Think Set Go: Helping young athletes move through pressure

Last week I ran a workshop with a group of Year 9 students, and it reminded me why this simple framework works so well with young people: Think Set Go

Three small words that have a big impact.

Here's how I explain it to the students and how you can use it too, whether you're a coach, a teacher, or a parent on the sideline.

Think - You can't solve a problem with the same mind that created it.

Before anything else, we have to shift how we're thinking. Nerves and pressure live in the mind before they ever show up in the body. So the first step is always the same two questions:

"What am I focusing on? Can I think about this differently?"

Peak performance doesn't live in the mistake five minutes ago, or the trial next week. It lives right here, in this moment - this shot, this swing, this serve. When students learn to notice their thoughts and choose which ones to hold onto, they start to take back control.

Set - Back yourself after a setback

Once the thinking has shifted, it's time to plan. This is where resilience gets built, not through avoiding setbacks, but through what we do after one.

I love using Kobe Bryant's approach here: “Whether I win or lose, it’s what I learnt that matters most” Something goes wrong - a missed shot, a poor performance, an injury - and instead of spiralling, we ask: what can I learn, and how do I adjust the plan? Do I need to adjust the timeframe, my environment or my expectations?

This is also where teamwork comes in. Knowing who's in your corner, and who to go to when things get hard, is part of the plan too.

Go - Don't wait for it to be perfect, just start!

The final step is action. Doubt and overthinking love to creep in right here, at the point of doing. So we practise building momentum - one small step, then the next.

Where your focus goes, energy flows. If students are focused on avoiding failure, that's exactly what they'll get more of. Shift the focus to where you want to go, and take the next small action.

Bringing it together

Every student in that room already has these tools somewhere inside them. Our job isn't to hand them something new - it's to give them language and structure for what they already sense, so they can use it on purpose.

Feeling stuck? Ask yourself:

• Do I need to think about this differently?

• Do I need to set myself up better - adjust the plan?

• Or do I just need to stop overthinking and go?

One small shift. That's often all it takes.