Many of the athletes I work with focus too much on having the perfect performance or fixate on how they will appear to others (such as teammates, parents, coaches) when performing. The need to execute flawlessly or to look good in competition undermines performance during competitive situations.
Perfectionists are stuck in a web of anxiety and are held back from reaching their goals. You have to let go of trying for the perfect performance or error-free game and focus on performing functionally. This means getting the job done and not worrying about how it feels or looks to others. Play to score instead of play to be perfect in your performance. Tennis coach Brad Gilbert calls this Winning Ugly.
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