mental conditioning

I'd like to introduce to everyone The Thinking Mind. It likes to show up on big occasions and crash the party. Perhaps, you have recognized its presence before a big game, during crucial moments of competition, or right after sudden unexpected changes in your environment. In life, the thinking mind may present itself in decisive moments such as right before a big test, losing a job, or engagement proposal. In war, the thinking mind presents itself more and more before soldiers are sent into war.

One of the most common issues athletes face is the overwhelming pressure that they feel before and during competition. Along with this pressure comes a shift in focus and an often fragile state of confidence. Many athletes then look for ways to improve their mental performance by asking how they can improve their confidence, stay more relaxed, and quiet the mind (avoid over-thinking). But the problem with many athletes goes beyond just the mental skills that they have not learned or mastered.

Ever get so overwhelmed before competing that it causes you to underperform? Sometimes it’s more about distracting yourself before competition than focusing on it. Distractions can serve as useful tools in protecting our mind from becoming overwhelmed before competing. As athletes, we often experience overwhelming thoughts and feelings due to our fears of failure, disappointment, and expectations from our self and others, and even that once in a lifetime shot at achieving our dreams.

Getting Ready to compete………………. It’s less than 1 hour away from competition and every athlete is getting ready. Some athletes are physically warming up by doing some repetitions of a few basic skills. Others are stretching and listening to music, and some are strategizing with their coach and loved ones, while others are alone collecting their thoughts.   Different Routines, Same Goal……………………..

  As a junior tennis player looking to maximize your game the last thing you want is to let your passion turn into anger. Anger is a type of emotion that often translates into poor performance and has a positive effect on improving your opponent’s confidence as well as turning college coaches away from considering you as a serious candidate for their team. Think of getting angry on the court as an injury to your mind. Like a physical injury, your mind needs time to heal.

Bruce Lee said it best when asked about failure. “Defeat is a state of mind; no one is ever defeated until defeat has been accepted as a reality.”

In this article I want to share a few of the best athlete documentaries that allow the viewer to see and feel how mentally tough a successful professional athlete must be in order to make it. One of the biggest set backs of many athletes is their ability to stop pushing for more and start making excuses for their lack of progress. After watching these two documentaries I hope that at least some of the athletes and their support team will have a new and more positive perspective on training and what it takes to reach their own goals.