What techniques actually reduce sports performance anxiety?
As a mental performance coach, I work with a lot of athletes who are dealing with sports anxiety. It’s probably the most common mental game challenge that I help with.
So, what I want to do in this article is break down some different techniques that I’ve seen be useful in reducing sports anxiety within athletes.
In-the-Moment vs. Long-Term Techniques
We’re going to break these techniques into two different categories:
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In-the-moment techniques
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Long-term anxiety management techniques
The four most effective in-the-moment techniques I’ve found include:
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Acceptance
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Breathing
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Self-talk
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Goal Setting
And for long-term work, I’ll share two powerful strategies:
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Mindfulness meditation
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Visualization
In-the-Moment Techniques for Sports Anxiety
1. Acceptance
When we try to fight our anxiety in the moment, we only make it worse.
For example, when I was playing college baseball, I got incredibly anxious before every game, during games, and even during practice. Most of my anxiety came from worrying about what coach was thinking and whether or not I would make a mistake.
Because I knew how I typically played when I got anxious—which was never very good—I quickly grew scared of my anxiety. In other words, I would get anxious about being anxious.
As soon as I noticed that feeling swelling up within me, I panicked. I would fixate on the anxiety and think to myself, I can’t feel this way. I’m going to play poorly if I do. Then I would try to force it away.
All I was doing back then was creating more anxiety and causing it to grow worse because I was resisting it and focusing on it.
Instead, I’ve learned it’s important to accept how we feel in the moment. That doesn’t mean we say, I won’t do anything to reduce my anxiety. But we have to understand what actually reduces anxiety—and it’s never fixating on the anxiety itself.
To reduce anxiety, we have to change our thinking, calm our mind, and be present. None of that happens if we’re caught up in the fact we’re anxious and projecting into the future about how poorly we’ll play.
So, acceptance means you accept in the moment that you feel the way you do. This involves talking to yourself with phrases like:
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I accept my anxiety.
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It’s okay, I feel this way.
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I can play well even though I’m anxious.
I share acceptance first because it’s the foundation of any in-the-moment technique. There’s no moving past anxiety as long as we’re resisting it.
2. Breathing
Breathing helps us be present. And whenever you’re performing—whether in a small game or a big game—the goal should always be to be present.
When you’re present, you perform your best. You get into that flow state.
But when we’re anxious, we aren’t present. We’re worrying about the future: our stats, what coach will think, whether we’ll disappoint our parents.
Focusing on your breathing brings you into the present and reduces anxiety.
One simple exercise is count breathing. Breathe in for a count of four, out for a count of four. Unlike box breathing, there’s no breath-holding—it’s continuous and rhythmic.
This helps in two ways:
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Focusing on the numbers keeps you present.
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Rhythmic breathing calms your nerves and counters the physical symptoms of anxiety.
3. Self-Talk
I already mentioned self-talk when discussing acceptance, because in order to accept anxiety we must talk to ourselves. But self-talk also builds confidence and calms us down.
Think about how you’d talk to a teammate or sibling if they told you they were anxious. You wouldn’t panic and say, You can’t feel that way! Instead, you’d encourage them: It’s okay. Just focus on what you can control. You’re going to play well.
But how often do you talk to yourself like that when you’re anxious?
When we control our self-talk, we control our attention. Anxiety thrives when our attention is in the future—fixated on stats, outcomes, or mistakes.
Instead, say things like:
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I know I can play well today.
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I just need to focus on my goals.
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I’ll play my hardest—it’s all going to be okay.
This shifts your focus, calms you down, and builds confidence.
4. Goal Setting (Controllable Goals)
Whenever we’re anxious, we’re usually focused on things outside our control—coach’s opinion, teammates’ opinions, winning or losing, mistakes that might happen.
Anxiety is fueled by this need to control the outcome. That’s why controllable goals are so powerful.
Controllable goals are simple, process-focused actions, like:
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Giving full effort
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Calling for the ball
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Watching the ball into your hands as a receiver
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Staying locked in on your hitting mechanics
I recently worked with a wide receiver who struggled with pre-snap anxiety. We focused on two controllable goals: his route and watching the ball into his hands. He ended up having his best game of the year.
Controllable goals reduce anxiety because they give your mind something productive to focus on in the present moment.
Long-Term Techniques
1. Mindfulness Meditation
Mindfulness meditation trains your brain to be present. While it has many benefits, one of the best for athletes is this ability to calm the mind and focus on the present moment.
Games are full of distractions, and if you deal with anxiety, staying present is especially hard. But consistent mindfulness practice makes it easier to notice when you’re worrying about the future, let it go, and return to the present.
Over weeks, months, and years, mindfulness helps your mind naturally become calmer and less reactive to anxiety triggers.
2. Visualization
Confidence reduces anxiety because when you trust yourself, you don’t need to control outcomes. Visualization builds this trust.
Visualization is a sport psychology technique where you mentally rehearse your performance. Start with the moments or skills that trigger the most anxiety.
For example, the wide receiver I mentioned visualizes running routes and catching passes throughout the week. A tennis player might visualize serving. A swimmer might visualize racing.
The more consistently you practice visualization, the more confidence you’ll build. And the more confident you are, the less anxious you’ll feel.
Putting It All Together
Those are six techniques you can use to reduce sports performance anxiety:
In-the-moment:
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Acceptance
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Breathing
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Self-talk
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Goal setting
Long-term:
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Mindfulness meditation
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Visualization
If you’re serious about reducing your anxiety, combine both approaches. Use in-the-moment tools during games, but also train your mind long-term with mindfulness and visualization.
The less anxious you are, the more confident you’ll play—and the better you’ll perform.
Final Thoughts
If you’d like more personalized help, I offer a 12-week one-on-one mental performance coaching program to help athletes manage anxiety and build confidence.
I also have an online course, The Confident Competitor Academy, designed to take you from playing with fear to playing with freedom and confidence.
Whether you work with me, take the course, or start practicing these techniques on your own, I encourage you to begin today.
Because the less anxious you are, the more confident you’ll play—and the better you’ll perform.
Thank you for reading and I wish you the best of success in all that you do.
