Mental Training, Just as Important as the Physical Training

This past week I came across a couple of different emails discussing the importance of mental training, mental preparation and mental focus.  And, coincidentally, a couple boxers had fights over the weekend and both could have used some mental exercises to help them get ready and overcome their nervousness.  You see, much of the training for today's athletes revolves around the physical aspect of sports...and in many cases too much focus is put on this.  When you get to a certain level, you can make the case that every athlete is in shape and trains pretty hard for his or her sport.  If athlete A trains hard and athlete B trains hard, but athlete A has a positive outlook and is prepared mentally, whereas athlete B is not, who has the edge? 

When it comes to mental training, being positive is a great start.  Positive self-talk is one part that can help athletes achieve great things.  Telling yourself that anything is possible, that your opponent isn't better than you, that you've trained for this and there's no way that anybody can stop you are just a few of the ways an athlete might self-talk his/her way to victory.  But self-talk is just one aspect of mental training and mental toughness.  In reading one article, I came across some of the pillars of mental toughness.  They include:

     1. Preparation - this can include things like whether you are aware of the expectations placed on you? Do you have a positive attitude? are you working to    

         become the best player you can be? Are you a good teammate? And there's more

     2. Focus - the three key ways improve focus are avoiding distractions, logging a journal and balancing your time.  Doing these will go a long way in improving   

         your focus

     3. Arousal Control - you've heard when an athlete gets "in the zone" during a game or competition.  This the ht e optimal state of arousal.  The key is finding a 

        balance between low and high arousal.  Getting yourself pumped up, when arousal is low, by listening to upbeat music or increasing the heart hate by doing a 

        good dynamic warm-up.  And in some cases you need to know how to calm yourself down when arousal is high, by using imagery too generate positive,    

        relaxing thoughts, or by using deep breathing techniques.

     4. Confidence - it is no doubt that a confident athlete plays better and the great elite athletes are the ones that always seems very confident, even to a level of 

         cockiness.  Getting your confidence level up and maintaining it will include positive self-talk, constant healthy training and goal setting.

     5. Resilience - as this is the ability to handle stress, adversity and failure, you need some resilience to overcome them.  There will be times when you are not 

         feeling your best or you don't perform your best.  It is the athletes who are able to deal with this that will succeed.  Sometimes it takes a good bounce back 

         technique to help deal with this and move on from what just happened...whether it's a bad play, or a bad match.

Athletes need mental training and should treat it as important as physical training.  It can separate you from your opponent and separate the winner from the loser.