Challenge Series: Fear In Softball

This is the second article in a series examining different types of perceptual distortions I encounter the most with athletes. I am calling this the "Challenge Series" because I will challenge you to examine yourself to see if you struggle with the selected distortion and challenge you to take action to overcome it.

To review what a perceptual distortion is and how it can affect your performance on the softball field, please read the first article in this series titled, "Challenge Series: Defining Perceptual Distortions."

In this article, I introduce a specific distortion pertaining to fear, so let's explore more about what fear is and how it can change how you perceive your situation.

Fear is an adaptive response to keep us safe by mobilizing the body to face or avoid potential threats in the environment (Merriam-Webster, 2026). Your fear response is something you were born with. It's your body's natural response to a real and present danger in the environment. How you respond can look different based on how you perceive the threat to you, but often, this is what we call the "fight or flight" response. This is your brain's way of protecting you by either gathering energy to fight for survival or flee (escape) to safety (LeWine, 2024). Fear can feel different depending on how you perceive the situation. Here are a couple of different ways you can feel fear that I observe in sports most often.

Dread. Have you ever strongly not wanted to do something that hasn't happened yet? Dread is an anticipation of feeling uncomfortable in the future. For example, maybe you have a game today, and you are dreading the possibility of pitching to the other team's 4-hole hitter. You may spend days or minutes thinking about how much you don't want to pitch to her, to the point you realize you're in a bad mood, don't feel well, and take active steps to avoid pitching that day. Dread can feel strong, deep, and paralyzing.

Apprehension. Apprehension is sometimes referred to as a mild form of fear, and it is similar to dread. Using the example from above with pitching to the 4-hole hitter, apprehension may be that you worry about how well you'll pitch against her, but it's not a consuming feeling that makes you not want to try. Apprehension usually makes you feel nervous but not paralyzed.

Fear is a strong defense mechanism you are born with to help protect you, and when you experience fear, there are a few things that happen. For one, your brain shifts attention to the "thing" in your environment that you perceive as a threat, and you can become hyper-focused on this perceived threat. This threat may or may not be a real threat.

Fear makes it easy for you to overlook or misinterpret neutral cues and signals in the environment or situation. Think about what this feels like on the field for you. Perhaps you struck out in the first inning, and you think everyone is talking about you and looking at you, which makes you afraid to hit again. You think about this for the rest of the game, which distracts you from making clean plays on defense or hearing your coaches' instructions (Geuss et al., 2016; Pressman, 2021).

Another thing that happens is your emotions get bigger. You respond more to situations based on how your body automatically responds in that moment to what's happening (your emotions) versus looking at the facts with reasoning of the situation to analyze it (logical thinking).

Fear can distort how you see things spatially around you. For example, objects can look bigger, wider, or closer than they actually are. If you're fearful on the field, you may perceive the ball is moving faster than it is, or you may think the ball "got to you" faster than it did. You misjudge the distance and speed. This misjudgement can result in errors, bad jumps, off timing, and frustration.

The key to moving through a distortion of your perception that is caused by a form of fear is to recognize what is happening as soon as possible. When your body is giving you signals that tell you that you should be scared or uncomfortable, recognize these signs. Stop and ask yourself, "Am I in real physical danger right now?"

Claim the fear. For example, own it if you're scared to throw the pitch inside and why. Next, think through the worst-case scenario. What's the worst thing that can happen, and can you handle it if it does happen? Also, ask yourself if you've been in this position before. For example, have you ever had to throw a pitch inside, and how did you do? More often than not, you will realize you've been "here" and "done that" before successfully.

Next, choose to take action. Whatever you decide, take steps to either move forward or change your approach, situation, or environment. These steps can help you minimize what fear does to your perception so you can see the situation more clearly.

Dr. Megan Buning is a Certified Mental Performance Consultant (C.M.P.C.) with over a decade of experience training the mental game.

Geuss, M. N., McCardell, M. J., & Stefanucci, J. K. (2016). Fear similarly alters perceptual estimates of and actions over gaps. PloS one, 11(7), e0158610. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0158610

Keijzer, J. (2026). Apprehension, fear, or phobia? Grandis Ose. Retrieved from https://www.grandis-ose.com/en-gb/apprehension-fear-or-phobia

LeWine, H. E. (2024, April 3). Understanding the stress response: Chronic activation of this survival mechanism impairs health. Healthy Aging & Longevity. Harvard Health. Retrieved from https://www.health.harvard.edu/healthy-aging-and-longevity/understanding-the-stress-response

Merriam-Webster. (2026). Fear. Retrieved from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fear

Pressman, T. E., (2021, February 14). This is how fear distorts what we know. Psychology Today. Retrieved from https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/deconstructing-anxiety/202102/is-how-fear-distorts-what-we-know

Schimmenti, A., Billieux, J., & Starcevic, V. (2020). The Four Horsemen of Fear: An Integrated Model of Understanding Fear Experiences During the Covid-19 Pandemic. Clinical neuropsychiatry, 17(2), 41–45. https://doi.org/10.36131/CN20200202

Vasey, M. W., Vilensky, M. R., Heath, J. H., Harbaugh, C. N., Buffington, A. G., & Fazio, R. H. (2012). It was as big as my head, I swear! Biased spider size estimation in spider phobia. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 26(1), 20–24. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.janxdis.2011.08.009