Tom Brady and Russell Wilson valiantly competed in the Super Bowl XLIX under some of the most extreme pressure in all of sports. Football is a unique sport in that one player is so important to a team and the weight of the world is on his shoulders.

Both of these quarterbacks are well known for coming through under pressure and have done so time and time again. But here’s something you probably don’t know. Both of them – and every other world-class athlete for that matter – have statistics that show they don’t play as well under pressure as they do in normal situations.

In other words, you are in good company if you find it difficult to play your best in crunch time. So do they.

However, what makes great players amazing under pressure is that they have learned strategies to manage that pressure better than others, and you can learn them, too. Mental skills such as this are learnable just like physical skills. That’s what makes these guys great and younger players can do this just the same.

The last time you had a pressure situation, did a thought come across your mind about what would happen if you did not come through?  How bad it would be? Maybe the disappointment or loss of respect from your teammates or coach? Did you think about carrying the loss with you for days or weeks and how bad it might be to face them on the sidelines?

Guess what? Every time you entertain those thoughts, you are increasing the likelihood of them actually happening by programming your inner mind. Sometimes, it’s we call that a “self-fulfilling prophecy.”

What you need to do instead is to imagine yourself being in the typical pressure situation for your position hundreds of times in advance of the reality and imagine yourself being successful in those specific situations.

Winners win in advance. Now, this may not be new for you, but most athletes don’t do this one thing that really makes this work.

You need to prepare for and practice exactly what you will think at the moment of needing to perform under pressure. For example, any player could repeat over and over:

“I’m a machine. Just like practice. Focus and execute the fundamentals.”

You’ve got to give your mind something to do, or you might leave it wide open to destructive thinking. This generates fear and interferes with your ability to perform. Crowd out the destruction by directing your thoughts and practice this successful thinking before it ever happens.

In advance of a pressure situation for the team:

An offensive lineman could think: “I am a wall. Nobody gets by me.”

A safety could think: “I control the field.”

A receiver could think: “Execute sharp routes.”

A quarterback could think: “I love pressure. That’s why I am a quarterback!”

Get started on doing this now by thinking these thoughts any time you have a spare moment instead of useless day dreaming about nothing. You can practice your way into being a clutch player.

Let’s do this.

Craig Sigl’s work with youth athletes has been featured on NBC TV and ESPN. Get his free ebook: “The 10 Commandments For a Great Sports Parent” and also a free training and .mp3 guided visualization to help young athletes perform under pressure by visiting: http://MentalToughnessTrainer.com