Jim Taylor - Train your mind for athletic success : mental preparation to to achieve your sports goals

Train Your Mind for Athletic Success

Train Your Mind for Athletic Success

Mental Preparation to Achieve Your Sports Goals

Jim Taylor, P h .D.

Rowman & Littlefield

Lanham Boulder New York London

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Copyright 2017 by Rowman & Littlefield

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British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Taylor, Jim, 1958 author.

Title: Train your mind for athletic success : mental preparation to achieveyour sports goals / Jim Taylor.

Description: Lanham : Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc., [2017] | Includes bibliographical references.

Identifiers: LCCN 2017002827 (print) | LCCN 2017028193 (ebook) | ISBN 9781442277090 (electronic) | ISBN 9781442277083 (hardback : alk. paper)

Subjects: LCSH: SportsPsychological aspects. | AthletesPsychology.

Classification: LCC GV706.4 (ebook) | LCC GV706.4 .T39 2017 (print) | DDC 796.01/9dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017002827

The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information SciencesPermanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992.

Printed in the United States of America

Introduction

Athletic Success Begins and Ends with the Mind

Its become almost a clich. Everyone seems to agree with legendary New York Yankee Yogi Berra, who said, Baseball is 90 percent mental and the other half is physical. Although certainly lacking in logic and math acumen, this statement seems to encompass what most athletes believe, that the mind plays a vital role in sports success. But how important is it really to athletes and coaches? Lets find out by asking several essential questions.

How Important Is the Mind to Athletic Success?

When I speak to athletes or coaches, I ask them how important the mind is to athletic success compared to the physical and technical aspects of sportless important, as important, or more important? There are always a few in the audience who have the chutzpah to challenge me by saying that the mind isnt that important. What matters, they say, is natural talent, physical fitness, and practiced skills. Gratifyingly, most members of the audience say the mind is as important as fitness and technique. And a surprisingly large number believe that the mind is actually more important. While I appreciate this last sentiment given that my lifes passion is sport psychology, I dont believe that the mind is more important. Why? Because you may have all the mental strength in the world, but if you dont have the physical and technical capabilities to execute in your sport, you have no chance of success. You have to be able to hit the tennis or golf ball; throw the baseball or football; sink the basket; or run, ride, or swim at a certain pace to be successful. The reality is that the physical, technical, and mental are all important. But the mind is undoubtedly an essential piece of the sport performance puzzle that is often undervalued and neglected.

Consider the best athletes, male or female, in any sport. Are they all physically gifted? Absolutely. You dont get to such a high level without a remarkable set of genes. In fact, I would argue, to get to the highest levels of sport, they have to be genetic freaks of nature. Are they in exceptional physical condition? For sure. Would Lionel Messi be considered the best soccer player in the world if he wasnt in peak physical condition in terms of strength and stamina? Its quite simple. Athletes couldnt perform at the highest level of sport unless they had the requisite fitness to meet the grueling demands of their sport. Are the best athletes in every sport technically exceptional? Undoubtedly. Would Serena Williams be one of the greatest tennis players in history if she had major technical flaws in her serve, forehand, or backhand? Any sport that involves skillswhich means just about all of them, whether golf, tennis, baseball, hockey, track and field, or soccermakes development of those skills mandatory for success. Do they have the best equipment? Undeniably. Could the 2015 Formula One driving champion, Lewis Hamilton, have emerged victorious in a 1972 Chevrolet Impala? Of course not. Without the best equipment, extraordinary performance in a sport is simply impossible. In fact, at the highest level of sport, everyone has it all. And, at any level of sport, whether collegiate, youth, or even rec league, everyone has generally similar fitness, skills, and equipment. So, on the day of a competition, what separates the winners from the also-rans? These other factors being equal, it must be what goes on between their ears.

I will also add that, in the greater scheme of life, I could argue that the mental side of sport is vastly more important than physical fitness and technical prowess, at least for young athletes. Why? Because, realistically speaking, relatively few athletes will make it to the top of their sport. But, the attitudes, mental tools, and life lessons that athletes learn from their sport, for example, motivation, confidence, focus, perseverance, resilience, the ability to handle pressure, the list goes on, will serve them well in all aspects of their lives when they enter adulthood.

The thing about the game at this level [MLB] is that there is very little difference in physical skills between players; the real difference between them is upstairs. It is what is in your head that makes the difference.

Clete Boyer, two-time World Series champion

How Committed Are Athletes to Mental Training?

Having established that the mental side of sport is at least as important as other contributors to athletic success, I then ask these same athletes how many hours a day they spend on their conditioning or technical training. If they are at all serious, they will answer with anywhere from two to six hours a day. I then ask, If the mind is so important, are they also spending that amount of time on their mental training? In every case, a silence falls over the group as they are confronted with this obvious contradiction. To ease their discomfort, I tell them that they do mental training all the time without even realizing it, for example, they motivate themselves, think positively, and attempt to focus. But they have to admit that their efforts at mental preparation pale in comparison to the time and energy they devote to other aspects of their sport. And this imbalance can hold them back from performing their best and achieving their sports goals.

Why Isnt Mental Training Treated the Same as Physical and Technical Training?

This question has been a source of frustration for me and others who work in sport psychology for years. If everyone in sport says that the mind is so important, why does it receive so little attention?

To be sure, sport psychology does have a presence in most sports. Sport psychologists and mental trainers work with many professional athletes and teams, as well as Olympic and collegiate teams. And many others work with youth programs in many sports throughout the United States and the world.

Yet, when compared to its physical and technical counterparts, sport psychology clearly has second-class status. While serious sports programs and teams at every level of competition have full-time technical and conditioning coaches, few have full-time sport psychologists or mental trainers. Moreover, when sport psychology is offered to athletes, its presence is usually vastly different from the rigorous physical conditioning regimens and sophisticated technical regimens that athletes at every level of sport routinely benefit from.