mental game and using your mindset to help you play better.
When you focus on what you can control, you are giving your mind something to try to control.
Whenever we play with anxiety or we really want to play well, our minds want to control something. And so, the thing that we end up attempting to control is the result.
But we cannot fully control that result.
This turns into pressure, tension, and forcefulness that doesn’t help us when we play.
If we turn that need to control onto the parts of our game that we can actually make sure we do — such as effort, preparation, having good thinking, moving on from mistakes, having a good attitude, being in the correct position, reading the defense well, being aware, or going through your progression — whatever it ends up being for you within your sport, you are, as a byproduct, letting go of the need to control the result.
But you’re still controlling something. You still feel like you are actually controlling something out there. You’re still controlling your performance in terms of the preparation that you’re putting in.
You’re no longer trying to control something that is out of your control, which ends up only hurting you.
That’s one way that you can go about trying to let go of the result and let go when you play. It’s by not letting go of what you can control — but by focusing on that more, while learning to let go of the things that are out of your control.
Being Present Helps You Let Go
Another way that you can work on letting go when you play is by working to be more present.
When you focus on what is 100% within your control, you will naturally become more present. Because for things to be in our control during competition, they have to be taking place in the present moment.
There’s no way for me to control the past mistake or the upcoming play because both of those are not in the present moment.
But I can control my positioning right now — and if I focus on that, it keeps me present. I can control how much effort I’m giving in this current moment, and again, that helps me stay present.
You can also work on adopting more of a present-focused mentality during practice, preparation, and games. When you really center your attention in the present moment, you’ll find that you play in a much more relaxed and natural state.
This is where muscle memory starts to take over. This is where you find yourself more likely to play in the flow state because you’re fully in the moment.
When we learn to let go of the need to control the outcome or the result — or anything that’s out of our control, even what the coach is thinking or whether we’ll be in the lineup the next day — we end up playing so much better because we are more in the moment and allowing ourselves to play freely.
Examples of Athletes Letting Go During Games
To end this idea of learning to let go when you play, I want to give you two examples of athletes I’ve worked with who have done a great job of going from trying to control outcomes to learning to let go.
Example 1: The College Baseball Player
One athlete is a college baseball player who has historically struggled with worrying about what his coach thinks and whether he’ll be in the lineup for the next game.
In the past, he would go into games stressing about how well he needed to do in order to stay in the lineup. His coach chose the lineup heavily based on the most recent game, which caused him to put a tremendous amount of pressure on himself for each at-bat.
As a result, he ended up swinging at bad pitches, hitting with tension, and underperforming — which ironically led to him not being in the lineup.
Through our work together, he learned to let go of this need to control tomorrow or the next day. He focused on being present and grateful that he was in the lineup today, instead of trying to play for tomorrow.
The mantra he lives by now is: Play for today, don’t play for tomorrow.
By doing so, he’s learned to let go of the desire to control the lineup or his performance and, as a result, performs much better.
Example 2: The Swimmer
Another example comes from a swimmer who was really concerned with his time at the end of each race.
Before his events, he experienced a lot of anxiety because he was trying to control whether he’d reduce his time — and he desperately didn’t want to increase it.
That desire to control the time led to anxiety, tension, and stiffness in the water. As a result, he actually swam slower and increased his time.
Through our work, he learned to let go of what the time would be. That allowed him to focus more on his pre-race routine and stay present while swimming — which ultimately led to him decreasing his time more often than not.
The Power of Letting Go When You Play
Both of those examples highlight the power of letting go of the result, letting go of what other people think, and letting go of everything that isn’t 100% within your control.
By learning to be more present and focusing more on what you can control in the moment, you put yourself in the best position to succeed.
So, for yourself, go into competition letting go of the result and the outcome — but not letting go of what you can control.
Focus on what’s in your control, stay in the present moment, and you’ll find yourself playing naturally, freely, and ultimately achieving the results you want.
If you’re interested in learning more about my one-on-one mental coaching program to help you let go of the result, and buld the menatl skills you need to take your game to the next level, click here to schedule a free introductory coaching call, or fill out the form below.
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Thank you for reading and I wish you the best of success in all that you do.
