Picture yourself preparing for a big moment in competition.
Maybe you’ve just missed an easy pass. Maybe you fell on a skill you’ve done hundreds of times. Maybe you made an uncharacteristic mistake early in the competition.
In that moment, it can feel like everyone noticed. Your teammates, your competitors, your coach, or maybe even the fans in the stands. It’s almost as if everyone is holding a pair of binoculars, zoomed in on every little mistake you make.
Why It Feels So Real
Psychologists call this the spotlight effect – our tendency to overestimate how much other people notice and remember what we do.
Why does this happen? Because we’re experiencing the moment from the inside. We feel our nerves, notice every mistake, and replay every awkward moment in our heads. Since our own experience feels so vivid, it’s easy to assume everyone else is paying the same level of attention.
In reality, everyone else is experiencing the competition from their own perspective – not yours. It only feels like everyone is holding binoculars. Most people are actually holding mirrors.
Your teammate is wondering if she’s ready. Your competitors are thinking about their own performance. The athlete beside you is worried about making the same mistake you’re worried about. Everyone is far more focused on themselves than they are on you.
Mirrors, Not Binoculars
I remember a conversation I had with a figure skater I coach who constantly worried about what her club mates thought when she practiced. So I asked her a simple question: “When you’re about to do a triple lutz, what are you thinking about?” She mentioned her speed going into the jump, the placement of her toe pick, her arms, her rotation, and her landing.
What she didn’t mention? Her teammates.
She wasn’t thinking about what they were doing, and she certainly wasn’t judging their skating. Because executing a difficult skill demands your full attention. There isn’t much mental space left to analyze what everyone else is doing.
And here’s the interesting part: if that’s true for her, it’s probably true for other athletes, too. They’re holding mirrors, not binoculars. They’re just as busy worrying about their own performance as you are about yours.
Think about the last game you played. Can you remember every mistake your teammates or competitors made? Probably not. But you likely remember your own. That’s because we spend far more time analyzing ourselves than analyzing everyone else. The spotlight you think you’re standing under is often much dimmer than it feels.
Why This Matters
When athletes believe everyone is watching and judging them, they become afraid to make mistakes. They hesitate, play cautiously, and avoid taking risks. Ironically, the fear of being judged often hurts performance more than the mistake itself.
The next time you catch yourself thinking, “Everyone saw that,” remind yourself: They’re probably holding mirrors, not binoculars.
They’re thinking about their own race, their own routine, their own performance. Which means you have far more freedom to compete than it feels like you do.
This blog was written by Coach Elaina.
Blair has over 13 years of experience as a Professional Dancer, Assistant Dance Captain & Cast Manager, as well as an additional 17 years of training. Over the last 3 decades, she has lived and experienced first hand the highest of highs & lowest of lows that come with pursuing a career in the Performing Arts.
As a former member of McMaster University’s women’s soccer team, Emilie intimately understands the demands and challenges athletes face on and off the field. Although she encountered many challenges as a high-level athlete, particularly struggling with self-doubt and overthinking, Emilie was able to make a remarkable transformation when she began to embrace the principles of sports psychology.
Danielle Hanus, MA
Monica Russell, MA
