Mental Skills for Athletes: Keeping It Simple

Are you thinking of adding mental skills to your performance training? Well, the New Year is the perfect time to start! You’ve probably heard that mental skills knowledge and training can make all the difference between almost succeeding and succeeding. Just like physical conditioning and understanding your specific sport techniques and strategies are important for preparing for competition, mental skills help build habits that can withstand the demands of competition, both on and off the field or court.

Practical mental habits can become seamless in navigating the challenges of competition to enable an athlete to present their full range of skills in moments that count. There are many layers in the skill process. Introductory skills that are appropriate for a young athlete may have a very different focus from what a professional athlete needs. While the professional typically maintains similar but more refined techniques. 

Similar to any New Year’s Resolution the chances of remaining on a program is by starting simple and experiencing levels of success. It is easier to stay on track when challenges are low.

Before you start a program it is important to figure out where you are starting from. Some current performance concerns to assess:

• What are current mental strategies are being used to prepare for competition?

• Fear, anger, and worry are all natural parts of our brains that are designed to keep us safe. But unfortunately, many athletes get caught up in these thoughts/feelings and react in a way that detracts from performance. This could be anything from making the team to winning a scholarship. The list goes on and on. So, what are the underlying worries that are causing these knee-jerk reactions?

• Setbacks happen in sport. Some within our control some outside of our control. Do you remain curious about what happened and how to approach and adjust differently next time?

• Do you have a strong support system outside of sport? How do you manage stressors social/academic outside of sport? 

• When do you feel the most confident? Is it just about the outcome, or do you also keep track of how well you’re progressing towards your goals?

• Also, what are the steps you take to rest, recover, and take care of your mind and body?

Along with exploring these questions and others most athletes can greatly benefit from visualization training, reframing negative thoughts, and shaking off negative moments. Breath work can calm the reactive brain, and identifying emotional triggers helps athletes develop awareness and methods to shift before falling back into old behaviors and actions that hinder their progress. 

Keeping things simple, understanding the athlete’s unique strengths and introducing mental skills that improve performance can be done effectively with long lasting change. When introducing new behaviors consistency is key. Having guidance, support and accountability can be the launch that an athlete needs.

Are you ready to begin 2025 by empowering your mental game?