How Do Athletes Stop Overthinking During Competition?

**Quick answer:** Athletes overthink when pressure pulls conscious attention onto movements the body already knows how to do automatically. The solution is not trying harder to relax. It is training a specific external focus and a repeatable routine so attention has a designated place to go, then practicing that routine until it holds under real competitive stress.

Why does overthinking wreck performance?

Well-trained movement runs largely below conscious control. When an athlete starts monitoring the mechanics mid-action, the smooth pattern gets interrupted and timing degrades. This is why a free throw that is automatic in an empty gym falls apart at the line with a crowd watching. The skill did not disappear. Attention moved to the wrong place.

The frustrating part is that trying to stop thinking makes it worse, because monitoring for unwanted thoughts is itself a form of self-focus. Attention has to be given a job, not merely told to leave.

What is an external focus and why does it help?

An external focus means directing attention to a target or effect outside your body rather than to the body part producing it. A golfer thinks about the ball flight rather than the wrist. A pitcher focuses on the catcher's glove rather than the elbow. Research in motor learning has consistently favored external cues for both accuracy and consistency under pressure.

Building this is a practice-time job. Each athlete needs two or three short, personal cue words tied to external targets, rehearsed in training so they are available automatically in competition. Cues invented on the sideline in a tight game do not work.

What does a pre-performance routine look like?

An effective routine is short, identical every time, and includes a physical component, a breath, and a cue word. It might be two bounces, one exhale, and the word target, taking under ten seconds. The consistency is what matters, because the routine becomes a signal to the body that the automatic pattern is about to run.

Routines also fill the dangerous gap. Most overthinking happens in the seconds before action, and an unfilled gap gets filled with worry by default. The routine occupies that space with something rehearsed.

How do athletes reset after a mistake?

The reset is a separate trained skill: a brief physical action that marks the end of the previous play, one exhale, and a forward-looking cue. Some athletes use a glove adjustment or a touch of the line. The purpose is to make moving on a physical habit rather than an act of willpower during the worst moment of the game.

This is where self-talk work matters most. The internal commentary after a mistake, if it is harsh and personal, keeps attention locked on what already happened. Changing that commentary to short, instructional, forward-facing language is a practical skill trained the same way any other is. Visualization of successful recovery from mistakes, done in advance, builds the same pathway.

Can this be trained, or is it just personality?

It is trained. Athletes who look unbothered under pressure almost always have a system, whether or not they can describe it. The work is straightforward: identify where attention goes when it goes wrong, build cues and routines, rehearse them in progressively higher-pressure practice, and refine after competition. Sessions typically run 50 minutes and many athletes work in a focused block of six to twelve.

Fort Lee Therapy and Psychoeducational Services offers sport performance psychology to athletes throughout Bergen County and Northern New Jersey, based at 155 N Dean Street, Suite 3B in Englewood, with telehealth available statewide. If your athlete competes below their practice level, call (201) 218-9771 for a free 15-minute phone consultation with Dr. Lisa Barrows.