4 Tips for Mental Toughness
I have had great fun diving into the science of human performance – to better support two teenage athletes at home. I’ve noticed 4 key takeaways that come up repeatedly in the literature to help individuals build mental toughness and engagement in sports. I think these can definitely be applied to many aspects of life – from academics, to crisis situations, the work place, even relationships. Here are some takeaways you might appreciate.
Mental toughness - a concept developed in sports psychology: a psychological advantage whereby athletes can maintain a high level of concentration and confidence, firmly pursue personal goals when facing stressful situations, overcome adversity, and even demonstrate better sports performance under challenging circumstances (Guillén and Laborde, 2014; Gucciardi et al., 2015).”
Athlete engagement - characterized by self-confidence (belief in one's ability to achieve a high level of performance and desired goals), dedication (desire to invest energy and time in the achievement of personally important goals), vitality (a state of feeling of being physically and psychologically energized), and enthusiasm (the experience of a strong sense of arousal and pleasure) (Lonsdale et al. 2007).”
My family uses what we have coined the PreVUE Method to build mental toughness for sports. It’s on our fridge and in our phones. Below is our process, again tailored for athletics, but consider how you might apply it to other parts of life.
Prepare fully. When game time comes, trust in your preparation
Outwork everyone at practice, every time.
Ask for honest feedback and listen to it.
Set specific short and long term goals to help determine how you will prepare.
Sleep and eat so your body can do its job.
Visualize your game
Visualize yourself playing the way you want to.
Be as detailed as possible in your visualization exercises. The science says the detail matters.
Do visualization without distraction (try white noise headphones or non-distracting music).
Use breathing to play calm and steady
Commit to breathing exercises to calm yourself before or in the game.
When the human heart rate exceeds 120 beats per minute our physiology causes our brain to lose focus and our muscles to tense. These impact performance.
There are many breathing techniques out there, so find the ones that work for you.
Box Breathing is good leading up to an event (in the car, warm up, bench).
The Physiological Sigh is good for right in the moment (subbing in, foul shots).
Energy matters
Whatever follows “I am” will come looking for you. If you think your layups suck then they will probably suck.
Your beliefs, words, tone and body language don’t just impact you, they also impact your team and your coach.
Commit to and practice positive self-talk.
When you mess up, move on immediately.
If you feel nervous energy, reframe it as excitement.
Some Resources
Dartmouth President Sian Beilock’s work on performance. Check out her conversation with Adam Grant on his podcast The science of performing under pressure with Sian Beilock
Michael Gervais’ Finding Mastery
Dev Roychowdhury’s work on performance psychology
Jason Selk’s 10-Minute Toughness
Guillén F., Laborde S. (2014). Higher-order structure of mental toughness and the analysis of latent mean differences between athletes from 34 disciplines and non-athletes. Pers. Individ. Differ. 60, 30–35. 10.1016/j.paid.2013.11.019
Gucciardi D. F., Hanton S., Gordon S., Mallett C. J., Temby P. (2015). The concept of mental toughness: tests of dimensionality, nomological network and traitness. J. Pers. 83, 26–44. 10.1111/jopy.12079
Lonsdale, C., Hodge, K., & Jackson, S. A. (2007). Athlete engagement: II. Developmental and initial validation of the Athlete Engagement Questionnaire. International Journal of Sport Psychology, 38(4), 471–492.
