EXCELLING UNDER PRESSURE: UNLOCKING YOUR POTENTIAL AT THE (YOUTH) WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS
As August approaches, the most significant climbing competitions of the year are on the horizon—the adult and youth World Championships. While the adult event takes place in Bern, Switzerland, serving as the first Olympic qualifying event for Paris 2024, this year's Youth Worlds will be held in South Korea. For many climbers, these events represent the pinnacle of their careers, yet the pressure to perform can lead to unmet expectations and missed opportunities.
Picture by Eddie Folk -IFSC - at the World Championships in Hachioji 2019
In this blog post, we will explore strategies to help youth and adult competition climbers overcome the mental challenges they may face and deliver their best performance when it counts.
The inner struggle: Excelling when it matters
Competing in the (Youth) World Championships is a significant milestone for competitive climbers, representing the culmination of countless training sessions and accompanied by high expectations. It's no surprise that powerful emotions run rampant.
However, what happens when the magnitude of the event and performance pressure overwhelm these (young) climbers? Every climber, regardless of experience, has faced moments when, despite thorough preparation and optimal conditions, their stomach knots, legs feel weak, thoughts vanish, and doubts overshadow their abilities. They might try to climb more controlled, trying to avoid risk taking – something that comes at the cost of most likely not being able to recall their performance, particularly in modern route setting. In hindsight, we then often hear explanations or read Social Media posts like "today wasn't my day" or "luck just wasn't on my side".
The impact of performance anxiety
Other names for performance anxiety are anxiety, nervousness, blockade, blackout, choking under pressure, stage fright, stress, over-excitement, panic, or mental screen, just to name a few. Of course, no one wants to experience performance anxiety – it can feel scary, unsettling, maybe even paralysing. However, as much as these states are undesirable, they are an inherent part of the experience. In sports psychology, it is also referred to as "arousal," a non-judgemental, neutral term denoting our inner state of activation. Unfortunately, the negative connotation associated with high arousal levels often overshadows its original purpose: a physiological response to prepare the body for fight-or-flight in dangerous situations, facilitating rapid adaptation and survival.
Finding our optimal arousal state
Elite sporting performances, such as those expected in Switzerland or South Korea in August, require a delicate balance between sufficient arousal and over-arousal. Climbers who are able to find their optimal personal arousal in the moment (depending on the route, boulder or general circumstances) will have a better chance of being able to recall their optimal performance.
How to deal with pressure
Independently on how well they are prepared, there can always be circumstances when climbers fail to reach their optimal arousal level (for whatever reason), and nervousness takes hold. In such situations, their rational, cognitive resources which they need for logical thinking and planning (located in the frontal cortex) might be affected, and their limbic system in the amygdala, which is responsible for emotional reactions and threat recognition, takes over. As a consequence, their fear and nervousness levels increase, they experience chaos ensues, and the feeling of failure amplifies.
The weight of expectations
Qualifying for and participating in the (Youth) World Championships is by itself a huge achievement for all climbers. They possibly experience a lot of pride, excitement and joy. But as we are all social beings, they are not immune to external expectations from coaches, parents, teammates, and fans, as well as their own internal pressures. They thoroughly prepare themselves to perform at their best when it counts, and hence develop expectations of performing well and receive recognition for their achievements. However, the less experienced they are with handling pressure situations and defeats, the more overwhelming this weight of emotional overload can be.
In order to be prepared in the best possible way, to develop a “tool box” of (mental) strategies and a mental routine, mental preparation should be a crucial component for every major event. Self talk strategies, routine development, relaxation vs activation strategies are just a few of conventional strategies that should be mentioned here. Furthermore, we can highly recommend embodiment techniques—strategies that integrate the mind and body. We know from research that our movements, postures, rhythm, and direction significantly influence our state of mind, emotions, memory, and action.
Common embodiment techniques include basic breathing exercises such as relaxation breathing which should be practised in and alongside training. The more experience athletes gain with this technique, the faster the body learns to calm down quickly through targeted exhalation, and hence, negative emotions can be regulated. In the end, this technique can be applied during the competition as part of a pre-competition routine.
In order to regulate emerging negative stress, it can also help to formulate a positive message for oneself, such as "I have trained well and can do this!" or "I am strong and ready!". In this way, attention is controlled and emotionally desired states become possible again.
What pre-competition routines have helped you in the past? How do you mentally prepare for important competitions?