Helping Athletes Reframe Threats to Boost Performance

I am helping our JV football team out this year. It's been years since I coached football and truth be told I don't possess a ton of technical knowledge.

I am like Liam Neeson, I have a very particular skill set. I can coach the QB. I understand the fundamentals and can help them process what is going on. At this level at least, I can help them develop.

It's been almost ten years since my son graduated high school and I stepped away from football. In that time I had forgotten what it's like to be on the sidelines of a high school football game.

It's a roller coaster of emotions and momentum.

Things started out fantastically in our first game; we scored twice early and the defense dominated. The mood on the sideline was light and loose, this was how it is supposed to go.

This all changed in an instant on the final possession of the first half, the opponents scored a 90-yard touchdown and the wave of momentum had shifted to the opponent's sideline.

** Clearly those who believe that momentum is not a real thing have never coached high school football**

Coming out of the locker room their coaching staff made some great adjustments and the game started to slip away.

At this point, our players started to get tight. The potential of a loss to start the year was a clear and present threat.

They saw themselves as a championship team (which we are). A loss threatened the team's identity. As the second half went on their fear and stress manifested itself. Turnovers, objectional conduct penalties, and mental mistakes lead to a 24-14 loss.

I am sure most of you have experienced the feeling of helplessness as a coach in these moments. The game is slipping away and our athletes are coming unglued.

How can we help our athletes handle a situation they perceive to be a threat?

Rising to a challenge is a positive way for our athletes' to respond to a stressful situation. Their brains and bodies respond very differently to a challenge versus a situation they perceive as threatening.

If the athlete determines they have the skills to handle the situation they will see it as a challenge.

If they don't have the skills it is seen as a threat.

A challenge elicits a positive response from athletes.

Athletes are fired up but relaxed and ready to perform their best. Getting ready to face the challenge head-on is fun and exciting. One of the key components of an athlete entering a flow state is a challenge. An athlete’s whole physical and mental focus is on overcoming the challenge in front of them.

When athletes are in this space they are going to perform at their best. A situation that our athletes see as a threat is handled much differently.

The Theory of Challenge and Threat States in Athletes (TCTSA) explains how athletes react psycho-physiologically (mindbody connection) within competitive situations (Jones, Meijen, McCarthy & Sheffield 2009).

The TCTSA proposes that athletes’ appraisals of a situation or competition will likely determine their performance.

Appraisals comprise three constructs, self-efficacy, perceived control, and goal orientation, all of which determine a challenge or threat state and an athlete’s effort, attention, decision-making as well as physical functioning.

In essence, a perceived challenge state promotes energy efficiency through glucose delivery and culminates in a successful performance. A perceived threat state restricts blood flow to the muscles and brain which compromises the mobilisation of attention and decision-making and results in less effective sport performance (Dienstbier 1989; Jones et al 2009).

In athletics threat response is rooted in the consequences & fear of failure. In real life the threat response is focused on personal safety.

Fortunately, there are some ways coaches can help athletes mitigate the impact of a threat response and embrace the positive boost facing a challenge.

1.Be the Calm in the Storm

Coaches are not immune to a decrease in performance triggered by a threat.

In many cases, employment is performance-based. Not enough wins can lead to a coach getting fired. That pressure can certainly make a game feel like a threat. A threat response can impact a coach's ability to regulate their emotions or impair decision-making.

Coaches, also need to be aware of what you are communicating to your athletes. Fear can be contagious and your players are particularly susceptible. The good news is that confidence can also be infectious. Setting the right tone is important.

Be aware of what you are communicating with your body language and choice of words when your team is worried about a game. They need reassurance nor further confirmation that the game or opponent is a threat.

2. Help athletes frame competition as a challenge

According to the TCTSA, perceived control is one of the three main components of framing a competition as a challenge.

Reframing is a vital technique to teach your athletes so that they feel like they are in control. In some cases the primary difference between feeling nervous or excited is the label we give it. When we label our feelings as nervous it kicks our sympathetic nervous system in to action.

Just by labelling those feelings as nerves increases the negative response. Increased heart rate, more adrenaline and restricting blood flow. The more we label it nervous the worse it gets.

Conversely, labelling those feelings as excitement can help them harness the power of excitement.

Sometimes it just comes to down to helping athletes reframe their feelings. Simple techniques speaking aloud about your excitement.

Here is a quick video of the 49ers George Kittle preparing for a game.

I am sure that when he started this practice, he felt the nerves of the moment but now embraces them as excitement.

3. Focus on the Process, Not the Result

When winning is the primary measuring stick all games can be perceived as a threat.

Keeping the process at the forefront allows coaches to find positive to focus on during all competitions regardless of the score or the opponent. This helps athletes avoid seeing games as a threat. It also helps your athletes find something that they can embrace as a challenge in any game. This is a key to avoiding triggering the threat response.

4. Don’t turn opponents into Superheroes

In the era of Social Media, this is challenging.

Our players are hardwired to compare themselves to their opponents and Social Media allows them to see their opponent’s highlights and games online.

Remind them that highlights don’t tell the whole story.

Also it is important to not give opponents mythical status. Mental Performance Coach Trevor Mowad had a great saying to help athletes through this challenge. “Don’t say stupid shit out loud”.

I don’t want my teams obsessing on how great our opponents are. We are all hardwired to believe that things we say. Don't turn opponents into something they are not.

We don’t control the skill level of our opponents we only control our attitude and effort. It is an important part of focusing on the process over the result.

5. Use Imagery

Imagery is a great way to help an athlete beileve they can rise to the challenge.

Self-efficacy is one of the areas identified by the TCTSA theory. Utilizing imagery helps athletes prime their brains and prepare to succeed. It increases confidence by allowing athletes to believe that if they can create an image of success then they are more likley to be able to make it happen in real life

Imagery reduces the feelings of threat in a situation

I wrote more about how you can help your athletes incorporate imagery into their routines in Issue #45. You can read it here:

Like so many of the mental skill strategies just starting to explore how your athletes experience threats will raise awareness and lessen their feelings of threat.

I hope this helps you and your athletes to rise to the challenge in your next big game.

Let's work together.

I would love to help you or your team build a competitive advantage. Here are a few ways I can help:

• Consult with your team
• Teach mental skills via Zoom
• Work 1 on 1 with coaches
• Work 1 on 1 with athletes

Shoot me an email I love to talk coaching and see how I can help you.

Coaching is hard, let's make it easier.

Send me an email at jasonpayne@evolutionmpc.com

Thanks for reading and have a great week.