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The biggest problem every athlete has is learning how to create unshakable confidence under pressure. Most sport psychologists will never tell you that virtually all athletes have the exact same reaction when they are not performing well.

First, they become frustrated and a bit angry.

Second, they lose their confidence, worried they’re going to get worse and worse.

Third, they tell themselves to ‘get over’ their loss of confidence put pressure on themselves to feel better, fast.

None of these reactions leads to consistent, magnificent athletic performance.

Performing your best under pressure in sport is a matter of emotional self-mastery in the key moments of competition.

Mastering Fear and Performance Anxiety

To be confident under pressure, you must know how to handle your fear, frustration, and performance anxiety.

Why? Because these negative feelings have to potential to destroy your ability to trust yourself under pressure.

For example,

(a) Let’s imagine that you are playing tennis and you start hitting your shots into the net.

(b) Instantly, you become upset, because you want to be more consistent. Frustrated, you try and guide or steer the ball, which interferes with your technique enough to erode your game.

(c) By knowing a better way to handle your anger than trying to steer the ball, you can prevent this from happening again. Instead, you have a better plan for how to deal with your anger. As a result, your emotional climate does not change; you play even better after your bad shots.

(d) As you get better at mastering fear, you become more unflappable, more consistent under pressure, and more impressive to everyone– especially yourself.

By understanding exactly how to manage fear and frustration when you perform poorly, you can become immune to virtually any distraction.

Since you found this article, you probably already know that there many self-help and sport psychology techniques out there. You’ve probably even tried some of them.

The problem is that most of these techniques don’t work.

Why Many Sport Psychology Techniques Fail Long Term

Affirmations, positive thinking, and visualization (or whatever) pump you up temporarily, but the moment you stop doing them, your fear and performance anxiety come back.

This is because you are using a lone “technique” that may or may not fit the competitive situation you are facing.

Let me give you an example…

Have you ever been told by a coach or sport psychologist to re-gain your confidence by thinking more positively?

Did it work?

I’m betting that it worked sometimes, but other times, it only made you more frustrated and anxious.

There are times in competition when positive thinking is the wrong technique. In these situations, you’re better off not pressuring yourself to be positive. Here’s why: being positive means finding something good in the situation, e.g., ‘It’s great that I lost that competition because I need a day off.’

The problem with trying to be positive in all situations is that there may not be anything good about the problem you are facing. Trying to force a positive reaction in such a situation will only deflate you.

Case in point:

Rather than telling yourself to be positive when things are collapsing around you, a better idea is to ask yourself for optimism instead.

Optimism is not being positive.

Optimism is the ability to find hope by believing that the challenges you are facing are temporary.

If you follow football, you know that the New England Patriots got off to a rocky start back in 2006.

One cause was the subpar play of Tom Brady, New England’s Superbowl MVP quarterback. Brady finally admitted that the trade of a top receiver and the loss of other offensive players upset him and the team.

But, like the champion he is, Brady viewed the slump as temporary. In the middle of the slump, he said: ”We’ll improve everybody’s state of mind and body language. It will be good for our confidence to go out and play to the level we’re capable of.”

To restore your confidence in a slump, release yourself from the burden of trying to be happy and positive right away. Instead, just try to be optimistic. Find as many rational reasons as possible to believe your slump is temporary. Then, quietly channel your frustration into performing better.

Soon, you’ll light it up other there, and your confidence will return.

You can see now that there are many other mental toughness and sport psychology techniques than positive thinking— and the sooner you educate yourself in them, the better off you’ll be.

Your friend, Lisa Lane Brown http://www.thecouragetowin.com/mtt_for_sport.htm

About the Author

Lisa Lane Brown is a professional speaker, author and coach who helps people win using mental toughness. A former world class athlete, Lisa is the author of the Courage to Win formula, which she has taught to thousands of achievers worldwide.

Obviously extreme sports get your attention. The have garnered the attention of the U.S. military who has recognized that anyone involved in extreme sports would be good candidates to recruit for their hard to fill special operations positions like the Army Rangers and Navy Seals.

So what is it that makes a sport extreme? Let’s take a look at some of the most popular ones

One of the main factors that make a sport extreme is the element of risk of injury or even death. In nearly every sport that is classified in this way you will usually find speed, heights, danger, and stunts. I believe the thing that causes people to become addicted to participating in these sports is the adrenaline rush associated with them. Adrenaline is much like morphine when released in the brain and I see people who just can’t seem to get enough no matter how many times they are hurt.

The first of the extreme sports was probably skateboarding. Introduced in the 1960’s as a way to stay in shape when the surf wasn’t up, skateboarding became a sport of its own and soon competitions were formed with riders jumping over cars and doing tricks in half pipes where they would be floating thirty feet or more above the bottom of the platform. There has been a lot of negative press directed at skateboarders but lately skateboarding is gaining mainstream recognition and is being appreciated worldwide.

Snowboarding is another extreme sport with its own radical characters and is essentially skateboarding on snow. Snowboarders perform many tricks that are the same or similar to those in skateboarding and like skateboarding, the sport has caught on internationally. Today, on any ski slope in America, you will find snowboarders.

Sport climbing is a variation of rock climbing that has become very popular over the years and is enjoyed by those who care more about displaying and testing their strength and athletic ability than adventure.

Skydiving is an extreme sport that is much less competitive but highly dangerous. It is the initial jump that is the biggest thrill with skydiving. There are more competitions being formed now in skydiving with groups forming shapes and creating chains for records before opening their shoots.

The attraction to watching sports where the outcome is unpredictable is growing larger, especially with younger children. No doubt as more people begin to participate in these sports they will seem less and less extreme.

Article Source: ABC Article Directory

The Author: Gregg Hall is an author and internet marketing consultant living in Navarre Florida. Find sports collectibles and sports memorabilia at www.merchandiseforsportsfans.com