All Eyes On Your Ride
Are you someone who feels uncomfortable when people are watching you perform, whether it’s during practice or competition? If so, why do you think that is?
The reasons behind not wanting to be watched are endless, but people commonly don’t want others to witness their mistakes or have others think that they are bad at their sport. It would be nice to never make a mistake during practice or competition in front of others and to have everyone think highly of you as an athlete or performer, but these scenarios are just not realistic. If you are human, then you are going to make mistakes. No matter how high up in sport a professional athlete may be, they also make mistakes from time to time. It may seem impossible to think of John French, Beezie Madden, Michael Jordan, or Serena Williams making a performance error, but it does happen. People have witnessed their errors, and their respected statuses in each of their sports has not changed. Even if someone holds a negative opinion of these elite athletes, their talent and vast successes still stand.
Worrying about people witnessing your performance may feel like a genuine concern but doing so will only take so much away from your performance. Since the brain can only focus on one item at a time, your focus should solely be on the current task at hand during your performance. If your thoughts wander to the people watching you perform, then your thoughts are no longer connected to your performance. With that shift in attention, mistakes have a much higher likelihood to occur since room has been made for them to creep in. The best performances occur when the athletes are immersed in their sport, not when their attention is on the audience members. Performances with a distracted focus, even if their attention is on something other than the audience, will turn out to be subpar at best. If your thoughts are not centered around what you need to accomplish in the moment, then it will show in your performance. Even if having an audience is bothersome, it’s not worth acknowledging for the sake of the success of your performance.
Of course, we all want to perform well and make a good impression. Unfortunately, trying to force these things to happen will only cause your performance to struggle. Instead, perform as if no one is watching or as if no one cares. Most people are so preoccupied with themselves that they’re not focused on others, even with their eyes on you. Chances are, they may be in sitting in the audience, but their attention is elsewhere. Even if they are harshly judging you, remember that other people’s thoughts and opinions are completely out of your control, and therefore don’t matter. What does matter is your preparation, mentality, and current performance, which are all in your direct control. Listen to the corrections from your coach rather than the negative opinion of some random spectator. Take the pressure off yourself by forgetting about who is watching you, and shift that focus to the present moment. You can’t control the thoughts and actions of others, but you can set your focus on your own performance.
Take some time to think about the level of significance of spectators. Although they are watching you perform, their presence doesn’t have to affect your performance in any way. Remember to stay connected to your performance by keeping your thoughts in the present moment and not letting them drift anywhere else. If you would like to further work on this, please contact me to get started!
