The ball cracks off the bat, flying deep into the night sky.  As the outfielder tracks towards the center field wall, they notice a change; the lush green grass fades into coarse red dirt. 

The warning track; a shift in terrain to warn the outfielder that they’re close to hitting the wall and that they need to slow down. 

If the outfielder pays attention to the warning track, they’ll slow down and adjust accordingly. If they ignore it, they risk an unpleasant surprise. 

Warning tracks don’t just exist on the diamond; they’re a part of every athlete’s mental experience, and having the awareness to know when you’ve hit the warning track and how to respond is key to strong mental wellness. 

Mental Wellness and Self Awareness 

Self-awareness is knowing when you’re approaching the warning track.

“One thing we assist with all our athletes is to pay attention to their body sensations, thoughts, emotions, and even behaviors.  The best of the best know when they are getting close to hitting the wall, and begin to change things to keep themselves thriving” Sport Psychologist Dr. Justin Anderson says.  “Highly self aware athletes are less likely to get injured, tend to be able to keep their motivation and energy levels higher when they need it.  This of course also requires them to know when to take the foot off the accelerator”.

All athletes that want to be great want to get to the finish line the first/fastest.  But let’s take a page out of auto racing… as those cars go around the track, the drivers need to take the foot off the gas in the corners to go faster and stay off the wall.  It’s seems anti-intuitive for athletes, but those that can master this skill of knowing when to press and then how and when to relax often are the most resilient.

Hitting the warning tracks looks different for everyone but there are some common signs that athletes and coaches can look for…both in themselves and in others.   

“It could look like a change in sleep patterns, irritability in their mood, significant fatigue or lack of motivation, or a change in appetite.” Anderson says.   “Oftentimes our behaviors are the easiest thing to spot, and a common one is pulling back socially. A lot of athletes are younger and tend to be in a more social time of their lives developmentally, so when they don’t have the energy to go out or hang with their friends, it can be a sign that they are depleted physically or mentally, which can spiral into more significant mental health issues.”

This just leads to increased stress and prohibits the athlete from reaching peak mental wellness and performance. 

On the flipside, athletes with strong self awareness recognize when their needs are not being met and take active steps to replenish themselves mentally, physically, and emotionally.   

What to Do When You’ve Hit the Warning Track

The downs that an athlete will experience can come from a variety of sources, including poor performances, frustration with those in their environment, and mental or physical burnout.  Whatever the cause, there’s no avoiding them, nor can we avoid the negative thoughts or emotions we experience when we’re approaching the wall. 

The good news?  We can turn our awareness into a call to action, and focus on recovery strategies that are within our control.

One of the best things to do when struggling with mental wellness is simply talking to someone about your struggles. That could be a teammate or coach, but also family, friends or anyone else who is a trusted member of your circle. 

“Talking about it can be an important strategy to continue to maintain a resilient and mentally healthy mind, because naming our emotions, thoughts and behaviors can give ourselves a different perspective than when we see it just rattling around in our thoughts”.  Anderson says.  “And if we share it with someone who genuinely cares about us, oftentimes we get their perspectives as well, which can be huge to help athletes manage all the stressors that they face daily.”

Talking about those stressors and struggles is important because it sets a precedent for the person on the receiving end that they can speak up when they’re going through their own issues. 

“The more we talk about it, the more we all know that it is a thing,” Anderson says. “For mental wellness and mental health, there are ups and downs for everyone.” 

Anderson also recommends finding professional support or counseling such as sport psychology when faced with mental struggles in sport…and even before struggles arise. 

“You don’t need to have a mental health disorder or diagnosis to work with a sport psychologist,” Anderson says. “In fact some of the NFL’s best football players meet with me weekly to ‘maintain’ their mental wellness, keep their focus sharp, and keep their confidence optimal”.   All athletes can benefit from sport psychology.  That’s a great reason to go to one.  Being willing to make that phone call can be a game changer for athletes because they then have a dedicated hour to reflect on themselves, develop more self-awareness and keep their minds where they want them to be healthier and perform at their best.”

In addition to knowing when to reach out for help, strong mental awareness allows athletes to better understand how they react to adversity, and how to respond to it thoughtfully and controllably.  

“We can’t control external situations, and what many don’t know is that we can’t truly control our thoughts or feelings either, but we can control how we react to them and that can make all the difference” says Anderson.

This article is part five of a five-part series from Premier’s Research and Analytics division on unlocking personal performance potential.  Read part 1 here.  Read part 2 here.  Read part 3 here.  Read part 4 here.

We all know that competing in sports is much more than just Xs and Os on the field. Regardless of age, level, or experience, we’ve all dealt with the mental side of the game and the struggles and difficulties that it brings. 

We also know that the mental side of sport is often more difficult than the physical side. 

You’ve made a free throw hundreds of times in practice but sinking that shot with the game on the line may seem near impossible. 

You may have the best serve in the entire state, but for some reason, your arm feels like it weighs 1,000 pounds when serving in a match. 

That simple throw from second base to first suddenly becomes terrifying when there are hundreds of eyes on you. 

The mental side of sport impacts everyone, there’s no escaping it.  The good news?  Just like improving a free throw or serve, there are ways to sharpen your mental skills to increase performance and wellbeing on the court, field, or rink when things get difficult. 

Each week we’ll be posing a question about the mental side of sport that relates to athletes of all levels. We’ll take each response and provide advice from our world-class sport psychologists and mental performance coaches. 

This week’s question: What makes you most nervous to compete?

Response: I get nervous dealing with personal expectations.

Dr. Erin Ayala: The second we start focusing on failure and the outcome of a competition or performance is the second that we start losing focus on what you should be doing in the moment. When our mind jumps from 0 to 100 and starts thinking about what we should be or could be doing, it puts pressure on ourselves and is when we stop focusing on the process itself. That’s when we lose control over that outcome. 

One of my favorite quotes is from the book Mind Gym and it goes “the probability of achieving the outcome increases when you let go of the desire to have it.” It’s the irony of, the harder we try and the more we put on ourselves, the less likely we are to achieve those outcomes because we’re so distracted by the consequences. 

One of the things that we really like to teach at Premier is the Focus Cue. It’s asking athletes to think about one of the most successful performances that they’ve had. Asking questions like, what were your thoughts? What were your feelings? What were your behaviors in that situation? Oftentimes, the most successful performances were when athletes were having fun, they were excited, and they weren’t thinking about those expectations on themselves. 

One thing that you can do when you know you have those expectations is to remind yourself, what should I be focusing on in the moment? For example, I had a golfer who was really focusing on his swing and had the yips and his focus cue was tempo. He focused on the tempo of his swing. He had his routine of getting up to the hole, getting in a few practice swings, and then he would say ‘tempo’ to himself when he was swinging. A swimmer might remind herself to ‘swim tall’ so she can get as much length as possible out of her stroke. The simpler and the less technical, the better. The more neutral, the better. You don’t want to say to yourself ‘I feel great today’ if you’re nervous and have those expectations, because you’re not going to believe it. You have to be realistic and you have to be reasonable. Little tidbits to help you refocus in the moment can be a gamechanger. 

Response: Playing against a team that I know that we’re better than and should beat makes me nervous. 

Dr. Ben Merkling: A lot of people feel this and it comes down to expectations. Those feelings of, If I don’t beat this person or team, what will people think about me? What does this say about me and my team?

In those moments it’s important to remind yourself that it’s not a dire end-of-the-world situation. There’s a concept that I use to lay this out whenever an athlete is experiencing nervousness or anxiety. If we’re nervous or anxious, it’s because we’re perceiving the situation as a threat. Anxiety is a threat response. 

It’s important to ask yourself, Why is this threatening to you? And ask yourself, are these things really life or death? Is this really that significant of an event (in the grand scheme of life)?

What I end up doing is breaking T versus O, Threat vs. Opportunity.

If we’re perceiving the situation to be a threat and were nervous, we can shove that down, or we can override that by reframing how we think about the situation. We can look at it as an opportunity that we can have fun with. 

In those moments, ask yourself, what is the threat of playing this team or opponent? Thoughts such as the following might arise. 

• I might lose.
• I’m worried about what people might think of me if I lose.
• I’m worried what my coach will think about me if I lose.

Following that, reframe the question by asking yourself, what is the opportunity of playing this team or opponent?

• We have an opportunity to play well and potentially win.
• I have the opportunity to compete in a sport I love.
• This is an opportunity to show how good our team is. 
• This is an opportunity to show how good I am or how good my team is. 

Pressure is a privilege and sport psychology shows us that whatever we focus on grows. Don’t focus on the threats, focus on the opportunities. That turns that nervousness into excitement. 

Response: I get nervous playing in front of a coach who is really hard on me. I’m just fine when he isn’t watching but when he is I get super tight. 

Matt Mikesell: That’s a really well timed question, given that fall sports are on the horizon. It’s a question that comes up fairly often too. 

That concept of going from being able to play freely to ‘oh, there’s something else watching and evaluating me’ can be tough. It’s important to be able to acknowledge when that’s happening and why there are some perceived stakes; they’re going to monitor my playing time, they’re going to decide if I travel or not this week, or even if I’m going to make the team. That person holds the means to an outcome and we get really attached to the fact that they control that outcome. 

It’s kind of a double-whammy; we’re thinking about both the outcome and then thinking about someone else controlling that outcome. That gets in the way and it’s really difficult to perform that way. 

There are a few important things to think about in that situation; shifting things back to what’s under our control and what’s important now in that moment (W.I.N.).

I talk a lot about the A.P.E acronym when it comes to what is under our control; attitude, preparation, and effort. No matter what happens, those things are always under our control. I also like to add a layer to that. Almost every sport has an additional one or two things that can always be in our control in the present moment that are action oriented. For tennis, that could be  footwork, for soccer it could be off-the-ball movement, it could be breathing for many sports. If an athlete focuses on breathing and footwork specifically, their body will take care of the rest rather than getting sucked into what their opponent is doing or the evaluation that the coach is giving. 

A lot of times we feel like we need to be perfect because a coach is watching. If you ask a lot of coaches, they’ll say that they don’t expect their athletes to play perfectly. Instead of striving to perform perfectly, which sets us up for failure, strive to respond perfectly to our imperfections so we have a plan when things don’t go our way. 

Have a question or topic that you’d like addressed in our weekly mailbag? Email dyoungs@premiersportpsychology.com to send it in!

Get enough sleep, eat healthy, embrace the grind.

You’ve heard it all. 

The concept of physical wellness may seem like a gimme; after all, it’s no secret that taking care of your body correlates with stronger performance on the field and in life.  Yet the endless tales of seven hours of sleep, extra reps before the season, and rise and grind don’t tell the full story; in fact, they corrupt it in some ways. 

Physical Wellness..What is it?

“When we talk about physical wellness and how it relates to sport psychology, we define physical wellness as any potential action taken to keep your body fueled, healthy, and strong so that it can function optimally,” Dr. Justin Anderson, who is the founder of Premier Sport Psychology. “It’s prioritizing the behaviors that promote physical health, your body, which in turn ultimately helps your mind as well.”

You’ll notice Anderson didn’t mention early morning lifting or running an extra mile after practice; that’s because there’s a key difference between physical wellness and physical training.

“A lot of athletes focus on the importance of training, which is obviously important and well understood. However, somewhat less talked about or understood is that in order to achieve peak performance with any consistency, we also need peak recovery,” Anderson says.  “If you’re not giving your body an opportunity to recovery optimally after all the reps and hard work outs, it’s not going to absorb that training stress the way that it should, and it can set you back.”

The bottom line? Training sessions are only as good as the wellness and recovery that takes place between them.

The what is your opponent doing when you’re resting and four hours of sleep to get up and lift maxims leave out the fact that to be at your best, you need quality sleep, strong nutrition, and effective recovery. 

Sleep Hygiene..Why You Need it

You’ve probably read of professional athletes waking up ridiculously early to lift and start their daily routine, forgoing recommended hours of sleep. While that may have worked for them, that’s not necessarily the best practice…whether you’re an athlete or not. 

The old-school mantra of I’ll sleep when I’m dead is gone, or it should be if you live by it.  If you want high performance on the field, court, or rink, sleep is a must. 

The Nitty Gritty..What You Need

Anderson recommends that individuals of all ages get at least eight hours of sleep (nine for teenagers). For athletes, even more is better.

“Research is showing that athletes should be getting even more sleep given the demands of sport,” Anderson says. “A lot of athletes are (and should be) getting 9-10 hours.”

Numbers are great, but the greatest fault often lies in a routine sleep schedule. 

“The other thing that is often neglected is consistency with a sleep schedule,” Anderson says. “If your bedtime is inconsistent, your biorhythms get out of whack, and you’re more likely to be sluggish during your waking hours, along with a whole host of other negative consequences.”

Consistency helps wane those consequences. Having a set time when you go to bed and when you wake up (on both weekdays and weekends) teaches your body when it’s time to wind down and when it’s time get going, allowing you to reap the benefits of strong sleep and avoid the consequences of sleeplessness.

Sleep in itself is critical, but getting to that point is just as important and requires strong sleep hygiene. This includes things such as sleeping in a cool space, avoiding spicy foods before bedtime, and putting your phone away an hour before going to bed. 

“Many sleep experts are telling our athletes to limit their screen time right before bed, especially if they are having a hard time falling asleep. The light can trick the mind into believing that it’s time to get up rather than wind down,” Anderson says.

Anderson also recommends that athletes create a more comfortable sleeping environment by using blackout curtains to block out ambient light, and earplugs or brown noise makers (there are apps for that) if external noises are troubling their sleep. In addition, he advises creating a cooler environment, which can be critical for effective sleep. Anderson suggests sleeping in an environment that is at or below 68 degrees Fahrenheit. Excessive warmth and sweating can lead to restlessness and disrupt sleep; it’s best to address the problem before it arises.

Athletes know that sleep is important, and the benefits gained make a commitment to your sleep routine worth the effort.

“If you’re coming off a night where you slept at 70%, there’s a good chance that your training session could be 70% that day,” Anderson says. “By getting good sleep, you’re going to train better, think more clearly, make better decisions and have stronger mental strength.” 

Nutrients..Being Smart

Strong sleep is a major player in athletes who have strong physical wellness..but it isn’t the only one. Like gas in a car, athletes must fuel their bodies with nourishing and nutrient-heavy food.

That can sometimes be easier said than done, especially for high school and college student-athletes. While a slushy might be satisfying after a big game, it offers nothing to aid an athlete’s recovery or prepare her for her next practice or competition.  Cheat meals aren’t taboo, but should be part of an otherwise balanced diet.

Athletes with strong physical wellness fill their bodies with nutrient-dense foods. That slushy may have the same number of calories as a grilled chicken sandwich with rice and spinach, but it’s clear which option is going to give the athletes the resources their bodies need to perform.   

“Over the years, we’ve seen a of different fads out there such as intermittent fasting and Paleo, all may be helpful for some people, but at the end of the day, a vast majority of athletes just need good, high-quality nutrients to do its job,” Anderson says.

Hydration is another key indicator of strong physical wellness…not just hydrating during practice or a game, but throughout the course of each and every day. 

“Treat hydration just like your pregame routine,” Premier’s Dr. Adam Gallenberg says. “It may not feel like it at first, but by continuing to hydrate all day every day, it will become second nature.”

“At the end of the day, you need to ask yourself, am I being intentional about what I’m putting into my body?” Gallenberg added.

Being Proactive and Preventing Injuries and Burnout

There’s a connotation out there that more reps in the offseason equal better performance at gametime. That can be true, but be mindful of diminishing returns.  Extremes are not good and lead to injury and burnout. 

Many athletes will kick it into gear and train twice as hard in the weeks prior to their season starting. In reality, the opposite should be taking place. 

Going into the season with a fresh and rested approach is especially critical prior to intense training such as spring camp or tryout week. During those times, high-quality physical wellness is a must for athletes hoping to have a successful season. 

“Being extra diligent about nutrition, hydration, and sleep is especially important during intense training periods,” Anderson says. “Without that, we’re going to become more stressed, which makes our bodies more prone to injury.”

The Bottom Line

The concept of stepping away from the bench press or track to focus on physical wellness can be difficult for athletes. After all, the message of embracing the grind has become commonplace in today’s culture and athletes may feel like they’re depriving themselves if they ‘go the extra mile.’

That isn’t the case. Truth be told, going the extra mile means taking care of your body, knowing when to step away for a bit, and getting a proper night’s rest on a consistent basis. 

Doing these things will naturally increase your threshold for performance.  A late night at the gym that results in 70% sleep quality, followed by a poor breakfast, will give you a lower threshold for peak performance than capping your training early, getting an evening’s rest and nine hours’ sleep, and eating a nutrient-rich breakfast.

The road to peak performance doesn’t come through embracing the grind, it comes from minding the grind and taking care of yourself.  You can’t have peak performance without peak recovery and physical wellness. 

“There’s this perception that anything that you can do to get ahead of your competition is going to make you better.  That is such a recipe for injury and burnout.  It’s not sustainable.”

Tips for Increased Physical Wellness

• Make your bed your sanctuary.  The last few years have made it easy for us to complete work and homework from the comfort of our beds.  That isn’t a good thing.  “Our beds should be for resting” Anderson says.  “Our brains get conditioned easily and if our brain doesn’t know it’s time to sleep, we can have a more difficult time winding down.  As difficult as it may be at times, try to find other spaces around the house, apartment, or dorm room for activities such as homework, work, and movie-watching.”
• Create a bedtime routine. Commonplace for children, yet many young adults stray from this as they age. Anderson recommends making consistent bedtime habits such as taking a shower, brushing your teeth, or meditation that can help prepare your mind and body for sleep.
• Stay away from alcohol and caffeine before bedtime. While many assume  that alcohol helps them sleep, it actually hinders sleep quality, given that it is a depressant. Anderson also recommends staying away from intense workouts before bedtime, given that they stimulate the brain in a way that prohibits quality sleep.
• Go beyond macros when constructing your diet.  Athletes are well-trained in the number and proportion of proteins, fats, and carbohydrates required to reach their strength and conditioning goals, but be mindful of the nutrient content of your meals.  Adding spinach to your protein shakes, green vegetables to your meals, and a balance of fruit, healthy grains, and seeds to your daily diet will move you further toward your performance goals than hitting your macros alone.

This article is part five of a five-part series from Premier’s Research and Analytics division on unlocking personal performance potential.  Read part 1 here.  Read part 2 here.  Read part 3 here.  Read part 4 here.