The Power of Mental Training For Athletes
If you want to unlock peak athletic performance, you must train more than your body. The mind is the most powerful tool available to you and can give you an edge over any competition. In a world where competition is fierce and physical talent is abundant, those who have the mental edge will be the ones on top. Mental training is just as important as physical training.
What is mental training for athletic performance?
Mental training includes a range of skills to help sharpen focus, improve ability to regulate emotion, toughen the psyche, and cultivate an attitude of growth and resilience. As with any skill, repetition and refinement are key. A mental coach will guide you in learning skills, practicing them regularly, and tweaking them to fit your unique needs.
Some of the key skills in mental training programs:
- Visualization – learning to mentally rehearse extends your ability to practice, enhances confidence, and helps build fortitude in the face of setbacks.
- Goal setting – setting goals is key to any type of improvement, but the most effective goals follow a specific formula.
- Mindfulness – distractions, setbacks, and mistakes are an inevitable part of any craft. Learning to manage reactivity to these things helps you to control how deeply they impact you.
- Cognitive restructuring – although we cannot control our thoughts, we can cultivate certain thought patterns that build confidence, resilience, and motivation.
- Physiological reactivity training – activation occurs in the body, however the signal originate in the brain. There are a multitude of mental strategies for calming or activating the body depending on what would be most helpful in the moment.
How else can mental training help me?
When it comes to athletics, mental training is proven to enhance performance, build confidence, strengthen resilience, and reduce burnout. The beautiful thing about these skills is that they also translate to all other aspects of life. Learning to harness the power of the mind will help in all endeavors including managing stress, achieving goals, creating lasting relationships, career progression, and overall mental health and well-being. There is literally no downside to improving mental focus, resilience, and fortitude.
Ready to get started?
Check out Playa Vida Therapy and Wellness’s unique program Elite Athlete Mindset Training. Dr. Grad is a licensed clinical psychologist who has spent years training and working in the field of mental health and wellness. She takes a holistic approach to training that starts with mindset coaching, but also integrates nutrition, sleep, relationship health, and somatic movement.