How to Help Stop Players Crumbling Under Pressure

It’s common for players to feel the pressure of the game, especially when the stakes are high or if they are in unfamiliar territory. And whilst some players will thrive under pressure, others may crumble on court leaving you wondering why you put them on there in the first place. 

As coaches, we should think about how we mould our players into athletes. That means that training shouldn’t just be about the skills, drills and matchplay, but helping to prime our players for the mental battle they will be up against on court so that when in pressured situations they feel prepared and able to cope. 

If you have players that are crumbling under the pressure of a game, the first thing you need to do is identify what is causing them to underperform. What is the pressure they can’t handle? Is it the noise of a crowd? Is it that the defence are particularly aggressive and physical? Is it that they feel nervous and so underperform? Is it that they make poor decisions under pressure? Or is it something else? 

Once you have identified the cause, you can start to plan your sessions to replicate the same pressures that they might come up against in a game to help better prepare them next time. 

Let’s have a look at something I might do for a shooter who is struggling to reach high enough shooting percentage in a game.

First of all, I would have a chat with her away from the game (most probably on a different day when she has had time to process it) about her performance. In this conversation I would try to identify what it is that means that her shooting percentage decreased in a game. In my experience, shooters will usually confess one of the following:

• They feel nervous before the game that all the pressure is on them
• They get put off by tall defence marking the shot
• They are tired from getting free and can’t calm down before they take the shot

Depending on the answer, I would them make sure to work with the player in training to help them to overcome their nerves or to help them to deal with these pressures. I might suggest a breathing technique they can use before a game to help settle nerves. I might get my trusty fly swats out of my coaching bag and wave them in-front of them while they shoot to encourage them to ignore distractions. I might include more agility training within their shooting programme to encourage them to shoot under fatigue rather than statically. 

But remember, it’s never a quick fix. You need to take the time to get to know your players mindset in a game both as a team and individually to really help them to work together and not crumble under pressure.

Training athletes is not JUST about the stuff you do on court, but what you do surrounding that which allows your players to perform at their best.