The Four Types of Thinking Athletes
Recently I started a deep dive into a book called The Inner Athlete by Robert M. Nideffer, Ph.D. The tag line for this book is Mind Plus Muscle For Winning. So as you could imagine, this book is dense in content focusing on the mental side of sports.
One of the concepts the author covers is a classification of athletes into four types based on the way the athlete focuses their thinking. It’s important for an athlete to understand which category they naturally gravitate to as each one has strengths and weaknesses. Therefore, athletes must learn to adapt their thinking style to be able to shift to the other categories when the situation calls for it.
1) The Analytical Athlete
The analytical athlete focuses their thinking internally around a broad array of factors.
Strengths
- Good at absorbing information
- Capable of making good use of mental skills such as visualization and imagery
- Rarely make the same mistakes twice
- Has the ability to overcome slow starts by adjusting their strategy and tactics
- Capable of predicting what their competition will do next
Weaknesses
- Tendency to out guess themselves
- Can become too preoccupied with their analysis and lose track of what’s going on around them
2) The Quarterback
The quarterback focuses their thinking externally around a broad array of factors.
Strengths
- Capable of performing at a high level in environments that rapidly change
- Good awareness of everything going on around them
- Capable of real-time analysis of an opponent strategies and tactics
- Has the ability to spot small windows of opportunity that are only open for a split second
Weaknesses
- Can become confused when provided irrelevant or contradictory information
- Tendency to make mistakes with small details when overloaded with information
3) The Home Run Hitter
The home run hitter focuses their thinking externally on one or two details.
Strengths
- Capable of maintaining total concentration on a particular point or object
- Good at avoiding distractions
- Not bothered by crowd noise or spectators being close by
- Will not let their internal thoughts, feelings, or fears get in the way of their objective
Weaknesses
- Lacks flexibility
- Does not deal with unexpected change well
- Tendency to make mistakes when lacking information
- Susceptible to strategies that take advantage of camouflage, disguise and fakes
4) The Marathon Mind
The marathon mind focuses their thinking internally on one or two details.
Strengths
- Good at developing a rhythm and getting into a state of flow
- High pain tolerance
- Self-motivated to push themselves
- Will not let distractions disrupt their focus
Weaknesses
- Susceptible to allowing negative thoughts sabotage performance
- Tendency to become anxious
- May tighten up when conditions are unexpectedly less than optimal