Dealing with Pressure

Throughout life we are put under pressure in many situations. Whether it is pressure one puts on his or her self or the pressure from others. As athletes, you have three or four times the pressure that comes from many places; such as more pressure to perform in front of friends and family. As an athlete you may have pressure from coaches, family, and friends to perform, plus pressure to do well in school; not to mention just the everyday pressure of being a teenager and normal life issues.

One way to handle pressure is to not add any extra unnecessary pressure, such as beating yourself up for not meeting expectations of others or yourself. YOU SHOULD NEVER THINK SELF DEFEATING THOUGHTS DUE TO PRESSURE PUT ON YOURSELF OR BY OTHERS. Saying negative things to yourself like “I am a failure” will only add to the pressure.

A way to ease the pressure is to relax and think about the things you do well in the pressure situation. Such as basketball, it may be a really important game and the coach may be very intense, instead of thinking about how tough the situation is going to be, think about all the things you are able to do well on the court and focus on those things to win. Or for school; do not focus how hard a test may be and start having self defeating thoughts. Think about how much you have studied and prepared along the way.

PRESSURE DOES TWO THINGS: BUST PIPES AND CREATE DIAMONDS.

Think about a time in life, school, and basketball where pressure was high. How did you react, what was the outcome?

Think about a time when pressure has caused you to fail in those same three settings.

Think about when you have overcame pressure to succeed in those same three settings.

Pressure is a giving in life, those that over come it do it with believing in themselves and their abilities, and not dwelling on it when they sub come to the pressures of life. Each of us will have trouble in pressure situations and not always come out on top, but bouncing back and not doing the same damaging things is the key.