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While the concept of being clutch cannot be quantified it is something that every athlete hopes to be known as. Any serious athlete wants to be the one who takes the last shot, catches the winning touchdown, knocks in the game winning hit at the bottom of the ninth. Working on becoming more clutch is something that can be achieved with some dedication and effort.

The first key is that you must understand that nervousness is not the same as pressure. Feeling nervous is controllable, pressure is simply a situation. If nerves are controllable and pressure is a situation then the best answer for them is practice. Changing your practice habits will help you become more comfortable in those “clutch” situations. Start placing yourself in tough situations during practice; prepare yourself for what you might face during adversity.

Next you should have a plan. Make sure this plan includes your strategy for the event, any routines your plan to use, as well as your plan for when the pressure picks up.  You always want to be prepared, waiting until the last moment before it means something is too late.  At that point you cannot think as clearly and logical as you would if you planned ahead.  Why add more pressure because you are not prepared?

Finally,  make sure your intensity doesn’t change too much.  Mostly you want to keep the same level of intensity as you normally would because we are more comfortable planning at that level.  The misconception is that intensity means more focused where in reality too high of intensity levels make for less focus.  Work to find your optimal level of intensity and make sure that’s where you stay.

For more information about mental performance as well as overall athletic performance enhancement check out our websites. The links are on the left of the page.

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