As a Division I athlete, I struggled for years with controlling my emotions in high-stress situations. When things didn’t go my way - whether it was a bad call, a mistake on my part, or an opponent getting under my skin—I would feel a rush of blood to my head. My whole body would heat up, and before I knew it, I was reacting instead of responding. That lack of control didn’t just impact my performance; it gave my opponents an advantage. They could see when I was frustrated, and the more I let my emotions take over, the more they fed off of it. But what I didn’t realize back then was that emotional control isn’t about suppressing feelings—it’s about mastering them.
It took me a long time to understand that composure isn’t something that just happens; it has to be trained, just like any other skill. I had to learn how to recognize when I was starting to lose control and develop strategies to reset in the moment. Breathing techniques, self-talk, and visualization became my tools for grounding myself, but I wish I had known about structured mental skills training earlier. If I had approached my emotional control with the same discipline that I applied to my physical training, I would’ve been a more effective competitor. Instead of being reactive, I could have stayed focused, composed, and in control, making it much harder for my opponent to throw me off my game.
The best athletes aren’t just physically gifted—they are mentally disciplined. Emotional intelligence plays a massive role in high-performance sports because it determines how well you manage pressure, setbacks, and even trash talk from an opponent. When I started viewing emotional control as a competitive edge rather than a personal weakness, everything changed. Instead of allowing frustration to dictate my actions, I learned to pause, assess, and adjust. That shift in mindset didn’t just make me a better athlete; it made me a better leader and a more confident person in every aspect of life.
Mental skills training would have been a game-changer for me. It’s not just about staying calm—it’s about developing the awareness to recognize emotional triggers and having a plan to handle them effectively. Just like strength and conditioning build physical endurance, mental training builds emotional endurance. If I could go back, I would have prioritized this aspect of my development much sooner. For any athlete struggling with composure, my advice is simple: train your mind as much as you train your body. Mastering your emotions isn’t about eliminating them; it’s about channeling them into something productive—something that makes you stronger, not weaker.
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