Playoff Preparation
How the best get ready for tomorrow's games
Playoff-ready performance is a function of high quality practice and high quality mental preparation.
Here’s what that mental preparation looks like.
Game Plan
When we think of game plans, we often think of technical or tactical success. But the truth is, having a competition plan that you believe you can execute and that will allow you to win is a major source of confidence and psychological readiness.
You need to believe your plan can work and have stress tested it in practice. You also need to believe you can execute it and understand what it looks like done well. Finally, you need to know how you can adjust and have confidence in your training so that when the plan inevitably needs to be fixed, you already have the fix planned.
Goals
The obvious one here is the goal to win.
Underneath that though are a bunch of process and performance goals you need to focus on to get there.
Having a clear goal for your own individual performance lets you identify what you can control that contributes to the larger win (especially in a team sport).
Write it down and focus maniacally on that.
Imagery
I’m a big believer in taking mental reps. The more you practice imagery, the better you get. There’s good data to support that.
In preparation for the biggest games, 2 kinds of imagery are useful. The first is seeing yourself succeed. The second is seeing yourself execute well.
If you can do this leading up to the performance, you’ll have gotten more practice getting it right and be more likely to nail it when the time comes.
Self-Talk
In a recent edition of this publication, I showed you what world-class self-talk looks like from NFL Champion Aaron Donald.
Getting the voice in your head right is critical for delivering under the greatest pressure and brightest lights. It’s less about whether the voice is positive or negative, and more about if it’s helpful for pushing you toward the peak.
Get your inner narrative right, and confidence soars, focus improves, and the ability to self-regulate increases - all facilitating peak performance.
Arousal Regulation
You need to keep your nerves in check when you’re performing under pressure.
Turning stress into a challenge boils down to controlling the pace of your breathing, framing it as an opportunity, and focusing on giving your best effort.
Suggested practices here include box breathing, focal cueing, grounding, and reframing.
Expect to Win
Last, but perhaps most important, is to have the belief that your team can win.
You need to expect that your team will win. It’s not quite a self-fulfilling prophecy, but anything short of expecting to win allows doubt to creep in and sets the scene for underperformance.
With a solid game plan, controlled mindset, adaptive self-talk, and a clear recognition of the opportunity ahead, there’s no reason to expect anything other than a W.
If you’re getting ready for a big performance, ask yourself which of these areas you could improve or optimize. Then, get to work.