Does your child panic when they see a difficult maths problem, instantly telling themselves they can’t do it? In ‘The Inner Game of Tennis’, Harvard-educated performance coach W. Timothy Gallwey explains that the secret to peak performance is not thinking harder, but thinking less. Learn how to teach your child the art of ‘relaxed concentration’ so they can stop overthinking and perform at their best in the Selective Test, OC Test, HAST, and NAPLAN.
When a student sits down for a high-stakes Australian exam like the Selective High School Placement Test, Opportunity Class (OC) test, HAST, or NAPLAN, the pressure is immense. For many children, this pressure triggers an immediate and unhelpful mental response: overthinking. They begin to second-guess their answers, worry about the time limit, and mentally spiral when they encounter a question they don’t immediately understand.
This phenomenon is exactly what W. Timothy Gallwey, a pioneer of modern performance coaching, observed in elite athletes. In his classic book The Inner Game of Tennis, Gallwey identifies the culprit behind this overthinking as “Self 1” — the conscious, critical, and highly analytical inner voice.
Self 1 is the voice in your child’s head that constantly gives instructions and judges their performance in real-time. During a Selective Test or NAPLAN exam, Self 1 is the part of the brain saying, “You are spending too much time on this,” or “If you get this wrong, you won’t get into the school you want.”
The fundamental problem with Self 1 is that it tries to consciously control a process that should be natural and intuitive. When a student has spent months preparing for the OC Test or Scholarship exams, their unconscious mind (which Gallwey calls “Self 2”) already knows how to solve the problems. It has absorbed the patterns, the formulas, and the logic.
When Self 1 interferes by over-analysing every step, it blocks Self 2 from doing its job. The student becomes tense, their thinking becomes rigid, and they lose access to the knowledge they actually possess. The harder Self 1 tries to control the outcome, the worse the performance becomes.
Gallwey argues that the ultimate goal for any performer is to achieve a state of “relaxed concentration”. This is a state where the mind is completely focused on the task at hand, but the body and the critical inner voice are entirely relaxed.
Relaxed concentration is not about trying hard; it is about letting go. It is the mental state often referred to as being “in the zone” or in “flow”. When a student achieves relaxed concentration during the HAST or Selective Test, they are no longer thinking about the score, the time, or their parents’ expectations. They are simply engaged with the question in front of them.
Teaching a child to quiet Self 1 and achieve relaxed concentration is a skill that requires practice, just like learning long division or reading comprehension. Here are three strategies based on the Inner Game principles that Australian parents can teach their children:
Most exam anxiety comes from Self 1 either dwelling on a past mistake (e.g., “I definitely got the last question wrong”) or worrying about a future outcome (e.g., “What if I fail this whole section?”). The key to quieting the mind is to anchor it firmly in the present moment.
Teach your child that when they notice their mind racing during a practice test, they must gently bring their attention back to the exact question they are working on right now. They should focus entirely on the words on the page, the numbers in the equation, and the immediate task. By focusing narrowly on the present, Self 1 has no room to worry about the future.
Gallwey frequently used breathing techniques to help his students quiet their minds. When a child feels panic rising during the NAPLAN or OC Test, their breathing often becomes shallow and rapid, which increases physical tension.
A simple, effective technique is to have your child take three slow, deep breaths before they turn the page to a new section of the exam. They should focus entirely on the physical sensation of the air entering and leaving their body. This simple act of observing the breath interrupts the cycle of overthinking and brings the mind back to a state of calm focus.
When a student encounters a difficult question, Self 1 often immediately labels the situation as “bad” or “disastrous”. This judgment creates panic.
Teach your child to observe the difficulty neutrally. Instead of thinking, “This is too hard, I’m going to fail,” they should learn to think, “This is a complex question. What information do I have?” By removing the emotional judgment from the situation, the student can approach the problem logically and calmly, allowing Self 2 to find the solution.
The best way to develop relaxed concentration is through regular, timed practice under realistic conditions. TestMagic provides a comprehensive platform of practice exams specifically designed for the Selective Test, OC Test, HAST, and NAPLAN.
By using these practice tests not just to test academic knowledge, but to actively practice quieting the mind and maintaining focus, your child will build the mental resilience needed for the real exam day.
For more insights on building a strong foundation for exam success, read our article on Raising Boys to Succeed: What Every Australian Parent Needs to Know.
