“I’m not psychotic. Fear roams in my body. Courage is not saying that I did not have fear, courage is saying that you had an ability to overcome fear.” – Michael Irvin

Fear is public enemy number one when it comes to football psychology, as it can impact an athlete’s football confidence, football mental toughness and the state of their football mind. More specifically, it is the fear of failure that is the root of the problem. There is not a single athlete out there that enjoys failure. Failure, in itself, is not an issue. Failure has even been shown to actually drive an athlete to work harder in practice.

The issue that can arise however, when those who fail, or believe that they have failed, is when failure is taken to be such a significant psychological threat that the drive to avoid future failures exceeds the drive to succeed. What makes matters worse, for the athletes that are pre-disposed to the fear of failure, is that their fears may be manifested in a multitude of ways which cause the unconscious to sabotage their efforts and chances to succeed.

Psychology for football has identified that different athletes experience the fear of failure from a variety of situations. It could be the fear of disappointing the coach, parents, teammates, themselves, the media or the fans. When an athlete is overcome with the fear of failure they tend to over worry about the consequences and are unable to fully focus on their game.

In competition athletes that allow fear to engulf them also tend to be tentative performers, as they are always on the defensive. Fear causes these athletes to generally be afraid of taking a risk, worrying about making a mistake, being embarrassed or focusing on the possible consequences of failure. This results in them freezing up and being unable to step out and do what they are capable of or should be doing.

Another symptom that can be brought on from the fear of failure is when an athlete focuses too much on others. This can present a huge distraction, feelings of anxiety, tensing or tightening up in competition, trying to over control, becoming frustrated very easily or an inability to perform in the present.

Other typical effects of the fear of failure on the mental game include: trying to be perfect, having high expectations (instead of high confidence), a lack of confidence in games compared to practice, a lack of trust in competition (inability to take their practice game and confidence into competition), wanting to look and feel good (which is not good for performing functionally or getting the job done) and trying too hard which leads to physical tension as well as tension in an athlete’s football mental game.

Psychology for football also attempts to demystify fear. One way in which this can be done is to understand what fear actually is. Fear is actually nothing more than a sensation which is brought on by the unconscious mind releasing certain chemicals into the body. Fear is there to trigger the fight or flight instinct in life threatening situations that are encountered in the real world. In the sporting world however the only beneficial outcome for any athlete experiencing fear is their fight instinct.

When the source of an athlete’s fear has been correctly identified it can be tackled head on. Every athlete can be taught to take control of their fear with the help of a football psychologist, mental game coach, their coach or even a supportive teammate.

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