Why Olympians rehearse the run, and why you probably don’t
I’ve been watching the Winter Olympics.
Partly because it’s absurdly impressive (free ski slopestyle looks like physics being personally offended).
Partly because it’s a reminder that world-class performance is rarely “talent”. It’s systems, repetition, and removing the number of variables you can remove.
One moment stuck.
Lizzy Yarnold was describing how athletes visualise their runs.
You’ll see them standing still, eyes closed, moving slightly as they run through the course in their head.
The interveiwer asked the obvious question:
Do you visualise winning gold?
Her answer was perfect.
No. Full focus on the run. The medal is an outcome of a great run.
That’s not woo-woo. That’s how operators think.
They don’t rehearse the headline. They rehearse the sequence that produces it.
That’s a familiar pattern seen in high performers: attention on the process, not applause.
What Is Chair Flying
In aviation, not the London-to-Paris commercial stuff, I mean performance flying, fast jets, display teams. There’s a practice called chair flying.
It’s mental rehearsal of the routine, the checks, the order, the contingencies, until the “real” version feels like something your body’s already done.
That matters because pressure isn’t the main problem.
Novelty is.
When something’s new, your nervous system goes loud. When something’s familiar, you stay cleaner. Rehearsal removes novelty.
And yet in business, a lot of capable adults do the opposite.
They’ll do a forensic replay after something goes sideways, but they won’t do five deliberate minutes beforehand to map what “good” looks like.
The lever isn’t the outcome
If you’re rehearsing “win the contract” you’re rehearsing a fantasy. You don’t control that.
- What you can rehearse is the bit you do control: your behaviour in the moments that tend to wobble.
- The first sentence.
- The point where you state the number.
- The moment you get interrupted.
- The temptation to fill silence.
- The point where you go agreeable to keep things smooth.
Same with confidence.
Confidence isn’t something you summon like a Disney character.
It’s what you get after you’ve handled enough reps that the situation stops feeling like a threat.
How To Use This Without Skis
Pick something that matters and rehearse the parts that usually derail you.
If it’s a conversation: don’t rehearse the whole thing. Rehearse the opening and the first time they push back.
If it’s a presentation: rehearse the start until your breathing stays normal.
If it’s negotiation: rehearse the sentence where you hold your price, and rehearse the pause after you’ve said it.
If it’s a decision you’ve been avoiding: rehearse the first move you’ll take within 24 hours. Not the whole life plan. Just the first move.
Rehearsal isn’t optimism. It’s preparation. It’s turning “I hope I handle it well” into “I know what I’m doing when the moment arrives”.
The part nobody trains for
Here’s where it's relevant outside sport.
People rehearse the pressure moment. They don’t rehearse the come-down.
The call ends.
The deal closes.
The adrenaline drops.
There’s a gap. If you haven’t decided what fills that gap, you’ll default.
Sometimes that default is fine.
Sometimes it’s an off-switch: alcohol, scrolling, numbing, work-as-avoidance, or just being sharp with the people closest to you because you’re empty.
Pressure isn’t usually what breaks performance.
It’s what you do afterwards.
If you want consistent performance, recovery has to be designed in the same way execution is. Not as a vibe. As a choice.
One final thought
Stop waiting for the moment to arrive before deciding who you’ll be in it.
Chair fly it.
And if you care about performance, don’t only rehearse how you show up under pressure.
Rehearse what happens after it, because that’s where the pattern gets locked in.
If you want a clear view of where you’re leaking performance (and what you’re defaulting to afterwards), I do a £175 diagnostic.
It’s not coaching theatre. It’s a straight look at what’s happening, why it’s happening, and what to change.