Six Things Every Athlete Should Know About the Power of the Mind
Most athletes know how important mental preparation is directly before a competition. What most don’t realize is that mental preparation isn’t something you can master on your own. You need a mental coach, just as you would need a strength coach, nutrition coach, technique coach, etc. It can be extremely beneficial to get an outside perspective on the mental game. I don’t say this because I’m a mental coach (although it is convenient). I say it from experience. When I was in college, I found much success in athletics. However, knowing what I know now, I have realized that I only reached 50% of my potential.
At the time, I didn’t understand the true power of the mind. The pieces came together as I studied and mastered mental preparation on a professional level. Now, I want to help athletes unleash this power when it counts. Here are six things every athlete needs to know about the mind:
1. You can dissolve game time anxiety with the right mental preparations, Most anxiety is created by our emotions firing chemicals into the body that create the “fight or flight” syndrome. You can actually train the mind to control this.
2. Breath work is the foundation of all mental preparation. It should be done first thing in the morning, throughout the day and then as the last thing at night. Without this breathing during game time is virtually ineffective because our emotions are too powerful.
3. Visualization of your sport, event or match is good, but it’s the most basic form of visualization. I call it “Visualization 101″ because this process only uses about 5% of your potential visualization skills.
4. You can actually use your mind to train physically. If you need to get an extra practice in or just work on technique, you can do this with the power of your mind and visualization.
5. It’s important to take mental responsibility for your health. You can always hope to remain healthy, but you can actually use your mind to ensure it happens.. It’s vital to take mental control because if you don’t, no one else will.
6. Ever wonder why you can’t perform in competition like you do in practice? It’s because of your emotions. Your mind is so powerful that simple fears, doubts and worries can limit your success. Unless someone can help you dissolve these limiting factors, you will most likely continue to fall short of your goal and true potential.
Simply being aware of the power of the mind is the first step toward mastering the power of the mind. I hope it helps you to take some mental action. Many coaches and trainers say that the mental game is 70 to 90% mental. However, we tend to spend 95% on the physical and 5% on the mental. It’s time for athletes to find some balance.
August 12, 2009
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Tags: breathwork, controlled breathing, imagination, performance coaching, power of the mind, visualization · Posted in: Athlete Performance
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