r/sportspsychology

I compete in gaming tournaments frequently and recently got into a discussion about how mental blocks, overthinking, and anxiety stall growth in competitive scenarios. A friend recommended The Inner Game of Tennis by W. Timothy Gallwey.

I know traditional sports psychology translates well to esports and competitive games, but I wanted to ask those who have read it and compete regularly:

Did it noticeably impact your mindset, execution, or how you handle tournament pressure?

Are there specific concepts from it that helped you break through a performance plateau?

Would you recommend picking it up, or are there other sports psychology books you’d suggest?

I (21 Male) getting burn out from playing ultimate frisbee. I've been playing ultimate frisbee for 3 years and I love ultimate it is the most fun sport I have played and I dreamt to be good at it and hoping to get into nationals. Currently I have difficulty on improving and have the doubt I will not make it in any club teams in my city. Part of me thinks the reason any club teams won't accept me because of circulating gossip, I made a bad reputation of myself few years back of me being to hard headed, anger issues, competitive, and small hearted that I cant take any harsh opinions and doesn't like to lose. through out I play I tried to fix myself I still do those things but lesser. I learn how to control my emotions more. Through of playing I still have the pressure of people looking down at me.

Currently I just got into my college team and I feel great about it but at the same time the same pressure is getting to me because my college is the 4 time champion and looking forward for the 5th champion on ultimate frisbee. And also seeing my friends getting into the club teams I dreamt being part of. I know doubting is a bad thing for an athlete but I do question for my progression especially my dream to be good and hope one day I get into national in ultimate frisbee. It is hard for me especially my parents doesn't support me and I don't have anyone to share what I'm going through that will understand I don't expect anyone will get me but I just want to be good and hopes of reaching my goals.

I know I am young but I want opinion and advices that could help me and not make me quit from the sport. Thank you for the time on reading this.

I’m posting this because I genuinely want some perspective from other parents, especially parents of high school athletes. I’m trying to figure out whether I’m looking at this the wrong way or if what happened with my son really is something worth being concerned about.

My son recently tried out for his high school golf team. He was excited about it and took the tryout seriously. His school has one of the biggest athletic programs in the state which he also was excited to be apart of. What happened during those tryouts, though, ended up being very different from what I expected…

My son’s tryout consisted of the players playing 9 holes, with the kids keeping track of each other’s scores. So essentially, they were responsible for recording the score of the person they were playing with. My son was paired with two boys that played on the team last year. These two boys were telling each others what scores to put on their cards and encouraged my son to do the same. My son refused because he wanted to keep his score honestly. On several holes they would hit it to
The green and pick the ball up without putting and giving the other person their score. Then proceeded to tell my son that “this was just a free round of golf” and “everyone would make the team anyway”. The WORST part, one of those boys vaped during the entire tryout!

Then, a week or so goes by and they get called into the coaches room and he informs them he got word someone cheated so they would be having a second tryout. So my son being the honest person he is goes to the coaches room and lets him know the boys he was paired with cheated and his response was “I find that hard to believe since I’ve seen them play” and you can only imagine how upset he was the coach basically told him “I don’t believe you”. So after he tells me this I was livid and contacted the coach about everything that happened. He assured me he was handling it but also told me he felt 90% of golf is honesty.. (obviously not)

Fast forward to the second tryout my son hears if he’s the one that told, he’ll get beat up and he also felt like he got special treatment from the coach. Now I feel terrible for being labeled the “snitch” and getting targeted.
The cherry on top of this all is he didn’t make the team but the boys that cheated and vaped did.

That’s where I’m struggling. I completely understand that my son may not have been good enough to make the team, and I don’t want to assume that his score was the only factor in the coaches’ decisions. But I’m having a hard time with the idea that he was put in a situation where he was encouraged to cheat, chose not to, and then watched kids who did make the team. Also, I know I shouldn’t have got involved.

I’m really looking for perspective from parents of athletes or any parent . Am I overreacting for wanting to take this to someone higher up?

I’m a golf coach, and I’ve been thinking about how coaches balance guidance and athlete autonomy when working with junior athletes.

I believe junior athletes have their own thoughts, preferences, and ways of experiencing movement. Being young doesn’t mean they are unable to make meaningful judgments about their own performance.

At the same time, coaching involves giving feedback, providing structure, and sometimes challenging an athlete’s interpretation or decision.

For example, if a junior athlete says, “This movement feels better to me,” I want to take that experience seriously. But I may also believe that what feels better right now is not necessarily what will help them develop in the long term.

This makes me wonder how other coaches decide where to draw the line.

How can a coach give clear or even strong guidance while still respecting an athlete’s ability to think, choose, and take responsibility?

I’m particularly interested in how coaches approach this with junior athletes compared with professional athletes.

For coaches working with juniors:

• What kinds of decisions do you let athletes make for themselves?
• When do you step in and make a decision for them?
• How much do you involve yourself in training habits or lifestyle?
• At what point can guidance become taking responsibility away from the athlete?

I’m interested in hearing about real coaching experiences

Hi everyone,
I'm a goalkeeper dealing with a specific physical reaction before games, and I’m looking for insights or advice.
Right before matches with my current team, I get intense physical nerves. Specifically, my legs turn completely to jelly—they feel like pudding, and it feels as though all strength and explosiveness just vanish.
What makes this strange to me:
It only happens with this specific team. I haven't had this issue in other setups.
Mentally, I feel completely fine. I am not afraid of making mistakes; I genuinely accept that errors are just part of the game and I don't feel conscious panic or dread.
Yet, despite my mind being calm, my nervous system seems to react entirely on its own, and the physical symptoms take over.
Has anyone experienced this disconnect between a calm mind and an overreactive body? Any techniques, somatic exercises, or pre-match routines to get my body to listen and regain physical strength?
Thanks in advance.