Very dedicated, hard-working athletes who have fear of failure make the classic mistake of focusing too much on avoiding failure rather than striving for success. Your athletes either strive for success or try to avoid failure and mistakes. Athletes who are anxious when they perform or often worry about mistakes, most likely are in the fear of failure category.
Tell your athletes that focusing on not hitting a ball in the water or to not strike out only bring these more into your athlete’s awareness. The plan for helping your athletes strive for success it to set positive goals for their performance before competition and help them focus on what they want to accomplish rather than fear what they don’t want to have happen.
Check out the Mental Game Coaching Professional course for more information on coaching the mental game.