5 Ways Caregivers Can Reduce Athlete Anxiety and Improve Performance Through Retrieval Cues

Athletic success doesn’t happen just because of fast legs or strong muscles.

Success is often due to mental strength as well as physical prowess, at any age. That’s why retrieval cues can be an athlete’s secret weapon when used effectively.

Caregivers can use retrieval cues to help athletes stay calm in critical moments, improving everything from technique to motivation to self-talk. Here, TrueSport Expert Kevin Chapman, PhD, clinical psychologist and founder of The Kentucky Center for Anxiety and Related Disorders, breaks down what a retrieval cue is, how you can help your athlete decide where they need them, and how to create them.

But first, it’s important to remember that athletes being nervous or having some performance anxiety is both normal and positive, says Chapman. Your goal as a caregiver isn’t to try to eliminate those nerves, since they are actually beneficial to performance. “Performance anxiety implies that the athlete cares,” he says. “And normalizing some performance anxiety is key. Athletes have to learn to optimize their anxiety so that it works for them and not against them.”

That’s where retrieval cues come into play.

Typically, retrieval cues refer to a stimulus or trigger (anything from a smell to a feeling) that makes a person access information they have stored in their brain. If you smell fish and fries, you may be reminded of the boardwalk at the beach. Because the brain likes to use that stored information in new situations, it’s possible to use retrieval cues to help athletes in times of stress and anxiety by triggering the recall of useful information or emotions.

Because retrieval cues are fairly complicated psychological stimuli, starting with a simple example often helps both caregivers and athletes understand how they work. If a soccer player is struggling with their penalty kick, for instance, a retrieval cue could involve writing ‘deep breath, follow through’ on their wrist or the back of their hand so that just before they take the kick, they can be reminded of the prompt.

“Retrieval cues are a great neuroscientific hack, and they’re one of my favorite skills to teach athletes,” says Chapman. “To simplify it, think about a Labrador retriever, which is a dog that loves to retrieve things. They’re excited when they retrieve their favorite ball. A retrieval cue is like the ball that they’re fetching, and your brain is the Labrador retriever: The brain is excited to retrieve something familiar.”

That familiarity can help calm an anxious athlete, whether it’s cuing them to actually lower their feelings of stress or simply reminding them to keep an elbow up while at bat. When the brain feels something familiar, rather than unfamiliar, it automatically reduces anxiety. Chapman helps his athletes create tangible retrieval cues, often in the form of something they wear or see during a competition.

A good retrieval cue should also be very specific. “It should be an athlete-specific statement that is truncated into an object or a phrase that you see on your body to enhance your performance,” Chapman says.

Rather than something like “go fast” or “win,” it should focus on the key moment where your athlete struggles the most. “If the athlete is a mile runner, you may want a retrieval cue to use when you hear the final lap bell, such as a note written on the side of the runner’s hand that says ‘200 fast.’”