By Ashley Zultanky, Psy.D. | Behavior Therapy Associates | Somerset, New Jersey
Over the summer I was fortunate enough to qualify for the United States Dressage Federation (USDF) Regional Championships with my Clydesdale mare, Raven. We trained for the past three years, and I was excited to show off our hard work. When we arrived at the show, Raven was cool, calm, and collected – a sport psychologist’s dream client! We rode in a warmup class to prepare, both felt a little tense, but we had a good outing, and I looked forward to the next day.
The day of our championship class we were up against 50 other horse-and-rider duos from eight different states and districts. I felt tense and once we started to warm up, I could tell Raven felt it too. Admittedly, I did not prepare us enough during the warmup and we made several mistakes during our test that had not been an issue in schooling or recent smaller competitions.
For those of you who are not familiar, dressage is a sport where you and your horse act as a team and follow a set choreography (sometimes to music!), where it appears to be a dance. We are judged on our strength as a partnership, as well as our ability to closely adhere to the movement standards of that test. It is rigorous, and winning or losing can come down to a tenth or one hundredth of a point.
Afterward, I tried to review our performance from multiple angles. What if one of my athletes felt like they had not performed at their best and was disappointed with the outcome but proud of themselves for showing up in the first place? How can I bring my athletic and professional knowledge to the conversation to best support someone in a similar position?
Sport has been the primary focus of my life, since my first game as a middle school field hockey player, straight through to competing at a D1 university and being part of a NCAA championship team, rehabbing through injuries, and now competing at the adult amateur level as an equestrian. Over the years, I learned to dig deep and “get gritty” to accomplish my goals, both athletic and professional. My work as a clinical and sport psychologist focuses on helping my clients develop psychological flexibility, which is the awareness and acceptance of internal experiences (e.g., thoughts and feelings) while actively pursuing their chosen values.
The best place to start this journey is with a discussion of grit and resilience. I thrive on the awareness that our performance won’t always go the way we hope, but we show up and try anyway, because it matters to us. One of my core values is growth and I encourage any athlete to review their performance from this lens. What can you take away from the experience? What was in your control? What mindset will you bring to your competition next time?
Next time you have an upcoming competition or important event, take a few moments the night before to do this brief values exercise:
- Write some ways your sport brings meaning, vitality, and purpose to your life.
- Allow yourself to experience gratitude toward this sport and your participation in this activity.
- Write some possible obstacles that might arise during the competition and how they might impact your concentration.
- Think about active steps you can take in the moment to overcome those hurdles and achieve your competition goals.
- On the day of the competition, take a few deep breaths and allow yourself to actively focus on your gameplan. Let go of all distractions that might take you away from your plan. As uncomfortable thoughts and feelings show up, let yourself notice them and then pivot toward the goals you prepared.
This brief activity can be repeated regularly, and you can keep the list of values on your phone or in your bag to reference when needed. Value work is the first step toward overcoming performance anxiety, and focusing on our values is what keeps us coming back to our sport.
