Are you hesitant in your performances because you’re afraid of what might happen if you fail? Failure is a common and rational fear we all as humans experience. To fail is to make a mistake which in the mindset world, it’s often encouraged! This just means you have areas to improve on. However, when athletes are afraid to fail this is where their performance hinders and can truly affect their mental state in all aspects of their sport and outside of sport. Luckily, in this article I will break down how to overcome fear of failure in sports so you can perform without any limitations and feel good while doing so.
What Is Fear of Failure
Fear of failure is the internal belief that making mistakes or not achieving a goal means you’re not good enough, weak, or unworthy. It can appear as anxiety, perfectionism, hesitation, or self-doubt before or during a performance. When it comes to fear it’s much more than just losing, it’s about what losing or failing might reflect about you as an athlete.
Studies have shown that fear of failure is a common cause of stress among athletes, with percentages ranging from 30% to 60%. (National Library of Medicine, 2023).
In a game time scenario, you might exhibit fear of failure if you tend to hold back, play tight, or overthink simple moves you have trained for countless hours in the past. In extreme cases, fear of failure can cause athletes to avoid competition altogether.
Cause of Fear of Failure in Sports
Breaking it down in simple terms, our brain tries to avoid pain and fear at all costs and thrive when seeking pleasure and safety. When we have had a past experience where we failed or made a mistake and we were shamed or not supported, our brain stores that memory and creates a belief that “I am not good enough”. This limiting belief is where the fear to fail again comes from. This explains why when we are in a performance even after training and practicing for hours and hours, that past experience can often pop up during a competition and those feelings of shame and self doubt follow, causing fear of losing in sports.
Other causes of fear of failure in sports may be:
- High Expectations (Internal and External): Athletes can often feel pressure from parents, coaches, or themselves to always perform at their best often leading to burnout. This pressure can make failure seem unacceptable and create even further limiting beliefs as to why we need to avoid failure at all costs.
- Perfectionism: When athletes believe that anything less than perfect is a failure, it creates a fear of making mistakes, even small ones. When making small mistakes, fear of making bigger ones becomes catastrophic and puts athletes in a low quality state before performances in fear of any sort of mistakes, big or small.
- Judgment from Others: Athletes may worry about being criticized, benched, or losing respect from teammates and coaches. This adds to the limiting beliefs that failing means you are not good enough compared to your teammates or opponents.
- Identity Tied to Performance: When athletes believe their self-worth depends on winning or being the best, failure feels like a personal attack on who they are. That means when failure does occur, it can be extremely detrimental to the mental state of the athlete moving forward in other performances and outside of sports.
How Fear of Failure Hurts You as an Athlete
The key to overcoming fear of failure is being curious as to where the fear comes from. Knowing why you are afraid will make it easier to notice when the feelings associated with fear (anxiety, doubt etc…) pop up before or during competition.
Here are some ways you can overcome fear of failure in your performance:
- Redefine Failure: Instead of seeing failure as a reflection of your worth, view it as feedback, a necessary part of growth and one step closer to mastering your sport.
- Use Mental Imagery: Visualize yourself succeeding, staying calm under pressure, and bouncing back from mistakes. Be as descriptive as possible as our brain loves direction. This will also help to build confidence and resilience.
- Growth Mindset: Adopting a growth mindset and understanding our abilities are not set (fixed mindset), we have the opportunity to learn and persist in spite of failure.
- Talk About It: Share your fears with a coach, your friends and family or even a mindset coach. Bringing fear into the open takes away its power and intentions.
At ELITE, we like to say, to FAIL is just our First Attempt In Learning. Fear of failure DOES NOT make you weak it, makes you human! The key is to lean in with curiosity regarding your fears, not work against them. When you change how you view failure using the mindset strategies discussed in this article, you can unlock a level of focus and fearlessness that allows you to perform at your highest level and feel good while doing it.
Ready to concur your own fears?
If you’re ready to shift your mindset and get one step closer to your performance goals, click to schedule a free 30-minute consultation. Let’s work together and strengthen your mind and body to prepare you for success.
Beatrice Hipolito
Athletic Mindset Coach
Beatrice holds a B.A. in Psychology and a Brain Training for Athletes Certification from Elite, combining academic insight with her experience as a competitive dancer. She supports athletes facing performance anxiety, confidence issues, and major transitions.
