How to Overcome a Losing Streak

competition & competing emotions hardship & defeat Nov 26, 2021

Winning and losing are both habits.

When you are in a winning groove, confidence is high and playing to win is natural. There are no thoughts of losing even if you fall behind because the expectation is that you will come through again.

Losing is the opposite. Even in a winning position the mind is expecting trouble and even a normal mistake suddenly surfaces as the “oh no! Here we go again” thought process. The expectation is of loss. You believe that a miracle and luck are the only way you can get over the line.

False Stories During a Losing Streak

As in life, if things are not falling for us, we begin to feel like the world is conspiring against us. Superstitions can take hold such as “bad things happen in threes” or “I knew I shouldn’t have worn green” and many others.

The other idea that can take hold of our mind is feeling sorry for ourselves, having thoughts like “why does this always happen to me?” and “everyone is against me and hoping I fail” or “I just have to accept I’m just not good enough” and on it goes.

The problem with the human mind is that it is very good at linking unconnected events and creating a story out of these events.

Compartmentalisation During a Losing Streak

Essentially, each match is a separate situation. Whatever happened in the previous encounter has no relevance to the next one unless you create relevance. Naturally there is a link to your confidence, but the optimism you feel about your chances and how you will perform can stand alone as a new opportunity.

If you truly believed you would never win again then surely you would quit, so if you continue to practice and play then you clearly expect to win again. Why not bring this optimism to the contest rather than the pessimism that usually surrounds a losing streak?

Getting back to basics, the key to mental toughness is the desire to focus on your processes. If you believe and trust the people around you and the path you are on to continually improve then nothing else really matters because the better you get the more you will win.

Panic and fear sets in if the mind fixates on results and how you are perceived by others. The world is full of stories of success after dismal results and every champion has a story of all the adversity they had to overcome: no person is unscathed.

Accept that problems exist for everyone and then don’t be arrogant enough to assume yours are worse than others. A losing streak is just another problem to overcome - by getting better physically, mentally and technically one small step at a time.

Overcoming Doubts in a Losing Streak

Doubt causes hesitation and hesitation causes mistakes. If you are on a losing streak, focus more on how you will insert doubts into your opponent’s mind rather than on your own weaknesses.

Doubt has to be inserted into an opponent’s mind, especially if they are on a winning streak because without denting their confidence, using your weapons, the job is more difficult.

This focus helps keep the linking of previous contests or 'feeling sorry' pangs from taking over the mind.

Another tactic is to name the negative thought for what it is: aha! that’s the "linking the last four matches thought“ I know this is a false story which I will not make true.