Brian O'Driscoll Quotes

Before I pitch any game, from spring training to Game 7 of the World Series, I'm scared to death.

Touring is really about being on edge the whole time - you're like a racing horse: you've just got to be on. You've got to pull it together.

I love playing under pressure. In fact, if there's no pressure, then I'm not in the perfect zone.

I know if I want to have a chance to beat the top players, I need to be mentally ready for that.

If you're playing someone you care about, it's tough, and I don't want to be in that situation. We are playing big matches for big points and prize money, and I take it very seriously. I relax when I'm outside tennis.

Any time you go into the playoff game everyone's adrenaline is high and tensions are going, stuff like that.

No matter how much you train, you can't replicate the stresses that the body takes when it's in a competitive environment.

I just think I play better in the greater scenarios. I just get motivated. I like the big crowds on the centre courts.

Coming into a game in the eighth or ninth inning is like parachuting behind enemy lines. And sometimes the chute doesn't open. You have to live with that. It's an occupational hazard.

The mind is absolutely instrumental in achieving results, even for athletes. Sports psychology is a very small part, but it's extremely important when you're winning and losing races by hundredths and even thousandths of a second.

I always got nervous the nights we played in the World Series. First pitch, I was nervous. Then after that, forget it; I'd start playing.

There's an inner feeling you get when you get in a situation to do well in a game. It's hard to explain.

To play in atmospheres that are intense is when I play my best football.

People expect you to play your best, so I go through a routine to prepare myself so that I know I'm physically and mentally ready - prepared for the game.

Realizing full well that fine condition and confidence will not in themselves make a champion, it is my belief, however, that they are essential factors.

A lot of times when you play... you get this adrenalin that blocks pain.

I think watching multi-events is much worse than competing. Especially when you have vested interests because you go through the emotional ups and downs.

I've got to have a bet going in order to play my best.

You have to come in to major championships, and your attitude has to be on point.

It is important to start winning international tournaments early and get that mentality into you. Then, hopefully, you can take it on to the world stage.

Very often, you can go into one game and do really well, and then you have to find that level of performance so quickly again.

I've always believed that I performed better under pressure.

I can't be getting off my game. I need to be getting teams off their games.

Important in a big tournament is how you start. With a great match at the start, you can distance yourself from the unrest from outside. And it increases the respect among opponents.

I perform better under pressure. If I go out there, and I'm not nervous, and I'm too relaxed, I don't like that vibe. I like big matches. I like pressure situations.