Champions Digest January 2019 | Page 9

focus on MENTAL MENTAL TOUGHNESS Mental Toughness is a measure of an individual’s resilience. Resilience is the capacity to remain positive and succeed in the face of adversity. This natural or learned psychological trait enables you to cope with the increased stress and demands of a challenging situation. The discipline to practice critical thinking. All the time. Not just when the outcomes are going your way. Equally important is that you do not look ahead at a future outcome or result, which may be determined by the current challenge. Whether it be in focus, self-belief, decision making or execution, your mental strength can only be relied upon if you have practiced and prepared your mental skills with focus and intention. 3) Be Prepared. Set goals for every plan based on realistic expectations. Derive your performance expectations from facts. That is Performance results under tournament conditions data or experiences performed under (reality), or even in a lesser stressful similar conditions. For example, if the environment such as a skills test on RESILIENCE IS PGA Tour average for hitting the green a Trackman, are the result of your THE CAPACITY TO from 150 -175 yards is 68.5 %. What discipline, attitude, and effort during justification do you have to expect to training. REMAIN POSITIVE hit 80% under similar conditions? AND SUCCEED IN THE If your effort and focus in training Focus you intention on preparing does not match the requirements to FACE OF ADVERSITY. all yourself thoroughly in the weeks reach your goals (expectations), then leading up to a tournament, skills test neither will your results. This holds or an exam. Create a checklist of the necessities required equally true in your school life as well. Your discipline to perform your best. Prioritize their importance, and and effort towards completing school assignments and allocate time in your schedule to train all the components homework will reflect in your exam results and grades. thoroughly. The three keys to developing Mental Toughness are: Understand and utilize your visualization skills. 1) Embrace a “CAN DO” attitude. Visualization enables you to feed your brain an image of a critical situation, an action, or a movement pattern Stop making excuses. Stop looking for an “easier” required to facilitate a desired outcome. Visualizing a way. Stop blaming, period. Take ownership, accept all swing movement pattern and feel that matches the shot outcomes, good, bad, or otherwise. shape you have chosen creates the same sensory input into your brain as if you had just played the “perfect” Embrace the challenge as an opportunity to perform, shot and achieved your planned outcome. Create a plan that gives you the best opportunity to overcome your challenge. Rehearse your plan. Then Your brain doesn’t distinguish between a real and execute your plan with absolute confidence and trust. imagined action (the sensory input into the brain is the same). Therefore, when you visualize a physical action, 2) Be Disciplined. you’re actually stimulating the same muscles that you The discipline to compete in the moment. This means would use to perform the real action. Sports scientists that you must have the strength of character to accept call this hypothesis, “Functional Equivalence” where all previous outcomes. The self-control to control your by mental imagery functions the same way as physical emotions and activate your reset button. This process is perception. essential for you to be ready, energized and focused to Mental Toughness is what will separate two equally analyze the immediate challenge you are preparing to physically skilled athletes in a critical phase of competition. face.