Why Do Young Athletes Struggle Under Pressure?
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A young athlete can look confident in training all week, then seem like a completely different player when competition starts.
They hesitate. They overthink. They stop taking the chances they would normally take. Sometimes a parent will tell me, “We know what they can do — we just don’t see it when it matters.”
This is something I regularly see when working with young athletes. It can happen in football, rugby, boxing, martial arts and individual sports. And importantly, it doesn’t necessarily mean there is anything wrong with their ability.
Often, the problem is what happens between training and competition — psychologically.
Why training can feel completely different
Training is generally a safer environment. Mistakes are expected, there is another attempt coming, and the consequences of getting something wrong are relatively small.
Competition changes that.
Suddenly there may be coaches watching, parents on the touchline, teammates depending on them, selection decisions and an opponent actively trying to beat them.
For some young athletes, the internal message gradually changes from:
“Let’s see what I can do.”
to:
“Don’t mess this up.”
That distinction matters.
Research into competitive anxiety has consistently shown that anxiety can affect attention, decision-making and performance in sport. When athletes become preoccupied with the consequences of making mistakes, some of the mental resources normally available for performing the task become occupied by worry and self-monitoring.
When thinking starts getting in the way
One of the interesting things about sport is that the athlete usually already knows how to perform the skill.
The footballer doesn't suddenly forget how to pass a ball. The boxer hasn't forgotten how to move. The rugby player hasn't lost the ability they demonstrated three days earlier in training.
But under pressure, attention can shift.
Instead of responding naturally to what is happening, the young athlete may start consciously monitoring themselves:
What if I lose the ball?
What will the coach think?
What if I get taken off?
What if I let everyone down?
The more attention that goes towards those thoughts, the less attention is available for what is actually happening in front of them.
This is one reason simply telling a nervous young athlete to “be confident” often doesn't achieve very much.
Confidence is usually better built through experiences, preparation and learning how to respond to pressure.
Fear of mistakes can make athletes play safe
This is another pattern I see.
A young athlete who is frightened of making mistakes may gradually become more cautious. Rather than trying something and potentially getting it wrong, they choose the safest option.
From the outside, that can look like a lack of confidence or even a lack of effort.
Internally, something very different may be happening.
They are trying to protect themselves from failure.
Unfortunately, avoiding mistakes can reinforce the belief that mistakes are dangerous. Helping an athlete develop a healthier response to errors is therefore an important part of developing mental resilience.
The aim isn't to convince them that they will never make mistakes.
They will.
The aim is to help them recognise that a mistake doesn't have to determine what happens next.
What parents can do
Parents understandably want to help, particularly when they can see their child becoming frustrated.
But the conversation immediately after competition can be important.
A detailed analysis of everything that went wrong isn't always what a disappointed young athlete needs on the journey home.
Instead, I generally prefer questions that encourage reflection without judgement:
“What went well today?”
“What did you learn?”
“What would you do differently next time?”
This moves the conversation away from winning versus failing and towards learning.
It also helps the young person take some ownership of their performance rather than becoming dependent upon adults telling them whether they performed well.
Can sports psychology help?
Sports psychology isn't about removing every nervous feeling.
Some nerves are completely normal and can actually be useful. Competition is supposed to matter.
The goal is to help the athlete perform with those feelings present, rather than needing to feel completely calm before they can perform.
Depending upon the individual athlete, I may work on areas including:
- managing pre-competition nerves
- confidence and self-belief
- responding to mistakes
- attentional control and focus
- breathing and physiological regulation
- imagery and mental rehearsal
- pre-performance routines
- more helpful responses to setbacks
There isn't one technique that works for every young athlete. Their sport, personality, age, experiences and particular pressure points all matter.
That is why I prefer to understand the athlete first rather than immediately trying to “fix” the symptom.
Building the mental side of sport
I've spent more than 25 years working with confidence, performance and behaviour, including running a martial arts academy and working with young people long before moving further into sports psychology.
One thing that experience has reinforced is that young athletes don't just need technical skills.
They also have to learn what to do when they're nervous, when something goes wrong, when confidence drops and when somebody else appears better than them.
Those are psychological skills — and like physical skills, they can be practised.
Today I work with young athletes aged 9–16 across East Yorkshire and online, using evidence-based approaches drawn from sport and performance psychology alongside techniques from CBT, ACT, imagery, mindfulness and hypnotherapy where appropriate.
My Youth Sports Mindset Programme provides six structured sessions for young athletes who need more than an occasional confidence boost and want to develop the mental side of their performance.
Youth Sports Psychology / Youth Sports Mindset Programme
If you're unsure whether that level of support is appropriate for your child, you can also book a short consultation first. It gives us an opportunity to discuss what is happening, without assuming in advance that sports psychology is necessarily the answer.