← Back to the Athlete Library
Before · Prep

Game-Day Plan

Good prep starts with knowing how you show up before a match — wired, flat, in your head, or scattered. Most players never figure that out.

Name your pattern below and this builds the plan that fits it: what to do with your body, what to tell yourself, and one routine to run every time. Keep the card.

1

How you tend to show up

Everyone shows up a certain way before a big match — that’s your pattern. Think back to your last few: right before the whistle, which one sounds most like you? Tap one.

2

Arrive ready

Same goal for everyone: show up ready — not too low, not too high. How you get there depends on your pattern. Pick the moves you'll actually use; they go on your card.

Breath is the quickest way to change how wired or flat you feel — slow it to settle, speed it to fire up. Your pattern loads the right one and drops it on your card.

Here’s the one that fits your pattern.

Ready?
Pick your pattern above to load it.
3

Build the routine you run every time

A routine works because it's automatic — the same steps every time, win or lose. Yours has three: what you look at, what you say, and what you do every point.

The one thing you'll look at on the first ball

Lock your eyes onto something out in front of you — never your own body, which tightens you up.

Your cue word

One word or short phrase you say right before you go. Not "calm" — something that tells you what to do, not how to feel.

Your process goal for the match

One thing you control on every point — you can count it win or lose. Not the scoreboard.

Your game-day card

Here's your plan in one card. Run it the same way before every match.

You tend to
Pick your pattern in step 1.
Arrive
Pick your moves in step 2.
Breath
Set by your pattern in step 1.
Lock onto
Pick your target in step 3.
Cue word
Set your cue in step 3.
Process goal
Set your goal in step 3.

Tournament or all-day event?

Run this again between matches — your pattern can flip when you're tired. Refuel, reset, and don't carry the last match into the next. When nerves spike during a match, that's a different tool — the Pressure Plan is your in-the-moment reset.

This is a prep tool, not therapy — these routines help you arrive ready and play your game. But if game days bring real dread, not just nerves — if you're gutting through and only feel relief when it's over — that's worth saying out loud to someone you trust: a parent, coach, or counselor. A routine won't fix that, and you shouldn't have to power through it alone. The Athlete Support page is there too.
Hope Ave Therapy · Sport & Performance