MANAGING PRESSURE IS A SKILL. SO WHY DON’T WE TRAIN IT MORE?
- Julie Jones
- May 26
- 6 min read
I LOVE championship season, no matter the sport!
I love watching people celebrate. I love the tears, watching grown men and women jump with joy like little kids, the relief, the parents in the stands, the years of work finally paying off. There is something powerful about watching people achieve something that deeply matters to them.
And honestly, while I do not enjoy watching people struggle, I am equally fascinated by the moments when pressure shows up and emotions spill over. Not because I enjoy watching failure or heartbreak, but because every one of us understands those feelings.
We’ve all felt pressure. We’ve all tightened up. We’ve all worried about outcomes. We’ve all feared disappointing ourselves or others. We’ve all watched something important suddenly feel impossible…scary…uncertain!
That is part of being human.
And pressure is not just part of sports. It is part of everything we care deeply about, leadership, parenting, relationships, careers, presentations, interviews and performances of all kinds.
I was reminded of this recently while talking with a Coach of the Year whose team had an incredible season. They won. They grew. They accomplished a great deal. But when the conference tournament arrived, the pressure changed them. The freedom they played with during the season tightened. The emotions became bigger. The execution became less consistent.
And like great coaches do, she was not looking to blame athletes or criticize effort.
She simply wants to help her team take the next step toward becoming who they are capable of becoming. (So pumped to work with her team!!!!)
That conversation immediately took me back to last week’s Tip about emotional control and how difficult moments physically change us.
Frustration tightens muscles. Attention shifts away from the task. Breathing changes. Timing changes. Decision-making changes. The body becomes more protective and less free.
Pressure works much the same way.
And if we are honest, this is one of the biggest challenges in performance today!!
Athletes spend thousands of hours training physically, technically and tactically. But many spend very little intentional time training themselves to function effectively when their nervous system becomes activated under pressure.
But if we want to get to the top…pressure is going to follow us… or maybe it leads us…ALL THE WAY!
Let’s talk about the championships of championships in golf…the Masters. The coolest thing to come out of it (in my opinion anyway) wasn’t Rory McIlroy’s win…it was his heart rate!
Rory McIlroy shared WHOOP data from the Masters showing dramatic heart rate spikes during critical moments of the tournament. Think about that for a second. One of the greatest golfers in the world was still physiologically activated in the biggest moments.
Sometimes we mistakenly believe pressure means something is wrong.
It doesn’t.
Elevated heart rate, adrenaline and emotional intensity are not signs of weakness. They are signs that something matters.
On the 18th tee during the final round, Rory’s heart rate was around 135 beats per minute. During the winning putt, it dropped significantly, then bounced up to 150 as he celebrated. How fun!
This proves that elite performers do not avoid or never feel pressure. Elite performers learn to function inside it.
Pressure is not weakness. Pressure is activation.
The body speeds up. Attention changes. Thoughts become louder. Muscles tighten. Breathing changes. Decision-making can narrow.
This is not imaginary. It is physiology.
Research shows that pressure changes how athletes process information, control attention and execute movement. Under stress, the brain often shifts resources toward threat detection and self-monitoring. Working memory becomes overloaded. Attention can narrow too much or become distracted. Automatic movements can become overcontrolled.
Dr. Sian Beilock found that pressure-filled situations often cause performers to consciously monitor skills that normally operate automatically. In other words, athletes stop simply reacting and performing and begin trying to “guide” movements that are already learned.
Sometimes activation sharpens performance. Sometimes it disrupts it.
Pressure does not automatically destroy performance. If it did, nobody would perform well in championship moments, playoff games or overtime situations. In fact, some athletes perform incredibly well under pressure because activation itself is not the enemy.
Interpretation matters.
Research on challenge and threat states suggests athletes who interpret pressure as a challenge rather than a threat often demonstrate more productive physiological responses, greater confidence and better attentional control.
This matters because many athletes are not underprepared physically. They are underprepared physiologically and mentally for the moment they are entering…and how they process that environment!
And honestly, I think this challenge is becoming even more complicated in youth sports today.
Many young athletes now experience pressure differently from previous generations. The rise of showcases, recruiting events, rankings, social media, travel schedules and constant competition has changed the emotional environment surrounding performance.
In some ways, athletes are exposed to MORE pressure because they constantly feel evaluated.
In other ways, they may experience FEWER opportunities to truly sit inside meaningful competitive moments because there is always another game, another tournament, another weekend or another event coming quickly behind it.
Years ago, seasons often built toward a smaller number of truly meaningful moments.
Athletes had to sit with wins, losses, pressure and disappointment longer. It was win or go home!!! Now, many athletes move immediately to the next event before fully processing the last one.
That is not necessarily good or bad. But it DOES mean our work becomes more important.
And it changes our approach!
Pressure management cannot simply become a pregame speech or motivational phrase. It has to become part of development and preparation.
Because, as they say, in the history of the human race, telling someone to “calm down” has never calmed anyone down!
It’s our job to figure out how to REGULATE!!!!
And the good news is this. Even small amounts of intentional mental training appear to help.
Researchers like Dr. Amishi Jha have shown that mindfulness training can improve attention and emotional regulation under stress. More recent research suggests even very brief mindfulness interventions may positively impact focus and attentional control.
That matters because many athletes and coaches dismiss mental training if they cannot dedicate huge blocks of time to it.
But the brain responds to repetition and consistency more than perfection. Two intentional minutes matter.
And maybe the bigger lesson is this…pressure management does not begin in the pressure moment.
It begins BEFORE the pressure moment.
We aren’t going to benefit from a breath in a pressure moment if we haven’t practiced our breath outside of pressure. It would be like our military learning new maneuvers in a war instead of practicing them on our bases where they TRAIN!
When we practice mindfulness…or deliberate breath work, it becomes a trained signal…a reminder…that we CAN REGULATE…
What might two intentional minutes of mindfulness actually look like before competition…two minutes that can help us manage those few seconds of pressure?
It doesn’t need to be complicated.
Sit or stand still. Slow the breath slightly. Focus your attention on breathing, posture or a simple cue word.When your mind wanders, bring it back without judgment. Repeat.
That’s it.
It’s not to “empty the mind”, to become perfectly calm or to eliminate nerves. The goal is to train attention!
The goal is noticing thoughts, emotions and activation without immediately getting pulled around by them.
That awareness matters under pressure…that’s where the practice pays off! Because those who have noticed and let thoughts go as they practice can recognize speeding up, tightening up or spiraling mentally often have a much better chance of regulating themselves before the moment completely takes over.
It is not magic. It is physiology. It’s practice. And maybe more importantly, it creates awareness…OUR SUPERPOWER!
Because pressure is not just external. It is an interpretation.
Two athletes can stand in the same moment and experience it completely differently. One sees danger. Another sees a challenge. One feels overwhelmed. Another feels activated and ready.
The moment is not always the separator.
How we process the moment is!
So, the question is, “How do we help athletes become more adaptable, aware and effective inside pressure?”
Because pressure is part of performance. Period!
And if pressure is part of performance, then pressure management must become part of training!
Manage the moments!
Julie
Julie Jones
Mental Performance Coach
SSB Performance
juliej@ssbperformance.com • 234-206-0946
Comments