Chris Mance II - Mental Skills Coach

There is an excellent research paper breaking down all facets of mental toughness written by sport psychologists Sheldon Hanton, Graham Jones, and Declan Connaughton. The title of it is “A Framework of Mental Toughness in the World’s Best Performers“.

The authors do an excellent job putting rigor around the definition of mental toughness as popular culture tends to make the idea so vague. You could ask 10 coaches to define mental toughness and it’s likely you’ll get 10 different answers.

My simple definition of mental toughness is the ability to maintain maximum effort in pursuit of an objective even when it’s inconvenient, difficult, and painful. The authors of the research came up with the following definition based on their analysis:

Mental toughness is having the natural or developed psychological edge that enables you to:

– Generally, cope better than your opponents with the many demands (competition, training, lifestyle) that sport places on a performer.

– Specifically, be more consistent and better than your opponents in remaining determined, focused, confident, and in control under pressure.

Moreover, the authors go further by breaking down mental toughness into four major categories.

1. Attitude/mindset
2. Training
3. Competition
4. Post competition

While each of the categories are important, today I want to highlight the training element of mental toughness. Generally speaking, all other elements of mental toughness are a by-product of how an athlete trains. As I like to say, the only way to be mentally tough is to do mentally tough things. Unquestionably, this must start with an athlete’s training.

The 6 Attributes of Mentally Tough Training

The research of Hanton, Jones, and Connaughton suggest that athletes who are mentally tough train differently than everyone else. Moreover, these differences have 6 attributes.

1. The ability to use a long term “why” to motivate themselves through difficulties, pain and fatigue. “Mentally tough performers acknowledge that they are tired but realize and remind themselves that if they are to achieve their goal they have to get back in the gym and work.“
2. Intense focus on specific tasks and performance goals with realistic deadlines for achieving, while not wasting any “time wishing for the impossible or the unrealistic.”
3. Maintaining a “strong sense of independence in training” i.e., owning the process and accepting responsibility for their destiny. “Not relying on the coach or other people.“
4. The ability to use adverse training environments to their advantage and can get the best out of themselves even in a bad training situation.
5. Uncanny ability to embrace training pain. Derives “pleasure from being able to give absolutely everything.”
6. Treats everything like a competition. Puts maximum effort into winning every warm-up, drill, rep, and scrimmage. Treats everything like it’s important. “They thrive on opportunities of beating other people and are not afraid to put themselves on the line.”

Unquestionably, mental toughness is something parents and coaches must proactively build in athletes. By and large, focusing on these six areas of how an athlete trains is an ideal way to start this proactive process.