There’s a moment before baseball tryouts usually right when you step out of the car where the world gets too loud. The metal bats. The clipped coach voices. The parents pretend not to stare. Every kid feels it. Some hide it better, but nobody is immune.

Sports psychologists (the real ones AASP-certified, NCAA performance staff types) will tell you: tryout anxiety is predictable. It’s a stress response. It’s biology, not weakness. And the more we pretend nerves are some personal flaw, the worse we make them.

I’ve watched enough of these tryouts my own kids, friends' kids, the ones who crumble and the ones who quietly dominate to notice what actually helps. And spoiler: it’s not “relax, you’ll be fine.”

So here’s the stuff sports psych people talk about when parents aren’t listening, mixed with the things I’ve seen work on actual, real-life, human baseball players who are just trying not to implode in front of strangers.

The Anxiety Isn’t Random. It’s Anticipation on Overdrive.

The APA calls it anticipatory stress.

Athletes call it “my stomach hurts.”

Tryouts hit every anxiety trigger at once:

• Uncertainty
• Judgement
• Lack of control
• Social comparison
• Stakes that feel bigger than they actually are

Put all that together and the brain basically slaps the panic button before you’ve even thrown a ball.

This is why mental preparation before the tryout matters way more than anything you do during it.

The Night-Before Shift: Calm the System, Don’t “Pump Up”

I swear, half of youth sports anxiety comes from players trying to “psych themselves up.” Don't. Save the hype for walk-up songs in May. The night before tryouts should feel like a reset, not a rally.

A few things that help:

• Pack your gear early so you’re not scrambling.
• Eat something boring and predictable.
• Lay out your first rep in your head simple visualization, nothing mystical.
• Stop scrolling hitting mechanics on Instagram at 11 p.m. That’s brain poison.

Mental energy is a limited resource. Don’t burn it before you need it.

The Pre-Tryout Routine AKA the Anxiety Shield

AASP consultants love routines for a reason: they reduce chaos.

I love them because I’ve seen kids go from borderline meltdown to “oh, I actually remember how to swing” in one minute flat.

A good routine doesn’t need to look professional. It just needs to be yours:

• The same warm-up order every time.
• The same walk-up breath.
• One tiny physical reset you repeat after mistakes (brush dirt, tap the bat, whatever).

Ken Ravizza built entire careers off teaching athletes how to reset. It works because it prevents the “one mistake → spiral → collapse” that ruins most tryouts.

Breathing: The Single Easiest Way to Trick Your Nervous System

Most kids don’t actually breathe before their reps they inhale, hold, and hope for the best.

Try this instead: Inhale for 4. Exhale for 6. Repeat twice.

That long exhale is the magic. It tells your system, “We’re not being chased by a tiger.” Suddenly your vision widens, your hands calm down, and your timing comes back. No spiritual enlightenment required.

You can literally see a kid’s shoulders drop when this kicks in. Coaches notice that stuff, too.

Give Your Brain One Job Not Twelve

Anxiety creates noise. And anxious athletes try to fix the noise with more thinking, which is like trying to put out a grease fire with water.

Pick one cue:

• “Smooth.”
• “See it.”
• “Stay tall.”
• “Quiet hands.”

Your job is not to solve your entire swing in five minutes. Your job is to anchor your attention to something simple and repeatable.

Tryout nerves hate simplicity. Which is exactly why it works.

Reframe the Stakes (Because Your Brain Is Lying to You)

NCAA sports psychology staff talk about this all the time:

High anxiety isn’t caused by failure.

It’s caused by the meaning we attach to failure.

Kids think tryouts determine their identity. Coaches don’t see it that way. They look at:

• Effort
• Composure
• How you respond to mistakes
• Athletic movement
• Repeatability

Not perfection.

If failure means “I’m worthless,” the anxiety skyrockets.

If failure means “data point,” the anxiety drops.

And yes, kids can learn that reframing. They just need adults who model it.

Try This 30-Second Reset Before You Even Step Onto the Field

I’ve given this to kids who freeze in big moments. Works almost every time:

1. Step away from the crowd.
2. One slow breath: 4 in, 6 out.
3. Focus your eyes on one still object (fence link, patch of chalk).
4. Say your cue in your head.
5. Move your body tiny hop, shoulder roll, something.

It shakes off the adrenaline spike long enough to feel human again.

The Real Truth: Most Anxiety Disappears When Players Stop Trying to Impress People

Impressing is ego-driven and fragile.

Competing is grounded and controllable.

The kids who handle tryouts best aren’t the most talented.

They’re the ones who stop performing for imaginary expectations and just go play baseball.

Final Thought

Anxiety before baseball tryouts doesn’t mean anything is wrong. It means you care. Your brain is trying (poorly) to protect you. But with a few tools, breathing, routines, reframing, a reset you can quiet the noise long enough for your actual ability to show up.

And honestly? That’s all any coach wants to see.