How to get your head back in the game when you’re losing

Athlete mental health is about day-to-day wellness in all areas of life, but it’s also about the ability to gain control of your mindset during game time. For example, when it’s fourth quarter and a team is down by 10 points, I focus more on what’s happening on the sideline than I do on what’s going on with the players in action. The way a player looks—his or her energy and expression—will tell me if a comeback is possible.

You can literally see the lights go out in some players’ eyes when they’re losing and fatigued. That’s when the turning point happens; you can see it in their eyes and know if they’re locked in or already defeated. That look becomes fuel for their opponents and energy for their teammates.

Even if a player feels that way, he or she can’t let anyone see it. In the mental health training that I do with athletes, we work on preparing for moments such as this one. We work to quickly recognize when a shift is happening so that the athlete can turn it around and become in charge of their body and their emotions instead of the other way around.

Here are a few tips for how to refocus and find your grinding point when you’re feeling down and out in the heat of a game.

1. Remember you worked too hard in training to give up. Your sweat, the vomit, your lungs hurting, the ice baths, the nutrition plan, what was it all for if you’re just going to give up?
2. What’s your hype song? Whatever that song is, sing it! Hype songs aren’t reserved for pre-game warm-ups.
3. What’s your why? There’s a reason you put yourself through a grueling schedule as an athlete. What is it? What’s your end game? What will you risk losing if you give up?
4. Re-up your belief that you’re better than your opponent. Have an inner conversation that boosts your confidence and hypes you up.

Bonus tip: Put mindfulness to practice.

When you feel yourself slipping into an unhealthy mindset during game time, this is when mindful meditation comes in handy because you can breathe and create the space to shake it off and refocus so you can easily let it go and let it flow.

Try this 3 Breathe Hype Meditation:

Here’s how it works. With each inhale and exhale, you’ll say the phrase below to yourself while picturing yourself acting on that phrase. Sometimes it also helps to make a physical connection by tapping one of your fingers in the palm of your hand with each breath. The key is to take each breath slowly and not rush it. You want to feel the transformation happening in your mindset. You may need to do this a couple of times in a row. Note that you can sub in any of the below phrases with ones of your choosing that bring you to a place of connection, clarity, and competitiveness where you clear out everything else around you.

• Inhale slowly, “Let it go.”
• Exhale slowly, “Let it go.”
• Inhale slowly, “Lock in.”
• Exhale slowly, “Lock in.”
• Inhale slowly, “I’m ready to grind.”
• Exhale slowly, “I’m ready to grind.”

If you practice mindfulness and meditation on a regular basis, you’ll be able to lock into this and let go much more quickly because you’ll already be in the practice of creating the space to let go of what’s not serving you and let it flow.

It’s up to you to keep yourself on track and locked in. Remember that when you’re losing, your opponent only has part of the control, but if you give up, they have all of the control.