Influencing Performance: Eliminating Doubts and Unlocking Successful Outcomes

When competitive athletes are in high-pressure situations, physical preparation is an obvious factor that is required to excel. Many coaches, performance trainers and sports psychologists believe that when the stakes are high, an athlete's self-doubt, fear of failure and over-analysis begin to seep into the scene. These mental diversions pull the mind away from the present task, knock out the rhythm, disrupt timing and shake confidence. 

I never played tennis competitively, but W. Timothy Gallwey's book The Inner Game of Tennis taught me to unlock the competitor inside me and eliminate doubts that often led to poor performance. The book is now seen as a classic in the area of understanding this phenomenon, and in it, he looks at the battle between “Self 1,” the critical, bossy voice, and “Self 2,” the body’s natural ability to do what it was trained to do. Tennis players who get very critical of themselves on the court start missing routine shots after basically bickering with themselves over technique. The more they try to sort out their stroke with rational thinking, the more the performance goes downhill. It’s not that the skills are not there; the problem lies in this crushing self-doubt that tightens up the muscles and affects focus. 

Well-known methods of eliminating self-doubt include repetition of the specific skills at high performance speed in training. This can definitely result in better outcomes, but when fear of failure enters the mind of any athlete it requires a mindset shift to eliminate doubt. 

During athletic performance, Self 1 often overthinks, questions every movement, and fixates on outcomes like winning or not making mistakes. Self 2, by contrast, operates through embodied knowledge. In tennis it might be the feel of a stroke, the rhythm of a serve or the timing of a sprint. When athletes learn to quiet Self 1 and let Self 2 perform, they experience clearer focus, smoother mechanics and more spontaneous decision-making under pressure.

In other words, rather than fixating on the outcome, concentrate on repeatable, controllable actions. In basketball, it might be driving to the basket with speed and power when you see an opening. This fosters a sense of control and confidence. Self 1 might be saying “Please don’t miss this layup!” But Self 2 is only focused on driving hard and finishing the play.  

Negative thoughts are the “kryptonite” for any athlete.  On the other hand, positive, short, process-oriented statements can reinforce Self 2’s natural tendencies and curb Self 1’s doubts.

Many coaches talk about staying “in the moment,” a mentality that has no time for thoughts about what just happened or what might go wrong or right in the future. Keeping your focus on trusted practice patterns and competitive instincts that inherently react to game situations can block out thoughts that can lead to over-analysis. 

I recommend The Inner Game of Tennis to any athlete that wonders why they make unforced errors doing things they know they can do. Gallwey's 1974 book offers a timeless framework for understanding how mental processes influence physical performance by teaching athletes to quiet the inner critic, focus on controllable processes and treat errors as information rather than judgments.