After recovering from last week’s game, watching over film, installing new plays and finalizing the game plan, it is finally here again – game day.

Everything has been done to complete preparation for the big game, and yet, athletes across the country still find a way to overthink and create unnecessary problems for themselves once the opening kickoff comes.

Coach Jason Tenner, an assistant at Oak Ridge (El Dorado Hills, Calif.) and former high school head coach who also coached at this year’s National Development Games, has experienced the internal battle of overthinking on game day as both a player and coach.

Throughout these experiences, he has perfected exactly what it takes for him to clear his mind and go out and perform at the highest level.

Establish a pregame routine

Whether it is on the football field or throughout your regular daily life, familiarity can provide comfort. This is why establishing a routine, something that athletes can look forward to each week to get them into their ‘zone’, can prevent overthinking.

“Coaches and athletes are creatures of habit,” said Tenner. “Establishing a pregame routine and sticking to it helps ease your nerves and allows you to prepare yourself mentally and physically for the game.”

Players can have their own individual routines, but a team-wide set of pregame customs often comes from the coach.

“As a coach, my job is to establish a routine that will have my players ready to take the field and execute their assignments,” said Tenner.

Find what calms you down

With overthinking comes panic, and with panic comes over-exertion of energy. The last thing your body needs right before kickooff is to become tired out due to some pregame panic.

For Tenner, believing in oneself can help quell any last-minute panicking.

“What calms me down is the confidence that my team and I are ready,” said Tenner.

It’s something that Tenner practiced back in his own playing days.

“When I played I always had a playlist of songs that relaxed me and slowly escalated to the extreme pump up jams at the end right before I left the locker room,” said Tenner.  “I practiced a slow burn as a player and I preach that to my athletes. You don’t want to get too hyped before kickoff.”

Focus on the task at hand

Instead of overthinking, athletes should try to simplify their thoughts and focus how they are going to achieve their goals. This may sound simple, but it is more important than athletes, parents, and coaches will realize.

Tenner believes you can’t change the past and you can’t predict the future. So just concentrate on your specific task at hand.

When players are focused strictly on what they have to accomplish, the result can be positive for the entire team.

“Coaches always preach ‘next play’ because anytime all eleven (players on the field) focus on their jobs and execute, good things can happen,” Tenner said.

Develop trust

The overthinking that develops leading up to the big game is a direct result of uncertainty of the immediate future as well as worrying about what lies ahead. The only way to know how the game will play out is to physically go out and play it.

So, while that uncertainty boils over and athletes across the country begin to simultaneously feel that knot start to tighten in their stomach, it is important for each and every one of them to have trust. Trust in your coaches, trust in your teammates, and, most importantly, trust in yourself.

“Without trust you don't have a team; you have a bunch of individuals in the same uniform. There is no substitute for camaraderie,” said Tenner. “No one or two people can beat a team filled with players that love and trust each other.  When you play for the man next to you, and he for you, then you have a team that can't be beaten.”

Sometimes, overthinking amongst athletes is unavoidable, but each athlete has the ability to step back, take a deep breath, and clear their mind for 48 minutes of football.

“It all comes back to preparation.  If you feel ready, then there's no need to feel too nervous, just excited,” Tenner said.