Everyone tells athletes and performers to “stay calm under pressure.” But what if the secret to peak performance isn’t staying calm at all?

High-stakes moments, from championship games to career-defining opportunities,  don’t just test skill, they test how well we handle the pressure. And yet, mental performance training is still one of the most overlooked tools in the playbook.

Luca Ziegler is a PhD candidate at West Virginia University and mental performance consultant . He studies how psychological flexibility, basically staying open, aware, and in control under stress, can help athletes hit flow and clutch states when it matters most.