Finishing Strong by Closing Out Performances with Mental Precision

Picture it, you’re standing on the 18th tee. Best round of your life on the line. The thought creeps in, “Don’t mess this up.” Suddenly, your hands tighten, the swing feels heavier than it ever has, and the simple act of hitting a ball turns into a battle in your head.

Or maybe you’ve been in a slump and the opposite thought takes over, “Forget it, I’m done.” The temptation is to coast through the finish, check out early, and let the round, game, or match slip away.

Every athlete knows these moments. They’re universal. Whether you’re ahead, behind, or dead-even, the finish line brings pressure. And that pressure can either crack you or sharpen you.

The difference lies in how you handle the mental side. Champions don’t avoid nerves, stress, or mistakes. They own them. They shrink the moment into something manageable. And most importantly, they reframe the finish as the ultimate opportunity to show their training.

In this blog, I’ll walk you through the four steps to finishing strong with mental precision and how you can apply them in your next performance.

Step 1: Name the Nerves and Channel Them

Nerves hit everyone. From middle school athletes to Michael Jordan, nobody escapes them. Jordan himself once said the goal was to “get all the butterflies flying in the same direction.”

That starts with one simple move: naming them.

• “I’m nervous.”
• “I’m excited.”
• “I feel pressure.”

When you put a name to the feeling, you lower its power. The swirling chaos in your head becomes something you can see and identify.

But labeling is only step one. The next step is redirecting those emotions into your IZOF, Individual Zone of Optimal Functioning. That’s the zone where your energy, emotions, and focus align to create peak performance.

Here’s the key: your IZOF doesn’t look like mine. Some athletes need to be fiery, almost raging. Others need gritty, grounded energy. And some are best in total calm, like a silent assassin who never tips their hand.

Think of three modes:

• Rage Mode: Aggressive, fired-up, chest-thumping energy.
• Street Mode: Gritty, composed, balanced fight.
• Silent Assassin Mode: Calm, locked-in, ice-cold.

I’ve coached athletes who thrive in all three. Some knew right away what mode they performed best in. Others had to learn it through trial and error, figuring out over time where they felt most alive and locked in. The beauty lies when the team’s energy doesn’t match, they can create their own bubble inside the game. That’s when their best performances happen, when they lean into their strength, not what they think they’re “supposed” to feel.

So make sure to name the feeling, redirect it, and step into your IZOF.

Step 2: Reset Rituals to Bounce Back Fast

Even in your zone, mistakes happen. You shank a shot, drop a pass, miss a free throw. The difference between finishing strong and spiraling is how fast you reset.

This is where reset rituals come in. They’re quick, practiced actions that help you recover focus instantly.

A reset ritual combines:

1. Physical Cue: shake your hands, tap your chest, take a deep breath.
2. Verbal Cue: a phrase like “next play” or “reset.”
3. Time Limit: no more than 10 seconds before you’re back in.

Think about climber Alex Honnold. On a wall thousands of feet in the air, a slip could mean death. Yet when his foot slides, he doesn’t panic. He notices, resets, and keeps climbing. It’s automatic.

Or Tiger Woods, who had a rule. Ten steps, and the mistake is gone. By the time he reached his ball, his mind was already reset.

Your reset ritual doesn’t need to be fancy. It just needs to be yours and it needs to be practiced until it’s automatic.

Step 3: Practice Centrality by Shrinking the Moment

Pressure makes the mind zoom out. Suddenly, it’s not just one swing, it’s the whole round, the whole season, your whole career hanging in the balance.

That’s where centrality comes in. Centrality is the art of shrinking the moment into its simplest form.

It’s not 18 holes. It’s not 4 quarters. It’s not the championship. It’s just this:

• One swing.
• One shot.
• One rep.

Think of putting your hands around your eyes like a camera lens. Everything else blurs. All that matters is what’s right in front of you.

I was reminded of this the other day shooting on the basketball gun. After a string of misses, my mind started to spiral. Why can’t I hit? Am I off today? Then I forced myself back to centrality. Wrist flick, over the rim, one shot. Swish. Then another, and another.

So reframe it! Instead of “everything rides on this play,” tell yourself, “This is just another practice rep. Time to show what I can do.”

Centrality doesn’t kill your energy. It channels it into the most controllable space.

Step 4: See the Finish as Opportunity, Not Pressure

Most athletes fear the finish. They see it as a burden: one more chance to fail, to choke, to lose it all.

But champions flip the script. They see the finish as the best part, the moment to have the most fun, showcase their training, and play free.

When you get to the last hole, the last inning, or the final sprint, ask yourself, “How many people would love to be in my shoes right now?”

Instead of “don’t blow this,” frame it as: “This is my chance to show out. This is what I’ve worked for.”

Create a closing mantra that keeps you locked in:

• “Strong to the end.”
• “Every rep counts.”
• “Have fun and show out.”

The finish is where champions shine, not because they’re immune to nerves, but because they see the pressure as opportunity.

Wrapping It All Together

Finishing strong is a mental skill you can train. Here’s the roadmap:

1. Name the nerves → Label and redirect them into your IZOF.
2. Reset fast → Use rituals so mistakes don’t bleed into the next play.
3. Practice centrality → Shrink the moment into one play, one shot, one rep.
4. Reframe the finish → Treat it as the ultimate opportunity, not a burden.

When you apply these four steps, you don’t just survive the finish. You thrive in it.

Closing Thoughts

Remember that first moment on the 18th tee? The swing that felt heavy? Or the stretch where you wanted to coast and give up? Those don’t have to define you. You now have a plan to meet those moments head on: name it, reset, shrink it, and reframe it.

Because finishing strong isn’t about talent. It’s about choosing to step into the pressure and make it your opportunity.

If this resonated with you, share it with a teammate, a coach, or anyone who has ever struggled to close things out. You never know whose game it might change.