What does greatness require?
What does it take to be your best, day in and day out?
Performance consistency demands consistency in your preparation, focus, and effort. Many athletes who have up-and-down performances pick and choose when they give it their all.
These athletes often have lazy practice habits. They don’t realize the impact that training, practice, and mental preparation have on performance. They believe they can flip the switch right before a game and be their best.
However, when the competition does not unfold as they would like, they usually pack it in and mentally give up, disregarding opportunities to turn their performance around during the competition.
Consistency does not mean you will have your best athletic performance every time you enter the competitive arena. There are too many variables outside of your control to guarantee winning or personal bests, such as nagging injuries, illness, your opponents, weather, officiating, and arena or field conditions.
Even during practices, there will be days when the grind gets to you, and you can’t seem to break out of physical and mental weariness. That is the nature of long seasons, competitive sports, and being human. It is difficult to be “on” and fire on all cylinders daily.
On those occasions, it is essential to focus and work the best you can, given the circumstances, and not be too hard on yourself for having an off day.
The Goal is Consistency
Consistency is not easy, but you must maximize your opportunities to be great.
During practice, make the most of conditioning your body by pushing yourself past comfort. Take advantage of opportunities to work on your mental game.
Focus on honing your mechanics with every repetition. Look to work on the little things that most athletes overlook. Use your pregame routines to prepare yourself mentally and physically during pre-game instead of going through the motions during warm-up.
During the competition, hustle from the first to the last minute, no matter the score, situation, or opponent. Never take a play off.
When your mind drifts, quickly refocus and immerse yourself back in the competition. Do the things in a competition that other athletes are unwilling to undertake.
After the competition, objectively evaluate your performance and identify any areas that need improvement. Remind yourself to focus on the pursuit of excellence and not perfection.
The Las Vegas Aces won the WNBA championship in 2022 and 2024.
However, the defending champions have struggled during their first 12 games of the 2024 season with a 6-6 record. Vegas forward and two-time WNBA MVP A’ja understands to be great, you must first be consistent in all you do.
WILSON: “When you’re talking about greatness, it starts with consistency. Anybody can be good here and there, but who can be great every single game, every possession? And that’s what I’m striving for. And it’s hard as shit. I promise y’all, it’s hard as shit.”
Consistency is a challenge. However, when you make the most of each and every opportunity and pursue athletic excellence daily, despite the obstacles along the way, you can become the best version of your athletic self.
Focus on Consistency
Identify 3-5 ways you can be consistent in your preparation, training, habits, efforts, competitive focus, game energy, or mindset. Write these on an index card labeled “My Keys to Athletic Excellence.”
Frequently review these keys to maintain high consistency and ownership of your actions.
Related Sports Psychology Article
- Sports Psychology And Goal Setting
- Effective Goal Setting for Athletes in the New Year
- Setting the Right Goals for Skating
The Focused Athlete (Digital Download)
“The Focused Athlete” audio and workbook program helps you or your athletes overcome distractions and sharpen your concentration during competition. You learn how to get locked in during practice and competition so you can improve and perform better.
“First, I would like to thank you for the help given to me through your programs, ‘The Confident Athlete’ and ‘The Focused Athlete.’ I have made tremendous sacrifices though all these years to become a top Olympic Trap shooter but something was missing. This missing part was with my mental game. My scores increased tremendously in record time and others said that I was a different shooter.“
~Marios Kapodistria