Are you Training for Mental Toughness or are you Running with Rocks in your Shoes?
Do you do any kind of a running workout as part of your training regimen?
Do you do sprints? You really should do sprints if you are a team sport athlete. No jogging in team sports. High intensity intervals, baby!!! I looooove sprint workouts.
Do you run with rocks in your shoes?
No?
Why not? If you are not doing your sprint workout without rocks in your shoes you need to stop IMMEDIATELY and add the rocks. Think of the benefits!!! It will reaaaaaalllly hurt a LOT and … the best part is that it will reaaaaaaallly reaaaaaaallly SLOW YOU DOWN and INTERFERE with your performance!!!
Man o’ man; how great would THAT be?!!?
No?!!? It wouldn’t???
Trying to perform at your best and more importantly … trying to CONSISTENTLY perform at your best REQUIRES mental skills.
(Let me say that again): … trying to CONSISTENTLY perform at your best REQUIRES mental skills.
Trying to perform consistently at your top potential WITHOUT mental skills?
You may as well run with rocks in your shoes. No Bueno!!!
There is a simple equation which dictates high level performance in any endeavour. Performance equals Potential minus Interference.
Do you have interference in your game? Of course you do. Everybody does.
Learn how to “clear” the interference in order to perform at the peak of your potential with consistency or you WON’T … You WON’T perform at the peak of your potential. Period!!!
Get your game on. Get mental skills!!!
I am a mental toughness trainer. Coincidentally I have also coached and instructed “mechanical” performance skills at every level. Mental skills are what “separates” players. It is what makes a good player into a great player; a great player into a reaaallly great player.
At the upper levels in sport; college and professional what separates players in terms of skill is tiny; marginal at best. What separates players is their mental skills; their mental toughness; their ability to “clear” interference; the distractions of fear, anxiety, anger, frustration and remain sharp; resilient; focused. CONFIDENT.
My friend Alan Jaeger; head of Jaeger Sports; the "JBands" guy who consults for virtually all colleges and a large number of major league teams says that "... at the upper levels, the mental game is MINIMALLY 99.9% of performance."
At the lower levels; (specifically meaning high school and below), many of the younger players come to see me with a “problem”; a mental issue which has unfortunately reached an extreme POINT OF PAIN (like the rocks in the shoes) where it is visibly AFFECTING PERFORMANCE and something HAS to be done. The majority of the time, the parents and players have reached out to every kind of coach and instructor available but making adjustments on mechanical issues is not getting the job done.
It’s actually easy to understand. No matter how how well you can execute your swing mechanics, your pitching or fielding mechanics, your running speed and mechanics, your strength and agility; if you are not mentally sound; if you are not confident; if you are impacted by fear, anxiety, anger, or frustration, you WILL NOT PERFORM to the best of your abilities.
You can’t … you CAN … NOT!!!
At the upper levels (college and professional) players deal with these very same issues. Top college and professional coaches, players, and their programs however are ACCUSTOMED to working with mental skills coaches for they know that MENTAL SKILLS ARE THE SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT ELEMENT OF THEIR GAME!!!
Without it, true success is impossible!!!
So … if you are athlete … or the parent of an athlete who aspires to be the best he/she can be why would you NOT get mental skills?
Get your game on!!! Get your MENTAL GAME on.
I work to address a broad range of issues in the articles and give you all the best information possible. If you have a question or feel you would benefit by advice or counseling, give me a call.
I realize that sometimes it is difficult to ask for help; especially with mental skills. Many athletes and their families think mistakenly that getting "help" from a mental skills coach has a stigma attached; it means that you are somehow broken. Nothing could be further from the truth. All 30 MLB teams now have psychologists on staff in order to help players achieve CONSISTENCY in their top performance. All of us can improve something with our game or field of endeavor. How would even a 5 - 10% improvement translate to your performance on the field?
Monstrous, right?
Believe me … at the highest levels of performance which you all aspire to … mental skills are the MOST IMPORTANT PART OF YOUR GAME. Fixing mechanical skills or getting bigger stronger faster without being tough mentally simply DOES NOT WORK!!!
I work with athletes and their families at every level of performance from all over the world using ZOOM over the internet!!!
CALL ME FOR A FREE CONSULTATION
Karl Avdek, Founder, GC-GP-GH