Mental Preparation For Peak Performance
Success all comes down to mindset:
- How well you prepare.
- The intensity of your training.
- The manner you respond to adversity.
- Your ability to focus under pressure.
- How you deal with competing when you are tired.
- A multitude of other aspects that contribute to optimal performance.
What direction is your mindset leading you?
If you aren’t moving closer to your goals, maybe it’s time to take a closer look at your habits.
Villanova’s Men’s basketball team is the defending NCAA national champion and every collegiate basketball team will seek to dethrone the Wildcats.
The Wildcats know the road to repeating as national champions will not be easy physically or mentally so the team has committed to forge positive habits.
“If you don’t bring it every night, if you don’t make it your habit, somebody’s going to get you,” is the motto Villanova basketball coach Jay Wright has been preaching to his team since pre-season.
And because it will not be easy come tournament time, Coach Wright decided to challenge his team early with a tight schedule just like it will be during March Madness.
Villanova played its first six games over a 15-day span, only two of those games were at the home and those home games were sandwiched around a trip to Purdue and three games in four days in the Charleston (S.C.) Classic.
If you want to perform well during the grind of the playoffs, then you should focus on developing that habit early in the season.
It’s your mindset that will take over when you are weary or late in the season.
So if you do not pay attention to the mindsets about habits, consciously or unconsciously, then you may not achieve what you set out to accomplish early in the season.
Though the Wildcats are off to a 6-0 start, Coach Wright believes his team still needs to be more prepared mentally to deal with defending their title.
Wright knows there are no off nights, therefore the Wildcats need to bring their A-game each and every night. This tough early schedule may be mentally taxing but it is developing the positive mental habits needed as the schedule gets tougher throughout the season.
WRIGHT: “I think [playing so many games early] paid off well for us. I think we were prepared, but on the other hand I don’t know if we were mentally prepared for this many games back-to-back.”
Are you mentally prepared for your season?
Have you focused on developing the mindset you need to succeed?
If not, what are you waiting for… Let’s get going!
Tips for developing your success mindset:
First, what are the mindsets associated with successful athletes or teams including high intensity and energy, laser-sharp competitive focus, resilient in the face of adversity, strong work ethic and will to prepare, ability to close out games, etc?
Name 2-3 positive habits you need to develop. Create a plan on how you intend to work on these habits.
What’s the plan to help you focus on these habits? How will you evaluate your progress?
Remember new mindsets don’t form overnight. In fact, recent research by a team at the University College London determined it takes about 66 days to create a habit.
If your goals are important, so too should be your habits and your mindset about habits.
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Related Sports Psychology Articles
- Anticipation and Mental Preparation
- Mental Preparation for a Rematch
- Mental Preparation and Returning to Competition
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