The Psychology Behind Low Energy During Games & Practice

The Psychology Behind Low Energy During Games & Practice

You slept well. You trained consistently. You came prepared.

Yet somewhere during practice or a game, something changes.

Your legs feel heavier. Your concentration starts slipping. Simple decisions take longer. The motivation you had before training seems to disappear.

And you start wondering: “Why am I feeling so low on energy? I was completely fine before.”

The answer isn't always physical. Sometimes, the way your mind responds to the demands of sport can influence how effort feels and how effectively you perform.

Your Mind Can Influence How Your Body Feels

As an athlete, your brain is constantly working. You're reading the game, making decisions, anticipating your opponent's next move, managing emotions, responding to mistakes and trying to perform under pressure.

All of this requires mental effort.

When mental fatigue builds up, a task that normally feels manageable can start to feel more demanding. You may find it harder to sustain attention, make quick decisions or stay motivated to continue exerting yourself.

This doesn't necessarily mean your body has run out of energy. It may mean that the same physical effort now feels harder to sustain.

The distinction matters: physical fatigue and mental fatigue can interact, but they are not the same thing. Understanding what you're experiencing is the first step towards responding effectively.

What Can Drain an Athlete Mentally?

Low energy during practice or competition can have several contributing factors.

1. Overthinking

Replaying mistakes, analysing every movement or worrying about what might happen next can pull your attention away from the task in front of you. Instead of responding naturally to the game, you may find yourself caught up in your thoughts.

2. Performance Pressure

Concerns about selection, results, rankings or expectations can occupy mental resources that you need for performance. When you're focused on proving yourself or avoiding disappointment, it can become harder to stay present.

3. Fear of Failure

When avoiding mistakes becomes the main priority, you may become overly cautious or hesitant. Your attention shifts from executing the skill to monitoring everything that could go wrong.

4. Difficulty Sustaining Attention

Sport requires athletes to direct their attention towards relevant information and adjust it as the situation changes. Distractions, frustration and repeated thoughts about previous mistakes can make this more difficult.

5. Monotony and Reduced Engagement

Repetitive training is often necessary for improvement, but sessions that feel predictable or disconnected from meaningful goals may become harder to engage with. Motivation can fluctuate, particularly during demanding training periods.

6. Stress Outside Sport

Academic demands, work, relationships and personal concerns don't automatically disappear when you enter a training session. Stress outside sport can affect concentration, mood and your ability to feel mentally prepared.

7. Mental Fatigue

Prolonged periods of demanding concentration and decision-making can leave you feeling mentally drained. Research suggests that mental fatigue can increase perceived effort and may affect endurance performance, although its effects vary across tasks and individuals.

Importantly, low energy isn't always a psychological issue. Sleep quality, nutrition, hydration, training load, illness, injury and inadequate recovery can all affect how you feel and perform. These factors may overlap with psychological stress, making it important to consider the bigger picture.

If fatigue is persistent, unexplained or unusually severe, speak with an appropriate healthcare professional rather than assuming it's a mindset problem.

An Athlete's Readiness Is More Than Physical

Think of performance readiness as the interaction between several factors:

Physical readiness + Mental readiness + Recovery = A broader picture of performance readiness

This is a useful way to think about performance, rather than a scientific formula.

You may have the physical skills and fitness required to perform, but distractions, mental fatigue or difficulty managing pressure can make it harder to access those abilities consistently.

Equally, mental skills cannot compensate for inadequate recovery, illness or an underlying physical problem. Sustainable performance involves paying attention to both the body and the mind.

How Can Champions Mind Lab Help?

At Champions Mind Lab (CML), the aim is not simply to tell athletes to “stay motivated”. It's to help them understand the psychological demands of sport and develop skills they can apply in training and competition.

Depending on an athlete's needs, mental-performance coaching may focus on:

• Focus and attention: Practising how to redirect attention towards relevant cues and the next action.

• Managing performance pressure: Developing individual strategies for responding to expectations and competitive stress.

• Mental resets: Creating practical routines for regrouping after mistakes or difficult moments.

• Performance routines: Building consistent preparation and in-game habits that support readiness.

• Self-awareness: Recognising patterns in thoughts, emotions, perceived effort and performance.

These skills are most useful when developed consistently and adapted to the athlete, sport and training environment. They are not a guarantee against fatigue or poor performance, but they can form part of a broader approach to sustainable performance.

The Goal Isn't to Feel Energetic All the Time

Elite performance doesn't mean feeling perfect every day.

There will be difficult sessions. There will be pressure. There will be days when motivation fluctuates and effort feels harder than usual.

The goal is not to ignore these experiences or push through every warning sign. It's to recognise what might be happening, understand what you can influence and know when you need rest or additional support.

Because sometimes, the most useful question isn't:

“How do I push harder?”

It's:

“What's affecting my performance right now, and what do I need to respond effectively?”

Champions Mind Lab (CML)
Train the skill behind the skill.

Your body executes the performance. Your mind helps you navigate the demands of performing.