Mental Strength Training Fundamentals

In physical training for athletic performance there are fundamentals. These fundamentals deal with the essential elements of athletic physical conditioning; they’re important to understand and execute because they are the foundation for a sound physical conditioning program.

In today’s post for athletic performance we’ll focus on the mental strength aspect of athletic training and competition. We’ll look at the fundamentals of mental strength conditioning. We’ll take a look at some basics of mental strength conditioning and training skills that are essential to understand in order to develop a mental strength training program.

Mental skills can be and must be learned and developed in order to reach peak athletic performance.

Let me ask you, if you’ve never played basketball, would you expect to pick up a ball and sink three pointers? Do you think a hurdler could learn and execute correct hurdling technique after a few sessions with a track coach? Could you run a fast 10k after just a solid week of training?

No…I don’t think so.

They seem like ridiculous questions, right?

We all know that learning and developing any physical and technical skill takes practice, practice and more practice.

Unfortunately many athletes think mental training is a quick fix and doesn’t have to be trained or practiced.  This makes no sense what so ever!

Remember, mental strength skills are just that, skills….and all skills need to be practiced to be mastered.  Just like physical and technical skills, they need to be learned and developed if you want to become proficient in their use.

Very often coaches and athletes approach mental strength skills as something an athlete either has or does not have (i.e., she is confident or she is not confident) or as something one can “pick up” and be proficient at in matter of hours or days. Mental strength skills are skills that can be and need to be learned and developed.

Mental Strength Tools

There are four basic and fundamental mental strength tools that are critical for peak athletic performance, they are:

• Goal Setting
• Visualization
• Self-talk
• Energy Awareness

Mental Strength Skills:

Mental strength skills are those qualities that are developed by using the mental strength tools and techniques that will lead to peak performance. A few of them are:

• Motivation
• Energy Management
• Attention Control
• Stress Management
• Self-confidence
• Trust
• Focus
• Team Cohesion

Mental Training Is Work

Athletes can learn the mental strength skills and strategies to help them control their internal world and manage the external environment. However it is not easy, and because of this some athletes never develops their mental strength skills fully.

Effective mental training takes time, effort, persistence, consistency, etc. All too often, an athlete will stop their mental training, i.e. manage negative self-talk, after only one practice session claiming “it just didn’t work, I still had doubts”.

Developing physical and technical skills takes hours, days, weeks, months, even years of work. A lot of time, effort, and persistence go into developing these physical skills; the same applies to mental strength skills.

In beginning a mental strength program you must be realistic by acknowledging that whether you are trying to build confidence, maintain daily motivation, enhance concentration, or manage internal dialogue, it is going to take work and time.

Mental Skills Are Valuable…Period

Felix, a master’s level triathlete, had a training partner who suggested he pick up a book on sport psychology as he was really struggling with his confidence. “No, that won’t help me—I’m just a recreational athlete” was his response.

Some athletes, like Felix, hold an assumption that mental strength skills are important only for the elite level or highly competitive athlete.

Unfortunately, holding such an assumption prevents you even attempting to address the mental strength aspect of practice and performance. There are no qualifiers; mental training is valuable…period!

Mental training can benefit the younger athlete who needs to focus better in practice, the older athlete working to bring more quality to limited training time, the recreational athlete like Felix who lacks confidence, the professional athlete trying to optimize performance, and the exercise participant who wants to enhance enjoyment.

Mental training can be of value to all athletes, irrespective of age, experience, ability, and goals.

Recognizing that mental strength skills are skills that can be learned and developed, that mental strength skills training takes work, and that mental strength skills are valuable to performance can set the stage for your mental training success.

I’d like to hear your thoughts on mental strength skills and mental training in the comments below.