Every athlete’s goal is to be fearless in their sport. Now how do you actually become fearless? And in this particular article, in volleyball? 

So the goal here is to become fearless, right? One of the most powerful tools to get there is to have the correct focus. 

Now, how many times have you heard your coach say,

“YOU NEED TO FOCUS OUT THERE!”

If you are a coach, and you really want to help out your ahtletes, you say something like,

“FOCUS ON……”

and insert there what your athletes really need to focus on. Never just say focus! That is a ridiculous thing to say to your athlete. 

What Is The Right Mental Game To Become A Fearless Athlete?

What you want to do is to switch your reason for why you play volleyball to all the stuff that motivates you to play volleyball. I suggest you take your journal or a piece of paper and list down all the things that motivates you in your sport. If winning is your number one priority, then you’re not playing for your other important reasons. 

Instead, you are playing a mental game that is like this:

  1. DO GOOD = FEEL GOOD
  2. DO BAD = FEEL BAD
  3. FEEL BAD = LESS CHANCE OF PLAYING GOOD 


And this is because your reason for playing volleyball is just to win. Remember that you don’t win all the time and don’t do good all the time. The best athletes on the planet in every sport don’t do good all the time. 

There is a better mental game to play than that. The game is to make yourself feel good and increase your chances to play good. Feel good first!

You may ask,

“How do you feel good first?”

So you feel good first by:

  • switching your complete and total reason for playing volleyball other than winning.
  • also, you can feel good first by occupying your Ferrari mind while you are playing with all your other reason (not winning or losing). Your Ferrari mind wants to think of a lot of stuff and if you are not directing it in some way, it’s going to think of lots of crazy stuff. 

You see, if you were to focus on your more important reasons such as:

  • bonding
  • experience
  • moments
  • relationships
  • intensity of the game 
  • satisfaction
  • happiness
  • getting stronger every game or training

 

 

You would become fearless in your sport with these kinds of reasons in your head. It is always not about winning or losing. Focus on the more important things for you! If you don’t have one, then find one!

I’m Craig Sigl,
Your Mental Toughness Trainer