Tryouts are different. You aren’t just playing your sport – you’re being evaluated while you play your sport. Every shift, rep, mistake, drill, and interaction can suddenly feel like it matters more.

Did the coach see that mistake? Am I doing enough? How do I compare to everyone else? What if I don’t make the team?

That’s exactly where many athletes get into trouble.

In Part 1 of this series, we explored how to build your mental performance foundation before the season begins – goals, confidence, self-talk, visualization, reset strategies, and performance routines. Now it’s time to put those skills to work, because tryouts test more than your physical and technical abilities. They test how well you can access those abilities under pressure.

Here are the most common mental traps athletes fall into during tryouts – and what to do instead.

​

_______________

​

1. You Start Overthinking Everything

One of the most common things athletes say during tryouts is: “I’m stuck in my head.” Suddenly you’re consciously thinking about things you normally do automatically – Where should I be? Was that the right decision? Is my technique right?

Some thinking is necessary, but excessive conscious control of well-learned skills can interfere with automatic execution – a phenomenon sometimes called reinvestment, where athletes consciously try to control movements that normally happen without thought. Your job during a tryout isn’t to coach yourself through every movement. It’s to prepare, read, react, and trust.

Try this: Choose one simple performance cue – “quick feet,” “attack,” “eyes up,” “trust it” – and use it to direct your attention toward execution rather than analysis.

​

2. You’re Trying Not to Fail

There’s an important difference between playing to perform and playing not to make a mistake. When athletes become overly concerned about being evaluated, they get cautious – they stop taking chances, hesitate, and choose the safest option. The irony is that trying desperately to avoid mistakes can prevent coaches from seeing what you’re actually capable of.

Your objective shouldn’t be mistake-free performance. It should be committed performance – the right focus, intensity, and compete level. If you’re going to make a mistake, make it while fully committed to the play.

Try this: Before stepping onto the ice, field, court, or floor, ask “What would competing confidently look like today?” – then commit to behaving that way.

​

3. Your Self-Talk Turns Against You

One mistake happens. Then comes the commentary: “That was terrible.” “I’m blowing this.” “Coach definitely saw that.” “I’m not going to make this team.” The mistake may have lasted two seconds – your reaction to it can affect the next five minutes.

Self-talk is a well-supported performance strategy, but effective self-talk isn’t about repeating positive statements regardless of what’s happening. It needs to be useful. Remember the three types from Part one:

• Coach — what do I need to do? “Move your feet.”
• Compete — what energy do I need? “Let’s go.”
• Confidence — what do I need to remember? “I’m ready.”

The goal isn’t to convince yourself everything is perfect – it’s to give yourself the message you need for what comes next.

​

4. You Start Watching Everyone Else

Tryout environments practically invite comparison: Who’s faster? Who’s getting more opportunities? Who did the coach talk to? Some comparison is inevitable, but it pulls your attention toward things you have little control over. You can’t control how another athlete performs, what coaches think, or the roster math. You can control your next action.

Try this: When you catch yourself comparing, ask “What’s my job right now?” — then bring your attention back to it.

​

5. You’re Trying to Make the Team Instead of Playing the Game

“I have to make this team” feels motivational, but it isn’t useful in the moment. Making the team is an outcome – you can’t directly execute an outcome, only behaviours. Instead of “I need to make this team,” shift toward: win this rep, compete for this puck, communicate, move my feet, make the next play.

This is one reason process-focused goals matter so much under pressure – they give your attention somewhere productive to go. You don’t make the team all at once. You perform one moment at a time.

​

6. You Treat Nervousness Like Something Is Wrong

Your heart is beating faster, your stomach feels different, your palms are sweaty – and then you think, “I’m way too nervous.” That interpretation matters. Research on challenge and threat states suggests how athletes interpret demanding situations can shape their psychological and physiological response to them.

Tryouts matter to you, so some activation is normal. Instead of interpreting those sensations as “I’m nervous,” try “My body is getting ready to compete.” The goal isn’t necessarily to eliminate your nerves – it’s to regulate your activation enough to use the energy effectively.

Try this: Use a simple breathing reset before your tryout – slow inhale, longer controlled exhale, relax your shoulders – then connect to your performance cue: “Ready.”

​

7. One Mistake Becomes Three

You’re going to make a mistake during your tryout – probably several. So will everyone else. What separates athletes often isn’t whether they make mistakes, but what happens immediately after. Do you replay it, get frustrated, become cautious, lose focus? Or can you reset? This is why a reset routine matters going into tryouts.

Use the 3 Rs:

• Recognize — “I’m still thinking about that mistake.”
• Refocus — take a breath and use your reset cue: “Next.”
• React — reconnect with your next job.

A five-second mistake doesn’t need to become a five-minute problem.

​

8. You Lose Your Focus

Athletes sometimes believe elite performers stay completely focused for an entire competition. They don’t – attention moves. The important skill isn’t never losing focus; it’s getting it back faster.

During tryouts, your attention might drift toward coaches, parents, teammates, previous mistakes, future roster decisions, fatigue, or the scoreboard. When you notice it, return to something immediate and controllable.

Use a refocus cue: “Here.” “Next.” “This rep.” “Compete.” Your cue becomes a mental trigger that brings you back into the present.

​

9. You’re Trying to Have a Perfect Tryout

“I need to dominate.” “I can’t make mistakes.” “Every shift has to be good.” That creates an impossible standard. Coaches understand athletes make mistakes – what they’re evaluating extends well beyond whether every play worked: How do you compete? How coachable are you? How do you respond to mistakes? Do you communicate? Can you execute instructions? Are you consistent?

Instead of chasing perfection, focus on demonstrating repeatable behaviours. Coaches need to imagine what you’d look like on their team across an entire season – not just during your best five minutes.

​

10. You Change Everything Because It’s a Tryout

New warm-up. Different food. More caffeine. New equipment. Twenty minutes of motivational videos. Suddenly you’re preparing like it’s the Olympics.

Be careful – one purpose of a performance routine is to create familiarity in an unfamiliar, high-pressure environment. Your routine sends an important message: I’ve been here before. I know what I do next. Keep your preparation simple: arrive → fuel → warm-up → breath → visualize → cue → compete. Don’t create a completely different athlete for tryouts. Prepare the athlete you already are to perform.

_______________

The Tryout Mindset: Control → Compete → Reset

If you remember only three things during your next tryout, remember these:

Control — Put your attention on what you can control: your preparation, effort, communication, attitude, and response.

Compete — Don’t play cautiously trying to avoid mistakes. Trust your preparation and commit to your game.

Reset — Something will eventually go wrong. Don’t carry one moment into the next. Recognize → refocus → react, then get back into the game.

_______________

​

Your 5-Minute Tryout Mental Preparation

Before your next tryout, take five minutes and answer these questions:

1. What three things can I control today?
2. What does competing confidently look like for me?
3. What is my performance cue?
4. What will I say to myself after a mistake?
5. What is my reset routine?

Write your answers down. Then stop thinking about the tryout – go compete.

​

_______________

​

Putting Parts 1 & 2 Together

Part 1 was about building your mental performance toolkit: goals, confidence, self-talk, visualization, reset strategies, and performance routines. Part 2 is about knowing when to use those tools.

That’s ultimately what mental performance training is about – not eliminating nerves, not eliminating mistakes, not thinking positively every second, and certainly not guaranteeing you’ll make the team. It’s developing the skills to access your physical and technical abilities when the environment gets difficult.

You can’t fully control the outcome of a tryout. But you can get very good at controlling how you prepare, where you place your attention, how you compete, and how you respond – and that’s where your best performance becomes far more likely.

Tryouts will always contain some uncertainty. You won’t know exactly what the coaches are thinking, how the roster will unfold, or whether every moment will go the way you want.

Mental performance isn’t about removing that uncertainty – it’s about learning to perform within it. Prepare well, trust the work you’ve done, compete with purpose, and respond when things don’t go your way. Control what you can. Compete one moment at a time. Reset when you need to. Then, when the tryout is over, you can walk away knowing you gave the coaches the best opportunity to see the athlete you really are.

​

_______________

Key Takeaways

• Don’t confuse nerves with being unprepared. Some activation is expected when something matters. Learn to regulate it rather than fight it.
• Stop trying to be perfect. Coaches aren’t only evaluating mistakes – they’re watching your compete level, response, communication, consistency, and coachability.
• Think less about making the team and more about making the next play. Outcomes create pressure. Process gives you something to execute.
• Mistakes aren’t usually the biggest problem – your response can be. Build a reset routine before tryouts begin.
• Trust what you’ve trained. Tryouts aren’t the time to reinvent your game. Prepare, compete, and let your skills emerge.

​

_______________

​

Self-Reflective Moment

When pressure increases during a tryout, what mental trap am I most likely to fall into – and what will I intentionally do differently when I notice it happening?

​

Don’t forget to follow us on social for daily performance tips! ​​​​​

​

References:

Baumeister, R. F. (1984). Choking under pressure: Self-consciousness and paradoxical effects of incentives on skillful performance. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 46(3), 610–620.

Beilock, S. L., & Carr, T. H. (2001). On the fragility of skilled performance: What governs choking under pressure? Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 130(4), 701–725.

Hatzigeorgiadis, A., Zourbanos, N., Galanis, E., & Theodorakis, Y. (2011). Self-talk and sports performance: A meta-analysis. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 6(4), 348–356.

Jones, M., Meijen, C., McCarthy, P. J., & Sheffield, D. (2009). A theory of challenge and threat states in athletes. International Review of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 2(2), 161–180.

Mesagno, C., & Mullane-Grant, T. (2010). A comparison of different pre-performance routines as possible choking interventions. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 22(3), 343–360.

Masters, R. S. W., & Maxwell, J. P. (2008). The theory of reinvestment. International Review of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 1(2), 160–183.