Are you ever doubting yourself despite the facts? Getting stuck on one mistake even though you did everything else well? Misreading a situation under stress? Convincing yourself you will fail before you've even tried?
In sport, these mechanisms can have very concrete effects on confidence, concentration, emotions, decision-making and, ultimately, performance. Behind some of these mental traps are what we call cognitive biases.
What is a cognitive bias?
A cognitive bias is an automatic mental mechanism that influences how we interpret information, a situation or an experience and can thus alter our judgment or decisions.
You can think of them as brain shortcuts, mental habits or, in some cases, perceptual errors. Our brain constantly processes a large amount of information. To go faster, it uses shortcuts. These mechanisms are natural and often useful.
But they can also become real thinking traps: causing us to give more weight to one mistake than to ten successes, to look for what confirms what we already believe, or to treat a conclusion as obvious when it doesn't necessarily match the facts.
What we think is not always what is true.
And when the stakes, stress or emotions rise, certain interpretations can take up a disproportionate place in how we act.
Why does our mind sometimes play tricks on us?
Some phrases are commonly heard among athletes:
“I always fail at the big moments.”
“I knew I was going to lose.”
“I'm not good enough.”
“As soon as I make one mistake, my match is ruined.”
“That opponent is much stronger than me.”
For the person who thinks them, these statements can seem perfectly logical. Yet a thought is not necessarily a fact. It can be influenced by a recent experience, an emotion, a belief, a past bad experience or certain cognitive biases.
That's partly why two athletes facing exactly the same situation can interpret it completely differently… and then adopt very different behaviors.
What cognitive biases can athletes encounter in sport?
Negativity bias, confirmation bias, anchoring bias, availability bias… Some mechanisms recur and can influence how an athlete interprets a mistake, an opponent, a poor performance or even their own level.
What are the main biases and how can they show up concretely in sport?
→ Learn more: discover the main cognitive biases in sport
Cognitive biases, doubt and self-sabotage in sport
Why do I doubt myself even though I'm ready?
Why do I keep getting stuck on one mistake?
Why do I always expect the worst before a competition?
Why do I lose my composure when the stakes get higher?
Why do I sometimes feel like I'm self-sabotaging?
There is obviously no single answer to these questions and not every mental block is explained by a cognitive bias. But some biases can contribute to these mechanisms.
An athlete can, for example, be convinced they lose their composure when they're leading. Each situation that confirms this belief will then take on disproportionate importance, while situations in which they finished perfectly will go almost unnoticed.
The belief then gradually influences confidence, emotions, decisions and sometimes behavior itself. These mechanisms can in particular be involved in blocks linked to the fear of losing or the fear of winning.
Doubt, overanalysis, negative thoughts: when should you question them?
Doubting, anticipating or analyzing a situation is not a problem in itself. It becomes more of an issue when certain thoughts recur systematically and begin to change how you act:
- you think more about what could go wrong than about what you need to do;
- a mistake occupies far more mental space than your successes;
- you draw general conclusions from a single experience;
- you interpret certain situations without really checking the facts;
- you unintentionally look for what confirms your doubts;
- you analyze the situation so much that you can no longer act naturally;
- you repeat certain behaviors even though you know they don't help you.
The problem then isn't necessarily what happens. It can also lie in how you interpret what happens.
How I work on these mechanisms in mental training
Identifying a cognitive bias is not an end in itself. In my work as a mental coach, what interests me most is understanding what your interpretation of a situation actually produces in you.
A loss of confidence? Hesitation? An emotional reaction? A poor decision? A change in your behavior? Difficulty getting back to your game?
We can then work together on three essential elements.
1/ The facts
What actually happened?
This means returning as much as possible to observable elements, without immediately adding an interpretation.
2/ The interpretation
What did you think or conclude from this situation?
This is often where beliefs, mental shortcuts, anticipations or cognitive biases can come into play.
3/ The reaction
What did this interpretation trigger in your emotions, decisions or behavior?
The same situation can produce very different reactions depending on how it is interpreted.
Distinguishing the facts, their interpretation and the reactions they provoke often helps to step back from false certainties and the scenarios we sometimes end up telling ourselves.
Depending on how you function and the situation encountered, we can then work on:
- managing pressure and emotions;
- confidence;
- concentration;
- self-talk;
- beliefs;
- letting go;
- visualization;
- mental routines.
My goal isn't to teach you to “think positive” or to systematically replace a negative thought with a positive one. It's to help you identify what influences your perception, regain a more accurate read of the situation and build mental responses better suited to what you actually want to do.
Does your mind sometimes play tricks on you?
If you feel that certain doubts, thoughts or automatic patterns are preventing you from fully expressing your abilities, we can work together to understand what's going on and build responses tailored to how you function.