By: Neil Wattier, Mental Coach for Athletes, Parents, and Coaches
Have you ever been in a situation where fear or nerves seemed to take over? Maybe you were about to take the game-winning shot, step up to bat with two outs, or compete in a big race, and suddenly, your heart pounded, your hands got sweaty, and you felt frozen. Fear and anxiety are natural responses to pressure, but the good news is your brain can learn to overcome them.
Recent research has shown your brain has a built-in system to help you manage fear and perform better under pressure. By understanding how this works, you can train your mind just like you train your body. Let’s break it down and, more importantly, talk about how you can use this knowledge to gain a mental edge in sports.
“I am not afraid of storms, for I am learning how to sail my ship.”
– Louisa May Alcott
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Fear Is a Reaction—Confidence Is a Skill
Fear is not just in your head; it’s a real, physical response. When your brain perceives a threat, it triggers a “fight, flight, or freeze” response. This is useful when you’re in actual danger (like facing a bear in the woods), but in sports, it often works against you. Your mind sees pressure as a threat, and instead of reacting with confidence, you may hesitate, second-guess yourself, or feel overwhelmed.
But here’s the key: Your brain can learn to overcome fear through repetition and controlled exposure. This means the more you face high-pressure situations in training, the better your brain gets at staying calm and performing well when it matters most.
How Your Brain Learns to Suppress Fear
A recent study by Sara Mederos et al (2025) discovered a part of your brain, called the visual cortex, helps you learn when fear is unnecessary. When you repeatedly experience something that originally caused fear (like missing a free throw in front of a crowd) without significant consequences, another part of your brain, the ventrolateral geniculate nucleus (vLGN), stores the learning. Essentially, your brain “rewires” itself to recognize the situation isn’t truly dangerous, and the fear response gets weaker over time.
Think of it like this: The first time you rode a bike, you were probably nervous about falling. But after enough practice, your brain stopped sending those fear signals, and now you don’t even think about it. The same thing happens in sports—if you train properly, your brain will adapt and stop triggering fear in high-pressure moments.
Training Your Brain: Practical Steps for Athletes
Now we know your brain can learn to suppress fear, how can you actually train it? Here are five powerful ways to build confidence and improve performance under pressure:
Repeated Exposure to Pressure Situations
Your brain learns by experience. The more often you put yourself in pressure-filled scenarios during practice, the better you’ll handle them in real competition. Coaches can help by designing drills to mimic real-game stress.
✅ Example: If you’re a basketball player who struggles with free throws in games, don’t just shoot casually in practice. Instead, set up a scenario where you need to hit two in a row before leaving the gym. This forces your brain to adjust to pressure in a safe environment.
Breathing and Relaxation Techniques
When fear kicks in, your body tenses up. Learning to control your breathing helps you stay calm and focused.
✅ Try this: Use 4-7-8 Breathing—inhale for four seconds, hold for seven seconds, calmly exhale through pursed lips for eight seconds. Practicing this regularly will help your brain and body stay composed in stressful moments.
Visualization and Mental Rehearsal
Your brain doesn’t know the difference between real and imagined experiences. When you visualize yourself succeeding under pressure, your brain treats it like actual practice.
✅ Drill: Before a big game, close your eyes and picture yourself executing with excellence. See yourself staying calm, making the right play, and feeling confident. Do this daily, and your brain will be prepared when the real moment arrives.
Use Healthy Self-Talk
What you say to yourself matters. Unhealthy thoughts like “I always choke under pressure” reinforce fear. Instead, replace them with empowering statements.
✅ Examples:
“I’ve trained for this—I'm ready.”
“Pressure is a privilege.”
“I perform my best when it matters most.”
The more you repeat healthy statements, the more they become your default mindset.
Reframe Fear as Excitement
Fear and excitement feel almost the same in your body—your heart races and adrenaline kicks in. Instead of labeling the feeling as fear, tell yourself it’s excitement.
✅ Shift your mindset: Instead of saying, “I’m so nervous,” say, “I’m pumped for this challenge.” This simple shift helps your brain interpret pressure in a productive way.
Advice for Parents and Coaches
As a parent or coach, you play a critical role in helping young athletes develop a strong mental game. Here’s how you can support them:
Create a Safe Learning Environment: Encourage kids to take risks without fear of harsh criticism. Let them know mistakes are part of the learning process.
Model Composure: If you stay calm under pressure, athletes are more likely to do the same. Your energy affects them more than you realize.
Celebrate Effort, Not Just Results: Praise hard work, smart decision-making, and resilience—not just wins or stats. This builds long-term confidence.
Encourage Process Goals: Instead of focusing only on outcomes (“We have to win this game”), emphasize controllable goals (“Let’s focus on great communication and effort”).
Confidence Is Built, Not Born
Fear is natural, but it doesn’t have to control you. With intentional training, your brain can learn to handle pressure, stay composed, and perform at your best when it matters most.
The best athletes in the world aren’t fearless—they’ve just trained their minds to handle fear better than everyone else. You can do the same. Start implementing these strategies today, and watch your confidence grow.
Pressure isn’t something to fear. It’s something to train for. And when you train your mind the right way, pressure becomes an opportunity to shine.
References
Sara Mederos et al., Overwriting an instinct: Visual cortex instructs learning to suppress fear responses.Science387,682-688(2025).DOI:10.1126/science.adr2247
Neuroscience News. https://neurosciencenews.com/fear-threat-neuroscience-28401/
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