As we prepare for Thanksgiving, athletes all over the US will be unknowingly practicing a powerful mental skill. This one mental skill often goes overlooked. In fact, most athletes don’t even consider it to be a mental skill, however, recent studies show that it has profound positive benefits that target multiple areas of the mental game. This one mental skill is called Gratitude.
One of the greatest misconceptions in mental toughness is the belief that controlling one's bad thoughts is about countering bad thoughts with good thoughts. Recent empirical studies have found that this approach often leads to an increase in cognitive anxiety. Trying to control one’s bad thoughts often leads to an increase or strengthening of bad thoughts. Therefore, One powerful solution to calming the mind does not begin with one thoughts but instead with one's senses.
The emotional battle in sports is one of the most challenging events among athletes. Here, athletes are up against their opponent and team and also themselves. One emotional struggle that many athletes experience is the struggle with worry. The act of worry divides an athlete's full focus from the present task, therefore, depleting their focus in performance and their productivity outside of it. In fact, worry is such a strong emotion that it is also responsible for robbing many from experiencing enjoyment in their daily lives outside of sport.
SPMI Athlete Tom Lewis wins in dramatic fashion yesterday, winning both the 2019 Korn Ferry Tour Championship by 5 strokes while finishing off with a score of -23 (68-66-66-65) In addition to winning the championship he also earned his first PGA Tour Card! Now Tom has both European and PGA status, allowing him to compete against the best golfers on the planet. Tom has been working hard with SPMI since early last year on his mental game and mostly trains via 1-on-1 mental training when traveling and face-to-face in person when in Miami, FL.
Congratulations to SPMI athlete Tom Lewis who this past weekend dug deep after ending the first day at the British Open in 118th place. Tom was then able to work his way through, shot by shot, and hole by hole to finish tied in 11th place in golf's last major of the year! One important lesson for all athletes is that mental toughness isn't just about how well one performs under pressure. It is also about how well an athlete responds when the odds are against him.
I rarely write about SPMI athletes and their success stories but I believe it is time the world starts hearing about them. SPMI has had a very positive impact in over 1000 lives in over 50 sports. The mission of SPMI is to reach millions of athletes from all over the world and help each one of them achieve their dreams by providing them with invaluable skills and discoveries that will elevate their well-being both in sports and in life.
A Common Term used to describe an athlete's constant negative thinking is an acronym called ANTS. ANTS stand for Automatic Negative Thoughts. In science we know that athletes who are very low in confidence often experience ANTS on a regular basis.
