Using Mental Preparation to Reduce Mental Mistakes
Do you make mental mistakes in competition? If so, these mistakes may be a function of how you practice…
Mistakes in competition are not an indication of a lack of ability, talent or conditioning.
Most of the time, mental mistakes result from how you train, how you practice or more specifically, how you train your mind to compete.
This mental preparation is key to reducing mental mistakes in competition.
Too many athletes go through the motions in practice. These athletes attend practice two hours a day for five days a week for a total of 10 hours of training.
Although these athletes physically practice, they are not fully present mentally. Putting in the hours is different than making the hours count. These athletes may never miss a practice but certainly miss an opportunity.
The problem lies in how you are training your mind to react in competition…
When you are physically present in practice, your conditioning may improve and your technical skills may get better but you never train your mind to be fully prepared to compete.
For a gymnast, a lack of mental preparation does not train the mind how to respond to a bobble in the middle of a routine.
For a baseball player, a lack of mental preparation does not train the mind how to rebound after giving up four runs in the first inning.
For a soccer player, a lack of mental preparation does not train the mind to set the tone of the game by playing aggressive from the whistle.
For a tennis player, a lack of mental preparation, does not train the mind to fight through a match after having a bad warm-up.
If you are not training your mind to compete, then under the duress of competition you will make the same mental mistakes over and over again.
For example, mental mistakes have, at times, plagued the New York Jets during the course of the 2017-18 NFL season…
In a loss to the Carolina Panthers, the Jets were flagged for seven penalties, four of which were against the defensive, including one defensive offside penalty that extended a four-quarter drive for the Panthers.
All these mental mistakes allowed the Panthers to come back in the fourth quarter to hand the Jets their fifth loss in six games.
Jets linebacker Darron Lee stated the Jets paid particular attention to their mental preparation during the practices following the loss.
LEE: “Friday practices this week [we] had fewer mistakes, if any, after the coaches decided to put an extra emphasis on finishing each practice period strong. I’d say this whole week of practice has been pretty good. It’s been sharper across the board, no mistakes, very little penalties, guys are clocked in.”
Lee declared that the Jets’ defense focused on practicing the game in the same manner they want to compete in order to minimize mental mistakes…
LEE: “We started focusing in on the last period of the day. Just finishing, being sharp, no stupid penalties, jumping offside. We can control that and look forward to putting that together on Sunday.”
Minimizing mental mistakes starts with mental preparation and training your mind to compete.
Try this tip to train your mind to compete:
Have a practice plan. Ask yourself, “How can I practice to better compete?”
After you answer that question, identify practice goals and create competitive scenarios that allow you to train your mind to compete in that manner.
For example, having full focus, intensity, managing setbacks, overcoming doubts should be part of your regular practice.
Practice in a way that will help you in competition, don’t just go through the motions.
Related Sports Psychology Articles
- Focused Training and Mindset Equals Success
- Athletes Who Are Stuck in a Practice Mindset
- Is Your Young Athlete A Perfectionist?
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The Focused Athlete
It’s probably no secret that you have many opportunities to become distracted in sports. Athletes are bombarded with both internal and external distractions everyday in practice and competition. Focused athletes are able to get the most from their skills because they are more efficient with practice and more concentrated in competition. Athletes who lack focus let distractions run wild through their mind and don’t know how to adjust or refocus.
The Focused Athlete was developed for any level coach, parent, or junior to professional athlete who wants to improve performance and gain a competitive edge. It does not matter if you are a fledgling junior athlete; or a seasoned professional, plagued with distractions; or you just wanting to learn how to improve concentration…
“The Focused Athlete” is a complete system to teach you how to focus like a champion and harness the power of a zone focus every time you step on the playing field, court, track, or course in practice and games!