Underthinking

I’m guessing that, for many of you, the first thing that came to mind when you saw the title Underthinking was: “Is there really such a thing?”

Well, logic suggests that if humans can overthink, then we can learn to do the opposite, too.

We have already written several articles on the concept of overthinking. You can read the most recent one separately via this link.

However, we have not yet had the opportunity to write specifically about the solution—or, more accurately, the preferred state. In many sporting and performance situations, the ideal mentality is what we might call underthinking.

Underthinking does not mean having no thoughts. That would be impossible. Nor does it mean being careless, unprepared or unintelligent. It means paying less attention to thoughts and letting well-practised actions take centre stage.

Neurodiversity

Genetics and neurodiversity underpin many psychological characteristics. In fact, almost every article we have ever written as part of our Mental Toughness Digest could probably include a disclaimer along these lines:

Although the advice contained in this article is both scientific and applied, natural differences between individuals will significantly influence how useful and impactful each strategy is.

The term neurodiversity is becoming increasingly familiar. The way I like to interpret it—both in my personal life and in my work with clients—is that different people’s brains simply work differently.

My son and daughter, for example, find mathematics easier than many children their age. It is almost as if their neural pathways are naturally set up to process numbers and mathematical concepts efficiently.

Something similar can occur with worrying and overthinking. Some people appear to have a much stronger natural tendency to analyse, predict, question and mentally rehearse.

Overthinking is often a combination of worrying far more than the current situation requires and then worrying about the fact that you are worrying.

This can quickly get out of hand. Some people develop the habit of worrying about worrying about worrying—and, in theory, that cycle can continue indefinitely.

Becoming an Underthinker

Apart from hoping that your parents had chosen partners with slightly less intense brains, what can you do from a practical perspective to become more of an underthinker?

Fortunately, there are several possibilities. If you would like professional help applying these ideas to your sport or performance area, please reach out by completing our contact form here.

1. Let Thoughts Come and Go

There are almost unlimited ways to practise this, but they all share one requirement: consistency.

For habitual overthinkers, simply noticing thoughts without trying to solve, suppress or challenge them can feel incredibly unnatural. So doing a mindfulness exercise twice a year won’t cut it.

You need to practise the skill regularly.

One of the simplest ways to begin is to journal your thoughts using images instead of words. If you are feeling incredibly frustrated, what would that frustration look like if you were not allowed to describe it using language?

Would it look like a thunderstorm, a tangled ball of string or a pressure cooker?

This exercise can help you observe the thought or feeling without immediately getting entangled in it.

2. Stop Classifying Thoughts and Feelings as Good or Bad

The original thought or feeling is rarely the main problem.

Human beings can perform remarkable feats while experiencing the full range of thoughts and emotions. Athletes can perform brilliantly while feeling nervous. Musicians can play beautifully while experiencing self-doubt. Business leaders can make sound decisions while feeling uncertain.

Things tend to go south when we begin judging, classifying and categorising these internal experiences.

“This is a bad thought.”

“I shouldn’t feel nervous.”

“I need to feel confident before I can perform well.”

These secondary judgements give the original thought or feeling much more importance than it deserves.

This idea appears in a classic video from the legendary Dr Russ Harris. Once upon a time, our ability to think about our own thoughts probably offered a considerable survival advantage. Nowadays, however, this ability can do far more harm than good when left unchecked. I have included the video at the end of the article for your convenience.

3. Become Incredibly Competent at What You Do

This might sound obvious to anyone involved in high-performance sport or another demanding performance area. However, there is an important distinction to make.

Imagine a highly competent rower. She knows that she has the physical fitness and technical ability to complete every race successfully, but she experiences a great deal of self-doubt.

Now imagine that her friend experiences the same amount of self-doubt but is not nearly as fit or technically competent—particularly in relation to her stroke mechanics.

For the first rower, learning to accept and normalise her thoughts may provide 95% of what is required for her to become an underthinker. She already rows exceptionally well. Her challenge is to stop allowing her thoughts to interfere with abilities that are already highly developed.

The second rower may also benefit from acceptance and mindfulness, but some of her concerns contain useful information. Addressing her technical and physical limitations should therefore form part of the overall cocktail of solutions.

Consider a tennis player as another example. During a match, an overthinking player might consciously analyse the position of their feet, the angle of the racquet, the ball toss and the movement of their wrist—all while trying to serve.

This is far too much information to process during a skill that lasts only a few seconds.

The solution is not to stop thinking altogether. The player can do plenty of technical thinking during training, perhaps with a coach’s support. During competition, however, the aim might be to trust that preparation and use only one simple action-based cue, such as “reach up” or “finish forward”.

The technical thinking belongs mainly in practice. Competition is when you let the body perform what it has already learned.

Preparation Creates the Conditions for Underthinking

Underthinking works best when it is supported by high-quality preparation.

It is not a shortcut, and it is not an excuse to ignore genuine weaknesses. The goal is to think carefully when thinking helps, practise deliberately when improvements are needed, and then reduce conscious interference when it is time to perform.

In other words: prepare deeply, then trust completely.

The aim is not to eliminate thoughts, doubts or uncomfortable feelings. It is to become so skilled at noticing them—and so competent at the task in front of you—that they no longer need to control what you do next.