“Every experienced athlete you look up to has felt pressure”

“In sport, and in performance, we don’t want to remove stress completely, because some level of stress actually helps us perform. The difference is in how it affects you,” says Jelicic of the distinction between a helpful level of pressure and an excessive amount that may hinder performance.  

“When stress is at an optimal level, it tends to enhance focus, increase alertness, and prepare the body for action — you feel activated, but you are still clear. When it becomes too much, it tends to disrupt performance by overthinking, indecisiveness, tension in the body, or emotional reactions like anxiety or frustration.

“How I often simplify it for athletes is by asking: ‘Is this helping me perform, or is it getting in my way?’ That question is usually enough to create awareness.

“The goal is not to feel calm at all times, but to stay functional and effective.”

Pressure — shaped by interpretation

Awareness is a key element of dealing with pressure. One part of that is an awareness that perception of a situation can have a significant impact on how much pressure we associate with it. Coming to learn just how powerful perception is — how self-constructed it can be and that it is not necessarily reflective of reality — is crucial in understanding when it is worth feeling pressure and when not.

Asked about how she would raise the topic to someone who does not yet understand that their own perception is just that, Jelicic says: “What I often say to athletes is: the pressure you feel is real, but it doesn’t come only from the situation — it comes from how you interpret it.

“Two players can step into the same game, with the same stakes, and experience it completely differently. One feels excited and ready, the other feels overwhelmed. The difference is not the game — it’s the meaning they attach to it.

“For someone who has never thought about this before, it is important not to challenge their experience directly, meaning, not to try to ‘convince’ them. Instead, I would invite them to reflect a little. For example, have they ever handled a similar situation better in the past? Or, do you know someone who reacts differently in the same/similar moment? These small reflections help people realise that their perception is not the only possible reality.

“The key message is not that pressure is imagined or ‘in your head,’ but that it is shaped by interpretation. You play an active role in creating it. And if you are part of creating it, you can also learn how to regulate it. That’s where the real shift happens. An extremely empowering one.”

“If you don’t manage it, it will manage you”

The psychological part of sport and generally the importance of mental health is more valued today than it might have been in the past. There is a broad understanding that this area is crucial in personal performance — literally being our best on the personal level and then, in terms of sport, performing on the highest possible level.

Signs of stress are often visible on the sporting field and, if one is to be a successful athlete, it is therefore non-negotiable to be in the best possible form mentally.

“If stress is not managed, the consequences show up very quickly — during performance on the court,” says Jelicic.

“On a cognitive level, an athlete may struggle to focus on the right things. Decision-making can become slower or less accurate, attention may narrow or become distracted, and even simple tactical elements can feel harder to execute. It’s not that the athlete doesn’t know what to do — it’s that access to that knowledge becomes blocked under pressure.

“Emotionally, unmanaged stress often leads to an increase in negative internal dialogue (so called self-talk), frustration, or doubt. These internal reactions influence behaviour — resulting in hesitation, playing too safely, or sometimes rushing into decisions they wouldn’t normally make.

“From a physical perspective, stress shows up as muscle tension, movements become less fluid, timing is off, and breathing can become shallow or irregular. And in a fast-paced sport such as handball, these small changes make a big difference.

“So when we say, ‘manage your stress,’ it’s not just a general wellbeing message — it’s directly linked to performance. If you don’t manage it, it will manage you.”

“Very important for the athlete to maintain focus on what is within their control”

Aside from performance, another area of pressure, within a team sport in particular, can be the relationships requisite in it. Many people are involved in simply getting a team to function, and it takes all of them working in collaboration for it and the individual athletes to perform well.

When issues arise, figuring out how to handle them can cause stress for an athlete, should the burden fall to them.

“This is something many athletes experience, but don’t always talk about openly. In team sports especially, relationships (with the coach, coaching staff, teammates) are part of your performance environment, so when they are difficult, they can become a constant source of pressure,” says Jelicic.

“I always encourage open and respectful communication. Sometimes even a small conversation can reduce misunderstandings and release a lot of unnecessary tension.

“At the same time, not every situation can be solved immediately. In those cases, it becomes very important for the athlete to maintain focus on what is within their control. This means their role, their preparation, their behaviour on the court.

“And just as importantly, not staying alone with it. Having someone to talk to — a psychologist, a teammate, or someone you trust — helps to process the situation and maintain perspective.

“In team sports, you cannot separate performance from interpersonal dynamics. But you can learn how to not let those relationships completely define your experience and performance.”

So what tools can an athlete use in order to ensure they are focused on what matters and allow any unnecessary pressure to fall away? Jelicic says that focusing specifically on the individual role and tasks is key here. Forget anything that is not within control.

“This is one of the most powerful tools we have for managing pressure, because it shifts the attention away from outcomes, which are often uncertain and only partially controllable. Pressure often builds when we focus too much on outcomes — results, expectations, what others think, what is at stake. The challenge is that these things are never fully in our control.

“When we shift the focus to the process, we bring attention back to what we can actually influence. That means being clear about your role in the team, knowing your key tasks in different situations, and focusing on simple, concrete performance cues that help you perform.

“In daily work, this looks like setting goals around execution rather than results, building consistent routines, and evaluating your performance based on how well you have executed it — not just on the final outcome.

“It sounds simple, but it requires discipline. The benefit is that it creates clarity and reduces unnecessary pressure, because you are no longer constantly thinking about everything that could happen — you are focused on what you need to do.”

“Out of your comfort zones — and that’s exactly where growth happens”

Mental health and the concept of facing pressure have been and continue to be broadly spoken about in the sporting world as well as outside it. But for young handball players and young people in general, it may be tricky to understand that athletes who have reached the top have also felt pressure, also had to find ways to overcome it, and also need to continue dedicating themselves to ensuring their best mindset.

“For young players, it’s important to realise that feeling nervous and under pressure is not a sign that something is wrong. It usually means that what you are doing matters to you. It is a normal part of pursuing high-level performance. You are stepping into something challenging, something important — out of your comfort zones — and that’s exactly where growth happens,” says Jelicic.

“What often changes with experience is not the presence of pressure, but the relationship with it. Athletes become less surprised by it, less afraid of it, and more equipped to handle it. This normalisation is important, as it helps reduce the sense of isolation that young athletes may feel.

“So, instead of seeing pressure as something negative, I would encourage young players to see it as part of the journey. Learning how to deal with it does not happen instantly — it is a skill that develops over time, through experience, reflection and support, especially from psychologists working within the sport industry. Pressure is not separate from becoming a pro-level athlete, it is a core part of it.” 

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