Confidence & Pressure
The What-If Rehearsal: Your Plan for Pre-Game Doubt
Rhema Adelaja · National Champion & 4x DUX · July 2026 · 6 min read
Learn a simple mental routine to calmly answer your doubts with evidence, allowing you to start competitions feeling focused and prepared, not nervous.
I was 17. National final. The night before, my mind was a mess. 'What if I am not good enough? What if I let everyone down?' The thoughts were loud. They felt true. I slept for maybe two hours. My performance the next day was tight, fearful. I played not to lose, instead of playing to win. I lost. That feeling taught me something more valuable than any victory. It taught me that the most important opponent is often the one inside your own head.
Your Brain Is Not Your Enemy
That voice of doubt feels personal. It feels like a weakness. It is not. It is your brain trying to keep you safe. Your brain cannot tell the difference between a physical threat, like a predator, and a performance threat, like a major competition. To your brain, the risk of failure feels like a danger it needs to warn you about. It does this with 'what if' questions. But you do not have to be a passenger to these thoughts. You can learn to answer them.
The What-If Rehearsal
This is not a complicated psychological trick. It is a simple, repeatable plan. A mental routine you can use the night before a competition, or even on the bus on the way there. It takes your vague fears and makes them concrete. Once they are concrete, you can deal with them. It has three steps. You write the fear, you answer with evidence, and you visualise your plan.
Step 1: Write Down the Fear
Take out a piece of paper or open a note on your phone. Do not just let the thoughts spin in your head. Write them down exactly as they sound. 'What if I miss my first pass?' 'What if the coach benches me?' 'What if I am not as good as the opposition?' Seeing the words on a screen makes them less powerful. They stop being a scary feeling and become just a set of words. This is the first step to taking control. Get them out of your head and in front of your eyes.
Step 2: Answer with Evidence
Underneath each 'what if', you are going to write an answer. This is not about empty positive thinking. This is about using facts. Your training log is a fact. The thousands of reps you have put in are facts. Your past successes are facts. For 'What if I miss my first pass?', the answer could be: 'I have practised this pass over 500 times this week. I know the technique. I will focus on my foot placement and follow-through, just like in training.' This process of challenging your thoughts is a proven mental skill that builds real confidence. You are replacing fear with evidence from your own hard work.
Step 3: Visualise the Plan
Once you have your evidence-based answer, close your eyes. For 30 seconds, visualise yourself executing the plan. Do not just see the successful outcome. See the process. See your feet moving correctly. Feel the contact with the ball. See the pass finding its target. This mental rehearsal is powerful. When you visualise an action, your brain activates similar pathways as when you physically perform it. You are preparing your mind and body to succeed by running a successful simulation first. You are turning a moment of doubt into an opportunity for mental practice.
Building Your Pre-Competition Routine
Doing this once will help. Making it a habit will change your performance. Your pre-competition routine is your anchor in the storm of pressure. It gives you a sense of control when everything else feels chaotic. Adding the What-If Rehearsal to your existing routine makes it even stronger. Maybe you do it after your kit is packed the night before. Or it is the last thing you do before you put your headphones on.
A good routine focuses on what you can control. You cannot control the referee, the crowd, or the weather. You can control your preparation. This is why you should always prioritise your process goals, not outcome goals. Instead of 'I must win', your focus becomes 'I will execute my pre-shot routine every time'. This shift lowers anxiety because it is based on your actions, not a result you cannot guarantee. A consistent routine provides a sense of familiarity and control, which is proven to reduce anxiety before performance.
A Real-World Example
Let us make it practical. A swimmer is at a major championship. The thought comes: 'What if I false start?'
- Write the fear: 'What if I false start and get disqualified?'
- Answer with evidence: 'I have practised my starts every day for three months. My reaction time is consistent. I will listen for the signal and trust my training. My focus is on exploding from the block, not on avoiding a mistake.'
- Visualise the plan: They close their eyes. They see themselves on the block. They hear the signal. They feel their muscles engage perfectly, driving them into the water in a clean, powerful start. They rehearse the feeling of a successful start.
The fear has not just been ignored. It has been heard, questioned, and answered with a clear plan of action. The swimmer is no longer thinking about what might go wrong. They are focused on what they will do to make it go right.
This process works. I used it to overcome my own pre-game fears, and I have taught it to elite athletes who use it before Olympic finals. Your doubts do not have to control you. They are just questions. Now you have a way to answer them. Before your next important training session, take ten minutes. Write down one 'what if' that bothers you. Give it a real answer, based on the work you have put in. That is how you start.