Overwhelmed in the Game? Simplify: 3 Ways to Reduce Mental Load and Play Your Best

Host Valerie Alston explains how chaos in sports can overwhelm athletes by maxing out limited cognitive capacity, leading to slower processing, hesitation, rushed decisions, missed cues, and errors. Instead of trying to think more, she teaches listeners to simplify by focusing on “What’s important now?” and “What is my job for the next five seconds?” She shares three practical tools to reduce mental load: narrowing to a single controllable cue (“the win”), grounding in the present with “feet and breath” or a physical anchor, and using a practiced reset routine—release, refocus, respond. She also advises parents and coaches to avoid adding to athletes’ cognitive load with too many instructions, especially for younger kids, and offers a weekly challenge to build a personalized chaos-to-composure plan plus family discussion questions.

00:00 Simplify the Chaos

00:41 Meet the Host

01:54 Why Overwhelm Happens

04:23 Cognitive Overload Signs

06:09 Whats Important Now

08:45 Grounding in the Moment

12:22 Reset Routine Steps

15:48 Parents and Coaches Cues

18:31 Weekly Challenge Plan

19:49 Car Ride Questions

23:03 Wrap Up and Next Steps

Discussion questions:

1. What does it feel like in your body or mind when a game starts becoming too chaotic?
2. What is one situation in your sport where you tend to think about too many things at once?
3. When that situation happens, what could your ‘What’s Important Now?’ answer be?”
4. What role do your parents play in adding to the chaos? Are there things they do during games that add to the chaos?

Thanks for joining me on Confident, Calm, and Clutch Car Ride Conversations! If you found this episode helpful, please subscribe to the podcast so you never miss a moment. Share it with other parents or coaches who could use a little extra inspiration on the go.

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For more specific tips on building mental toughness, buy my book Confident, Calm and Clutch: How to build confidence and mental toughness for young athletes using sports psychology

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Questions? Comments? Ideas? Email me: valerie.alston@valstoncoaching.com

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