Why Pressure Was My Greatest Coach As A Former Division-I Athlete

Most athletes are taught to fight pressure, but the truth is that pressure is an athlete’s greatest coach. It exposes gaps in preparation, faulty beliefs, and self-confidence. Simply put, pressure offers athletes an opportunity to grow and become the player they desire to be.

⸻I know this lesson of pressure all so well. During my first two years as a Division-I (FCS) collegiate football player at Bethune-Cookman College (now Bethune-Cookman University), I felt immense pressure to perform as early as my freshman year. I was doing everything possible to gain playing time, but mentally I was giving in to the pressure.

Before I knew it, unknowingly at the time, I started experiencing symptoms of anxiety, which slowly evolved into depression. Having grown up in a time and region (South Carolina) where mental health was not a trending topic unlike today, I did not know how to regulate or reframe the pressure. I just knew I was no longer enjoying the game that I had played since the age of 8 years old.

It reached a breaking point when I learned that I would not be traveling with the first team to prepare for a bowl game, and would arrive a few days later with the rest of the players. Instead, I packed up and and drove six hours back home. After talking with my family, I decided that I was going to transfer at the end of the semester. That experience taught me that pressure does not discriminate, and without proper coping skills to navigate it, even the most gifted athletes can be taken down by pressure.

Pressure Teaches What Practice Cannot

Practice can only give athletes a small glimpse of what competition will reveal, especially emotionally. The fans and the media often place immense pressure on athletes pushing them into unfamiliar emotional territory. Novak Djokovic once stated,

“Pressure is a privilege. Without pressure, there is no professional sport.”

Using emotional regulation tools to anchor himself such as breath work and visualization, has helped Djokovic rise above the pressure. I call that emotional intelligence in action, which is skillful awareness and regulation of emotion to maintain or enhance performance. When athletes face pressure, they experience heightened emotional and physiological responses such as racing thoughts, tense muscles, and shallow breathing. Athletes with high emotional intelligence and self-regulation skills, are able to adapt to the pressure.

Damian Lillard says this about pressure, "Pressure? Nah. That’s not pressure. Pressure is the homeless man wondering how he’s going to eat… I’m just playing basketball." When it an athlete has that high level of emotional intelligence, they are able to compete with mental clarity, focus, and purpose.

If Pressure Were a Coach, it would ask you the following questions:

1. What are you thinking and feeling in this moment?

2. What coping skills can you utilize to anchor yourself?

3. How do you want to be perceived or remembered as a competitor when the moment intensifies?

In other words, pressure reveals the mental and emotional capacity of an athlete, and if they do not give in to it, they will develop an EQuanimous Mindset. In my work with athletes from the high school level to the professional ranks, I teach what I call the EQuanimous Mindset. This mindset is rooted in emotional awareness, composure, and adaptability. With an EQuanimous Mindset, athletes are able to reframe pressure as opportunity, regulate their emotions in real time, and perform with intentionality.

Pressure, like a great coach, will not coddle you. Instead, it will challenge you to go deep within to remind you of what you are made of. If you want to become mentally tougher and emotionally stronger under pressure, stop resisting it and start embracing it. That is the EQuanimous Mindset!

What’s the most important lesson pressure has taught you in sport and life?