You’ve been practicing your skills. You’ve been watching film and you’ve been improving on your game for months now. You are ready to make the team.
Try out day can come with all sorts of emotions from anticipation and excitement to anxiety and fear. Don’t let a lack of confidence in yourself and your skill set cause you to miss out on an opportunity that you have worked so hard for. Here are a few tips that we practice at Elite Psychology and Wellness to get you in the zone and get you on the team.
1. Be Prepared and Show up Early
Giving yourself time to be prepared and engage in your pre-game routine can reduce nerves and get you focused on what is ahead of you. Being late, rushing to the try out and feeling overwhelmed because you didn’t have enough time to prepare for what is right ahead of you can increase your anxiety and reduce your ability to perform. Showing up early and being prepared also shows the coach you are dedicated and a hardworking and that goes along way.
2. Focus on your best skills
You know what you do best. You know what skills you can show to make you shine and make others know they need you on their team. Show those skills! Don’t focus on anything else other than what you do best. Highlight your dribbling skills, or your quick running skills, or your ability to hit home runs. Whatever the skill is show it off with confidence.
3. Positive Mindset
We know that mindset is so powerful in performance. Having a positive mindset and outlook on what is happening as it is happening creates mental toughness. By training your mind to stay mentally tough you are reducing anxiety and fear. A positive mindset increasing confidence, focus, drive and motivation to succeed. When you are faced with setbacks or when something doesn’t go your way during the try out having a positive mindset can support a bounce back attitude. You then focus on what you can control instead of getting bogged down by what didn’t happen. Coaches can see this during try outs and want to have athletes who have the confidence and positive mindset to bounce back after mistakes. That goes along way.
4. Healthy Communication
Speak up and be yourself. Show the coach your capable of communicating effectively both as an athlete playing your sport and as an athlete interacting with your coaches and teammates. Show the coach that you have leadership capabilities for possible leadership opportunities now or in the future. By communicating in a healthy and positive way you are showing your coach that you can function independently and as a team player. You are showing your coach you care, you are dedicated to this team and you are motivated to take your team where it needs to go.
5. Prep before with healthy training and nutrition
Eating healthy and getting enough sleep are essential tips for a healthy and successful fitness routine and athletic career. Remember to eat healthy meals and get enough sleep leading up to try out day. Don’t eat anything too heavy before the try out but don’t skip a meal. Drink plenty of water and stay hydrated especially if you are trying out in hot weather. And whatever you do now is not the time to start a new fitness or strength training routine. Train the way your body knows how to train. You don’t want injure yourself before the big day. Listen to your body. It knows what it needs.
Are you an athlete that needs help navigating through your sport? Suffering from performance anxiety and stress? We are here to help! At Elite Psychology and Wellness we are a group of highly trained performance therapists who are dedicated to supporting our youth, our adults and our communities. We see all ages of individuals and work with athletes and high achievers. Call us today to schedule an appointment!
