Holding on to your mistakes during performance and competition is a huge mental mistake. This habit can also negatively affect your skill improvement and the quality of your practice sessions as well.
The time to work on mistakes is always in practice, never in a performance or competition.
Mistakes are not evil
Mistakes are important learning tools that often get a bad rap. Mistakes are seen as failures, signs of mediocrity, permanent proof of incompetence or worse. So, it’s not surprising that mistakes are often seen as something to avoid at all costs.
A coach told me that he took his skater to Junior Nationals for the first time. The skater and his dad were excited to travel to the midwest, and took advantage of the time to go white water rafting.
The mistake: Unfortunately the competition was the day after the excursion. The skater was so sore that it negatively affected his skating.
Lesson learned:
Skater: Keep your routine before competitions. Schedule play after competitions.
Parent: Competitions are the priority, schedule time after the competition to play.
Coach: Be very clear to parents and to skaters, the dos and don’ts of competition.
Sure, it was disappointing that the skater didn’t have a good competition, didn’t place, and ended his season with an anti-climax. But you can bet he never made this mistake again the rest of his career, and even beyond sport, prepared for important events with diligence.
The time to work on mistakes is never in competition
When you make a mistake during a performance or competition, your only job is to leave that mistake behind you, then refocus on the present moment.
This is a skill that can be learned. In order to be consistent, it must be practiced repeatedly until it becomes your default, automatic response when you make a mistake.
If you want to learn how to put mistakes behind you, you must:
- Become aware that you hold on to mistakes, even count your mistakes during a performance.
- Decide that you want to change.
- Develop a simple routine that helps you let go of the mistake and refocus on the present.
- Repeat and practice this routine until you master it. Use it in simulations, run throughs, scrimmages, practice games, and competitions.
The Refocus Routine
The purpose of a refocus routine, is to help you let go of mistakes, and quickly refocus yourself back into the moment.
On the fly
For sports with continuous action like a skating program, floor routine or basketball game, or when you are in a lesson with your coach during practice, you need something quick and simple.
Use a keyword like “cancel”, “stop” or “now,” to get your attention on the action of refocusing in the moment.
Between the action
When you have more time to reset, like during individual practice, or in sports that have natural breaks in the action, you can take a little more time to reset before you continue.
For example:
- Between jump runs during practice on your own.
- Transitions during practice.
- Between short and long programs
- After a poor 6 minute warm up, and before your event
- Between events during a meet.
- Between innings or at bats.
Here’s an example of a Refocus Routine you can start with. You can adapt or adjust these steps to fit what works for you.
- Switch your attention away from the mistake with a keyword like “cancel”, “stop” or “now.”
- Take a “time out.” Physically stop what you are doing, and bring your attention to your breath, or your heart rate. Feel your breathing slow and deepen or your heart rate slow.
- When you feel calmer and back in control, walk away and leave the mistake behind you.
- Refocus your full concentration on doing the task at hand (going into the entrance of the jump or squatting lower on the drill.)
Never hold on to mistakes during performances and competitions.
The time to work on mistakes is always during practice. After your competition and recovery, you and your coach can squeeze all the learning out of the competition mistakes. When that is done, then it is time to put them behind you and take only the learning with you.
Mistakes are nothing to be afraid of. Nothing to avoid. Instead, mistakes are vital in order to reach the highest levels in athletics, school, business and in life.
Mental skills training can help to keep your emotions on an even keel so that you can practice and compete your best. Start here, download “Confidence Myth Busters,” a complimentary eBook and make a change.