Rugby Psychology

Overview → The Anchor → Session Notes
Session Notes The Anchor
Addressing:

Contact Anxiety

That visceral hesitation before committing to tackles or carrying into contact, where your body instinctively wants to protect itself despite your mind knowing what needs to happen. Players describe going through the motions but "pulling out" at the last moment, making half-hearted contact that increases injury risk and undermines team defence.

How The Anchor Can Master Contact Anxiety in Rugby

Posted on December 9, 2025 ~ min read
📋
For: The Anchor athletes in Rugby
Focus: Session Notes - Contact Anxiety
Read Time: ~9 min
Session Notes December 9, 2025
Profile: The Anchor
Sport: Rugby
Challenge: Contact Anxiety

The tackle was there. Open. Clean. Your brain registered the ball carrier drifting wide, feet planted wrong, weight shifting forward. Every tactical indicator screamed "hit now." Your body refused. That split-second hesitation cost your team seven points.

Contact anxiety in rugby is the involuntary physical resistance to collision despite conscious intent to engage. For The Anchor iconThe Anchor (ISTC), this creates a specific psychological paradox. Your tactical mind processes contact situations with precision. You see the angles, calculate the timing, understand the physics. Yet the body operates on a different system entirely, one governed by self-preservation instincts that override analytical processing.

Continue Reading with Premium Access

Get full access to this Session Notes article and all premium deep dive content.

$27 one-time payment
Unlock Full Session Notes

Unlock 620 deep dive articles across 10 sports

Vladimir Novkov

M.A. Social Psychology | ISSA Elite Trainer | Expert in Sport Psychology for Athlete Development

My mission is to bridge the gap between mind and body, helping athletes and performers achieve a state of synergy where peak performance becomes a natural outcome of who they are.

About the author LinkedIn

Explore Other Mental Challenges

Different challenges require different approaches. Explore solutions for other mental challenges in Rugby:

← Back to Rugby Overview

Want to Build Your Mental Game?

Get proven performance psychology strategies delivered to your inbox every week. Real insights from sport psychology research and practice.

We respect your privacy. Unsubscribe anytime.