Mental toughness is one of the most crucial aspects of an athlete’s sports journey. An athlete with a strong mind is likely to remain focused, confident, and resilient during times when results are going downhill. It is the mental toughness that makes the difference between success and failure. Some of the most remarkable football players who went on to become the absolute legend, like Lionel Messi, witnessed a time in their career when it seemed that they would end their career without winning the biggest prize. But they refused to give up and persevered through tough times. And it’s because of their mental toughness.
1. Understand What Mental Toughness Is
Mental toughness is a combination of resilience, confidence, focus, and emotional control. It allows athletes to stay focused and composed during pressure situations. This attribute also helps athletes overcome challenges and perform better than average players.
A mentally tough athlete is likely to show following attributes:
- Remains calm under pressure.
- Brings his A-Game in pressure situations.
- Never bemoans and recovers quickly from setbacks.
- Maintains focus despite distractions.
- Believes in his ability to succeed, no matter how high the odds are.
2. Strong and Positive Self Talk
Self-talk is something that every person does. In fact, we are always talking to ourself, on all kinds of topics. But we often tend to ignore the importance of the thoughts we harness in our mind. Sometimes, when the chips are down and everything seems to fall apart, we talk negatively about ourself, and question our own ability. This kind of talk harms us, makes us weak. Positive self-talk can help boost confidence and motivation.
Positive self talk:
- Always say to yourself – ” I can do this.”
- Say to yourself – “I can do this if I keep working on it.”
- Never lose sight of your ultimate goals.
3. Create High-Pressure Situations and Train
Big players perform better than average players in high-stake games. Remember Virat Kohli’s fighting 76-run innings in the World T20 Final match against South Africa, or LeBron James’ legendary block in the 2016 NBA Finals match against Golden State Warriors? These games define the aura of a player. The best way to prepare for these high-pressure situation games is to simulate match-like situations, or creating more challenges while practicing.
Coaches can create pressure situations by:
- Adding time cap on drills to add urgency.
- Simulating match-like conditions.
- Creating high-intensity challenges and traying to overcome them.
- Encouraging real competition in practice, like putting some stakes.
By training under pressure, athletes become more familiar with real-match like situations.
4. Manage Stress and Anxiety
Athletes are always under a lot of scrutiny and experience stress and anxiety. Learning to control these emotions is crucial for maintaining mental toughness.
Here are some suggestions to manage stress:
- Deep breathing: Taking slow, deep breaths helps calm the nervous system and reduces stress.
- Visualization: Before a match, close your eyes and imagine yourself performing well. This helps in decreasing stress and anxiety levels.
5. Set Clear and Realistic Goals
Also, setting short-term and realistic goals help build confidence. Imagine, you are an athlete who has set a target of breaking the 10-second mark in 100M dash in a week or so, while you never managed to go below 10.5 seconds. That’s an unrealistic target and which is likely to result in disappointment. So always set targets that are achievable. It provides motivation for the future.
When setting goals, consider the following things:
- Clarity – You must have clarity what you want to achieve.
- Achievable – Goals should be realistic and attainable.
- Time Frame – Set a realistic timeline to achieve your goals.
- Tracking– Always track your progress. It keeps you on your guard.
- Relevant – Ensure the goal aligns with your overall objectives.
6. Don’t get disappointed with failure
Failure is a part of everyone’s journey. Even the most intelligent human beings have suffered setbacks sometimes during their life. The same goes for sports as some of the greatest athletes suffered defeats in biggest matches, like Lionel Messi suffering defeat at the 2014 FIFA World Cup final match. But the important thing is not getting disappointed from failure.
How to tackle failure:
- Always focus on the next goal. Let of of the disappointment.
- Believe in your own ability, understand that defeats build characters.
- Keep training. Keep putting in efforts in practice.
Also Read: 5 Drills to Improve Your Ball Control Like a Pro
7. Build Confidence Through Preparation
Confidence plays a vital role in mental toughness. It’s that one aspect that can reap huge rewards. a confident but less talented athlete has better chance of winning a match or a duel against a talented athlete who isn’t confident about his skills. Remember that the best way to develop confidence is through practice and a lot of practice. When you know you have put in the effort, you will naturally feel more confident on the field.
To build confidence:
- Maintain consistency and practice everyday.
- Work on your weaknesses, but focus on strengths as well..
- Celebrate small victories.
8. Stay Focused and Avoid Distractions
Maintaining focus in big band high-stake games is a trait that few athlete possesses. In fact, many top athlete tend to lose focus due to distractions such as crowd noise, opponent behavior, or a referee decision you don’t agree with. Understand that these are part and parcel of a match.
Some exercises to increase focus:
- Do meditation and picture yourself not losing temper during matches.
- Breathing exercises also help in improving focus.
- Do not lose sight of your ultimate bgoals.
- Practice reaction-based drills or engage in exercises that require quick decision-making.
- Develop your own pre-game routine and stick to that. Many top athlete include a certain pre-game ritual to their preparations.
- Warm-up exercises also help athlete stay focused before matches.
Also Read: How to Build Endurance for Long Innings
9. Develop Emotional Control
History is full of incidents when certain athletes, full of talent, lost their cool during big games and ended up losing. Control over emotions is important for handling pressure, winning mini battles during matches, and tackling unexpected situations. Athletes who fails to keep their emotions in check often ended up taking bad emotions.
To develop emotional control:
- Meditation and breathing exercises are great in keeping control over emotions.
- Know yourself. Know your trigger points that cause frustration or anxiety.
- Learn to let go of mistakes and maintain focus on what’s to come.
- Always talk positively about yourself. Avoid negative self-talk.
10. Surround Yourself with a Supportive Environment
Your surrounding is as important as your diet. It eventually affect your overall health and also has an impact your our thought pattern. So always hang out with positive and supportive teammates.
Your friend circle, or your closed group can help in following ways.
- Encourages you during tough period.
- Provides positive and constructive feedback.
- Helps you stay motivated and focused on your goals – long term and short term.
Conclusion
Developing mental toughness is just like developing another set of skills. This certainly takes time, effort, and dedication. But with a strong mindset, any athlete can enhance their performance on the field. But always remember that the more you work on your mental toughness, the stronger your mind becomes.
So keep training your mind just as you train your body, and you will see significant improvements in your performance and overall confidence as an athlete.
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