This is a guest article on Mental Toughness from Coach Lonnie who blogs at Kids, Youth Sports Coaching and Parenting Tips…
Week after week, millions of coaches across the world are teaching young athletes how to play the game. In all sports, coaches are instructing their athletes on how to kick, catch, throw, swing or do whatever to develop sports skills necessary to compete in their respective competitions. They teach technical skills, tactical skills and conditioning, but fail to incorporate one of the most important elements of an athlete’s development, building mental endurance.
In her book, “Beginning Your A Game,” Jennifer L. Etnier, PhD defines Mental Toughness as, “Characteristics of a person who is able to commit day in and day out to training for excellence and who is able to perform at the top of his or her game in the face of stress, distraction, and even bad luck.”
In the pressure packed world of sports, athletes, both young and old, are in dire need of this training to have strong mind. In his book, “Mind Gym”, Gary Mack emphasizes that through quality instructions, youth sports coaches can teach their athletes these seven characteristics to have strong mental abilities that will help them perform better on and off the field:
- #1: Competitive
Being competitive is being able to find a way to win.
- #2: Confident
Being confident is having a can-do attitude and the belief to handle any situation, good or bad.
- #3: Control
Being in control of your behavior, of your emotions, both on and off the field, is having strong mental abilities.
- #4: Committed
Being committed is being focused on your goal. To be able to stay motivated even in adverse events.
- #5: Composure
Having composure is to know how to deal with adversity..
- #6: Courage
An athlete is courageous when he is willing to take a risk.
- #7: Consistency
A mentally strong athlete will be consistent, no matter what the situation is, no matter how they feel, they will not make any excuses.
Training your mind, is just as important as training your body. As a coach, the choice is yours in how you teach these seven characteristics to your athletes.
By incorporating mental strength drillsin your training regime, you are equipping athletes with tools necessary to succeed. Sites such asMental Toughness Trainer and National Alliance for Youth Sports can help you gain the skills necessary to become a great coach.
Coaches are not there just to teach athletes how to play a game. Our responsibility as coach lies deeper if we want to develop athletes to their full potential.
We need to teach a kid how to face their fears, achieve their goals, maintain a positive attitude and deal with adversity by having strong mental skills. Through mental strength drills (that push an athlete to repeat and develop a habit out of the 7 characteristics above) , you not only develop an athlete on the field, but you also build a better person off the field.
Now that is something to be proud of.
So are you ready to build a strong mental training environment for your athlete?Let us know your thoughts in comments below…
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