How do you deal with pressure?

Many football fans expect Sunday’s 55th Super Bowl to be close – extremely close. At this writing, I see where 11 of 15 “expert prognosticators” have the Kansas City Chiefs, led by 25-year-old quarterback Patrick Mahomes, beating the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, led by 43-year-old quarterback Tom Brady, by three points. But you can never tell. Tampa Bay could come out on top, and by more than three points.

Whatever the case, pressure is going to come into play. There’s always pressure at Super Bowl kickoff time, continuing throughout the game and, as many people expect, there will probably be increasing pressure toward the end of the game. It’s at such times you’ve probably heard people say, “Big players make big plays in big games.” Even though this may be considered a rather trite statement, it’s so precise. 

Whether in a Super Bowl or some other contest in the spotlight, the ability of athletes and coaches to handle pressure determines to a large degree whether or not they will succeed. Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher Christy Mathewson said, “It’s in the clutch you show whether or not you are a big-leaguer. Pressure is the acid test. That’s the reason so many who shine in the minor leagues fail to make good in the major leagues.” 

Mathewson’s words deal with a description of attitude combined with preparation. His words explain why some participants are good “practice players” but poor performers in pressure situations. In practice, they are loose, relaxed and fluid, exhibiting a competitive intensity. When game time arrives, however, they deal unsuccessfully with pressure, which actually slows down their mental and physical actions and reactions. 

When participants handle pressure well, they often perform better than they ordinarily are. When they handle pressure poorly, they usually perform worse than they ordinarily are. This, of course, is not relegated to sports. People react to pressure in all areas of life. Some people produce and grow as a result of pressure situations in business, school, family and other situations. Some falter and shrink.

What makes the difference? It’s more than just “talking the talk.” It also involves being ready to “walk the walk.” I have been in locker rooms prior to big games when I could sense the team would rise to the occasion, overachieve and win the contest. I have also been in locker rooms when I could sense the right attitude or “mental toughness” was not present. Rather than an air of positive expectations, there was a fear of failure, a lack of confidence, a lack of motivation emanating from the participants.

The same winning or losing atmospheres are evident in businesses, schools, families and other institutions. 

Noted psychologist Abraham Maslow studied human behavior at its most elevating and personally satisfying levels. He found outstanding performers under pressure have a sense of being (1) totally and intensely committed to the task at hand (2) fully confident in their preparations and abilities to carry-out the preparations and (3) in control of the situation.

This type of mental condition leads to personally pleasurable performances that surpass ordinary expectations. According to Maslow, “The powers of the person come together in a particularly efficient and intensely enjoyable way, in which the person is more integrated, more open for experience, more perfectly expressive or spontaneous or fully functioning, more creative, more truly himself or herself, more perfectly actualizing inherent potentialities, more fully human.” 

Anytime we can be totally and intensely committed, confidently prepared and precisely focused, we have a strong possibility of feeling in control of a situation rather than being controlled by the situation. Therefore, we give ourselves an opportunity to perform well under pressure in sports, business, family and life.  

? 2021 by Carl Mays, National Speakers Hall of Fame member and author of over a dozen books, including A Strategy For Winning (foreword by Coach Lou Holtz). Email: [email protected].