The Choice That Separates Good from Great
- Julie Jones
- Jun 29
- 5 min read
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This week I had the incredible privilege of working with the 18U Women's National Team at the USA Softball Top Performers Camp at Devon Park…the Softball Capital of the World.
It was a real chore 😉! I mean, who wants to work with and watch the best kids in the world all week?
As I looked around the room during our first mental performance session, I couldn't help but think... these athletes are some of the best in the world at their age. They've spent thousands of hours developing their skills. They have elite coaching. They train relentlessly. They compete against the best in the world.
What do you teach athletes like that?
I love a good drill, but this isn't about another hitting drill or throwing progression. Yes, these things are important. But even more important is teaching them how to access all the training they have already put in!
Because on game day, performance isn't just about ability nd training.
It's about mindset, mentality, mental toughness…or whatever you want to call it.
AND, we must acknowledge that it's also about interference.
Author Tim Gallwey described it with a simple equation:
Performance = Potential – Interference If we want to be scientific about it, P= p-i
Since The Inner Game of Tennis, it's been revamped for more specificity, and I like this iteration:
Performance = Ability + Training − Interference
Our ability matters. Our training matters. But neither guarantees our best performance.
The question isn't whether we've put in the work.
The question is...how much of that work can we actually access when the pressure is on?
That's where interference shows up. In the fear of failure. The pressure to impress. The college coaches in the stands. The expectations. The last mistake. The scoreboard. The stories we tell ourselves.
None of those makes us less talented. They simply interfere with our ability to access the talent we've already earned. And here's the most important lesson I hope every athlete understands!!! Interference is inevitable. Managing interference is a choice.
Read that again.
Interference is inevitable. Managing interference is a CHOICE!
That’s the message I shared with AMAZING athletes this week! This isn’t an easy choice…but it’s a powerful one!
Every competitor experiences doubt. Every competitor gets distracted. Every competitor feels pressure. Even the best athletes in the world!!!!
The difference isn't whether interference shows up. The difference is what happens next.
Do we continue replaying the mistake...or choose the next pitch? Do we let frustration take over...or choose our response? Do we allow our body to become tighter and rushed...or intentionally regulate it?
Every one of those moments is a choice. Not a choice about whether pressure exists, but a choice about whether interference gets to stay.
That's why mental training matters. Mental training isn't about becoming mentally tougher than everyone else. It isn't pretending negative thoughts don't exist. It isn't trying to eliminate nerves.
It's practicing the choices that help us perform anyway.
That's exactly why we talked about the Three Power Moves. If you follow me, they should sound familiar!
Power Move #1? You can always choose one thought over another! We get to CHOOSE a thought that helps us perform instead of the dozens trying to steal our attention.
Power Move #2? We have a Response-Ability. We don't control every situation, but we always get to CHOOSE our response to the things that happen to us, around us and because of us! We then influence what happens next!
Power Move #3? We can manage our state…and I don’t mean the one we live in. I mean the body we live in! We can CHOOSE how we breathe, our posture, our vision and more. Because our physiology either fuels interference or reduces it!
None of these choices happens automatically. They require practice, attention, intention and a plan!
Last week we talked about one of my favorite planning tools, WOOP. If you haven't read about it yet, check it out in Tip #298. It provides a simple, science-backed way to anticipate the obstacles that are most likely to interfere with your performance and prepare for them before they ever happen.
WOOP is great for pre-performance planning…but what about moment-to-moment choices?
What about the third inning, a strikeout or an error? The bad call or the moment you feel your heart racing and your thoughts spiraling?
Preparation gets you ready for competition. In-game adjustments keep you in it.
One thing became crystal clear during my time with Team USA.
We all need tools to use in the moment when interference hijacks our attention and tries to pull us away from our training.
Every game is full of adjustments. We adjust to the opponent and the weather. We adjust to the umpire. We adjust to the score.
The best competitors also adjust to themselves. When interference shows up, they don't hope it goes away. They NOTICE it. They make an adjustment, and they get back to performing.
That's the hidden side of elite performance.
How can we manage interference like the best do?
We can pull on our POWER MOVES!
Choose one helpful thought. ("Next pitch." "Compete." "I've got this.")
Reset your body. Take one slow breath and relax your shoulders (one of many science-backed physiological tools!).
Respond with a commitment to one action. What's the very next thing you need to do well?
That's it. We can use any one of these intentional choices that help interrupt interference before it grows.
And this is just scratching the surface of the things we can do. The crazy part is, there are still incredible mental performance tools that most of us have never been taught!!
These are simple, evidence-based strategies for everything from managing attention, recovering from mistakes and regulating emotions to changing your physiology through breathing, using vision to regain focus and directing self-talk, all for making quick and intentional adjustments during competition.
Because mental performance isn't just about preparing for pressure. It's about making better choices once pressure arrives.
These tools aren't gimmicks. They're skills…and just like hitting, pitching or any other skill, they can be learned. That's why I'm so passionate about putting these tools in one place (keep your eye out for this 😉!
My goal is to help athletes, coaches, parents and performers around the world discover the "best-kept secrets" of the mental game, not because they're hidden, but because too few people have ever been introduced to them.
Imagine how much better we'd all perform if we spent as much time training our minds as we do our mechanics.
Because at the end of the day, our ability earned us the opportunity. Our training prepared us. And our choices determine how much of that ability the world gets to see.
Before your next practice or competition, don't ask yourself, “Am I confident?"Instead, ask yourself, “What is most likely to interfere with my performance today because I know it's coming?”
Then ask, “What thought will I choose?” “How will I respond when interference shows up?” “How will I manage my body so it helps my performance instead of hurting it?”
Because pressure is inevitable. Interference is expected. Managing interference is a choice.
Choose wisely.
Manage the moments!!
Julie
Julie Jones
Mental Performance Coach
SSB Performance
juliej@ssbperformance.com • 234-206-0946
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