Rugby is a sport that can be very stressful and overwhelming at times, but with the right tools and strategies, you can learn to handle the pressure and stress.
One of the most important things is to stay positive and have a good attitude, but you also need to be prepared for anything that might happen.
In the section on Personal Development, we talked about the importance of knowing the game inside and out, being technically sound, and having a solid understanding of the strategies you will be using.
As Gazing CEO, Martin Fairn once said while being involved in improving the All Black teams mental skills preparation,
"Confidence comes from confidence. Under intense pressure, you need to focus on the process and go back to the basics of your technique, which you've practised over and over again. I may have strong mental skills, but I'll never win the Masters because my technical skills aren't good enough.”
At some point, the All Blacks used something called a 'skills ladder' during training: ramping up the intensity and pressure under which they had to execute their skills.
Former All Black Andrew Mehrtens described it as “striking the balance between being lucid and motivated".
So, learning how to deal with pressure is a vital part of mental skills training and can often mean the difference between choking or victory.