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.