Pressure Proof: Prepping for Tryout Success
Posted: July 29th, 2026
Tryouts can feel like the most important thing in the world. They are a blend of a very unique type of pressure. The sole purpose of tryouts is to be judged, and this can bring on a new set of feelings that you are not used to or able to control. It is of the utmost importance that you head into a tryout with a plan and coping strategies so that you can demonstrate your full skill set.
Let me start with my own experience.
I remember being 9 years old and making the jump from house league hockey to the GTHL. I had never thought of hockey in any way other than just a fun game to play on Sundays. I showed up to the tryout without many nerves, because I didn't know what to expect. I was trying out for a AA team, and it was immediately different from anything I had experienced before. I got lost in the pressure and was making mistakes on routine plays. I got cut; for nine-year-old me, that was devastating. It felt like the end of the world. That feeling and the pressure from the tryout stuck with me. I went down a level to the A tryouts. My parents told me just to enjoy it, treat it as a practice and have fun. My heart was racing, my mind was racing, and I couldn't focus. Eventually, the tryout got underway, and my nerves settled a bit. I got scouted by a coach for another AA team, and without hesitation, signed with them, and my hockey journey was underway.
For the next 6 years, every spring and summer brought on tryouts. I never knew how to handle them. I was always nervous, felt judged and got in my own head. If the tryout started well, then there was a good chance I gained some confidence and would be able to perform well, but if I made a mistake at the start, I wasn't able to recover from it. I didn't have any coping strategies or a plan going into these tryouts, and it really impacted my ability to perform.
Now onto you and your tryout. What can we learn from my experience and how can it help you?
So what is going on at tryouts? Why do we feel these nerves?
Humans have been programmed to respond to a threatening situation. Historically, these threatening situations were literally life or death. Over time, these threatening situations became less serious, but our bodies still react in similar ways. So, while a tryout may not be life or death, the way your body and mind react to it can make it feel that way. Luckily, we can work on some strategies to overcome this.
You show up to a midweek practice, and you're the most skilled player. Everything feels easy; plays that you want to try in games are second nature. But this doesn't prepare you for a tryout; it's low stakes, there is likely no evaluation, and a limited audience. We have to be prepared for those external stimuli. When they arrive, it affects arousal level, attentional control, and motor control. There isn't anything wrong with you if you struggle with tryouts; it's just a skill you haven't fully trained yet.
What we need to learn
Your brain mixes up "being judged" with "being in danger."
We went over this a bit above, but let's recap. When you're at a tryout, your brain treats it kind of like a threat, even though nothing is actually attacking you. Your heart rate goes up, your breathing gets short, your muscles tense, and your focus narrows. That's just your body reacting the way it would to any threat, because that's what brains do.
The pressure is greater.
In practice, if you mess up, nobody remembers. At tryouts, people are watching, judging, and deciding your future based on it. That's what makes it feel so much bigger, even though physically you're doing the same movements you've done a thousand times.
You start thinking about yourself instead of the game.
Normally, your body does the skill automatically. Under pressure, your brain starts butting in. You start thinking about how you look, what people think, or what happens if you screw up. Athletes who look smooth in practice suddenly look stiff and robotic at tryouts.
It feels like everything is riding on this one moment.
Your brain thinks a bad tryout means your whole future is ruined. That thought alone cranks up the stress even more, even though one tryout rarely decides everything.
Not knowing what to expect makes it worse.
Practice is predictable. Tryouts aren't. You don't know who's watching, what they want to see, or how you compare to everyone else. That uncertainty adds even more stress on top of everything else.
Once these nerves show up, they don't just sit there quietly. They tend to push athletes into a few specific traps.
Pitfalls of Tryouts
Trying not to "mess up," instead of trying to play well
When your goal shifts from "make this play" to "don't screw up," your focus moves to the exact thing you're afraid of. This is why athletes tense up and play scared instead of playing loose.
Comparing yourself to everyone else on the ice
Watching other players and measuring yourself against them pulls your focus away from your own game. It also feeds the idea that this is a competition against people instead of a chance to show what you can do.
Judging yourself off the first shift or first rep
One bad play early can spiral into a mindset of "I already blew it."
Trying to be perfect instead of being effective
Chasing a flawless performance adds pressure that isn't necessary. Coaches aren't looking for perfect; they're looking for good decisions and consistent effort.
Reading too much into face or body language
Athletes often try to gauge how they're doing by watching how coaches or parents react. This adds another layer of overthinking and pulls focus away from playing.
Letting one mistake bleed into the next play
Without that tool, one mistake often turns into two or three because the athlete is still mentally stuck on the first one.
The good news is that every one of these pitfalls can be managed.
Strategy
Let's train how to avoid these pitfalls and play with our nerves present.
The Day Before
Good routine matters more than people think. Hydrate properly, eat meals that fuel you, and get to bed on time. Your body performs better when it's not dealing with extra stress from being tired or run down. This is easier said than done, but it is extremely important. We have to give ourselves the best chance physically in order to perform well mentally.
The Night Before
Then spend a few minutes visualizing the tryout. Picture yourself walking in, warming up, and performing well. Really be specific in your visualization to fully immerse yourself. For example, imagine the smell of the rink, the feeling of the cold air on your skin, the sound of your skates on the ice. This gets your brain familiar with the situation before you even step on the field or court.
As stated above, sleep is really important for performance, but when we're anxious or anticipatory, we can have trouble sleeping, so let's try some progressive muscle relaxation. This will help your body physically let go of tension.
Here is a great video to help lead you through it: https://youtu.be/5q3K-6HvQIk?si=0AH2G-khdhmW8dwu
The Morning Of
Hopefully all went well through the night, but if not, do not fret; there is still time to get prepared. Take a few minutes for mindfulness.
This could be quiet breathing, a short meditation, or just sitting with your thoughts without judging them. The goal is to start the day calm instead of already spiralling into nerves.
At the Tryout
The first thing we should always do is get ourselves to a base level of arousal. So let's do some breath work to bring our heart rate down. Two sharp, big breaths through your nose, then a deep sigh to let it out.
Then reframe what you're feeling. Tell yourself you're anxious because you care, and that nerves and excitement feel almost the same in the body. The only difference is how you label it. So instead of fighting the feeling, relabel it as excitement instead of fear.
During
Use the phrase find it, fix it, forget it. If you notice a mistake, find it, quickly figure out the fix, then let it go completely. Don't carry it into the next rep or the next play. Dwelling on a mistake causes more mistakes.
After
Reflect, don't ruminate. Use the same find it, fix it, forget it approach. Look at what didn't go well, figure out what you can learn from it and how to fix it moving forward, then let it go. The goal is to walk away with a lesson, not a loop of negative thoughts running in your head.
Wrapping Up
Looking back, I wish someone had handed me this plan when I was that nervous kid. Six years of tryouts might have looked different if I had understood what was happening in my head and had a way to work through it.
If tryouts have felt like they expose something wrong with you, they don't. They expose a skill you haven't trained yet. The nerves, the pressure, the mental spiral, all of it is normal, and all of it is trainable.
You already put in the hours on your skills. Now you know how to put in the hours on your mindset too. Show up with a plan, trust it, and let your talent speak for itself.
We are going to dive deeper into this topic in my workshop on August 11th at 6:30 ET. To sign up, click here.
