:: Three Performance Limiting Programs ::

Most of the athletes that I work with have reached out to work with me because of a desire to be the best athlete in their sport. They have a desire to be the best and perform at their full potential. For many of these athletes, the final result of our partnership is that of realizing that they had been performing at half of their full potential for most of their careers.

The fact is, most athletes who have ignored the impact that their mind has had on their performance, or those who fear working with someone like me, will never reach their full potential. A few years ago, a car manufacturer came out with a car that runs on half of its valves until the rest of the valves were needed. When the operator of the vehicle stepped down on the accelerator, the remaining valves would be activated and the car would perform at its full potential.

The problem for some of the cars was that, when the operator would step down on the accelerator, the rest of the valves would not be activated, leaving the car sluggish and unable to perform up to the operator’s needs. This is a great example of what is happening in many athletes without the athlete even being aware of what is going on.

The first performance limiting program that athletes tune into is fear. Fear can exist in many different ways, including fear of failure, fear of losing control, fear of breaking down, fear of embarrassment, fear of letting the team down, a fear of not being okay, a fear of injury or a combination of the above.

A small amount of fear can have a positive effect on athletes and can be a stimulus to the body that it is time to compete when used properly. Fear often though is not a performance enhancement tool, because for most athletes, fear leads to contraction, tension, limited breathing, feelings of exhaustion and reduced ability to perform at their best.

Fear is a performance-inhibitor because for most of us, we are not aware when that small amount of fear that leads us to get up and train in the morning becomes too much. This is the result of not being aware of the degree to which fear is acting on the athlete at a given point. Fear runs in both the conscious and unconscious mind of the athlete and can eat at the athlete’s energy systems and immune system days before the actual competition for example.

The second performance limiting program which athletes are often attempting to perform while running is that of pain. Pain exists both physically and mentally. The physical pain that we as athletes experience is the most recognizable effect of playing sports at a high level. Physical pain shows its ugly face in soreness in our legs, arms or feeling as though we are going to be ill.

The feeling of being too tired to perform though is often blown out of proportion by physical pain and many athletes experience those performances where they pulled up a bit, because they feared the physical pain but after the performance realized that they still had plenty left in the tank. Physical pain limits performance, but unlike mental pain, we are often aware that physical pain exists and can make the appropriate adjustments.

Mental pain is the silent attacker that lurks in our unconscious until the moment is right to limit our performance, or the mental pain can limit our performance so consistently that we don’t even realize it is there. Mental pain is the result of our identity or beliefs about our performance being challenged by recent performances, or what is currently going in on our minds. The signs that an athlete is running a mental pain performance limiting program are often very similar to that of fear, in that athletes who are experiencing mental pain will often feel contractions, limited breathing and a decrease in energy and performance.

The third limiting performance program that affects athletes is that of difficulty. Thoughts like, “I can’t do it,” “This is too hard,” or “I’ll never be able to perform at this level…” are all examples of an athlete who is running a difficulty performance limiting program.

Just like mental pain, difficulty programs often run without the athlete even being aware that the program is running. Thoughts that start with “I hope” lead to the potential that the situation is too much for that athlete and restricts performance. Difficulty though often silent or out of the current athlete’s mind can have the exact same effect as an athlete who is running the pain program.

Each of the above programs kill performance. They restrict athletes from fully being able to experience what it is like to perform at their best, reach their full potential and play at a high level on a consistent basis. For most athletes their performances can be compared to riding a pedal bike up a hill with the brake on. I like this analogy because performing at an athlete’s full potential is tiring both physically and mentally like riding a bike up a steep hill even without the limiting factors. Add the resistance of the brake to the steep hill and it is easy to see how the athlete is unable to perform at their best, and why these athletes get tired quicker and take longer to recover after performing in their sport.

Don’t allow your mind to run the performance limiting programs like fear, pain and difficulty before, during or after each performance and you will feel as though you have released that brake on your ability to perform. The ability to perform free of the three programs above is not easy but by working together I am confident we can free you from the restraints that are holding you back from peak performance.

If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to email me at ssmith@absolutementaltraining.com or leave your thoughts below!