Beyond the Physical: Prioritizing Mental Fitness in Sports
Includes Mental Drill #1. Name it to tame it
Did you know the average college student-athlete is spending anywhere from 28 - 33 hours a week in athletic-related activities? These include:
Practice
Film review
Recovery / treatment
Strength & conditioning / supplemental workouts
Competitions (anywhere from 4 - 9 hours on game day)
From this list, it is clear that time spent training and taking care of the physical body is a significant priority. But more often than not, every training regimen is missing something important.
As an expert in sport psychology, I like to ask athletes who are new to mindset training, “what percentage of your sport is mental?”
I’ve received answers anywhere from 50% to 90% (!) which I follow-up with, “OK then, what would you say is the percentage breakdown for how much time you currently train your physical and mental fitness?”
…Hmm (light bulb!)
The problem
You may be one of the many athletes who hasn’t been told how to train your mindset in your sport and therefore, you aren’t spending much time on it.
Great news, you’re in the right place!
Mental training is the practice of techniques and psychological frameworks that allow your mind to work for, and with you, instead of against you.
There are several mental skills you can start to use in your training and physical conditioning to improve how well you respond to challenges, cope with stress, and recover from setbacks.
Without mental skills, you may find yourself struggling, performing below your potential, and feeling frustrated about your current abilities. I like to conceptualize this as your level of mental fitness.
You may have a low degree of mental fitness if…
You find your sport becoming less enjoyable
Your emotions often overwhelm you at practices / games
You often feel discouraged by your goals instead of feeling motivated
The pressure to perform is causing nervousness, silly mistakes, and poor concentration
Your practice does not translate well to your performance resulting in low confidence, under-performing, and a fear of failure
The opportunity
Your mind is a muscle, and it can be intentionally trained! In fact, it is believed that what separates the top athletes in the country from other competitors is their mental resilience.
Still skeptical? Let’s check out the science!
According to research, mental skills training:
Improves concentration, coping with failure, and reduces the impact of emotions on performance
Reduces the risk of sport injury by promoting resilience and athletes’ ability to cope with stress
Sounds like the complete package, right? Let’s get some mental reps in!
Mental drill #1. Name it to tame it
This is a simple exercise to build an awareness of your emotional state. When you improve your ability to label your feelings, you can feel more informed and understanding of yourself. Over time, you will also notice patterns in your emotional state which is important for learning how to respond instead of react in moments of adversity in your sport.
Label the emotion (check out these emotion wheels to get specific).
Rate the intensity of the emotion on a scale of 1 - 10.
Get curious about your experience.
What other sensations do you notice? What thoughts came before the emotion? Jot a few sentences down in a journal.
Accept your emotional experience.
Emotions are useful pieces of information that act as a window into our minds. Imagine that the emotion is like a wave that builds, crashes, and disappears into the sea. The feeling is temporary.
Check in with yourself again a few minutes later.
Has the intensity level changed? If no, focus on taking a few calming breaths. Aim for your exhale to be longer than your inhale—try 4 seconds in through your nose, 8 seconds out through your mouth.
Coach edition: Name it to tame it
As the coach, you can help athletes recognize their emotional state without feeling ashamed when negative emotions inevitably pop up.
First, do your best to avoid statements that minimize athletes’ feelings…
There’s nothing to be nervous about.
Stop being so upset. It’s not a big deal.
What is going on with you? Chill out.
Phrases like these can cause athletes to suppress their feelings instead of actually regulating their emotions. What we resist, persists.
Best practice is to help athletes explore their emotions with an open mind and invite them to consider how to effectively cope. This process will allow you to identify if an athlete needs more support in building their coping skills.
Follow the same framework as indicated above: Label, rate, invite curiosity, & encourage acceptance. You can also offer coping strategies as relevant.
Check out this example coach / athlete dialogue.
Coach: Hey Sam, I’m noticing you look tense. Is that how you would describe how you feel?
Sam: Well, I feel nervous about today’s game. If we lose, we won’t make playoffs.
Coach: I appreciate you sharing that with me. If you had to give your nervousness a number on a scale from 1 - 10, what would it be?
Sam: I’d say it’s at about a 6.
Coach: That makes sense. You see, it’s normal to feel nervous before important games. Does that number feel manageable to you right now?
Sam: It’s a bit distracting. But I think I can handle it.
Coach: When I feel nervous, I like to focus on what’s in my control. It helps me filter out the distractions. What is one thing you could focus on during today’s game that is in your control?
Sam: I can focus on being aggressive off the line and driving my blocks.
Coach: Excellent plan. I believe you can do those actions well even if you feel nervous.
A note for coaches
You serve an incredibly important role in encouraging athletes to work on their mental fitness. One way you can promote this is by inviting a mental coach to come work with your team!
You can also share this newsletter with your athletes and regularly facilitate the Mental drill activity with them each month.