How to Use Mental Skills When Everyone Has Elite Physical Skills
At the top level of any sport, all the average athletes have elite physical skills. It’s at this point when elite physical skills become the norm, not the exception. So, what then differentiates a field of athletes who are all big, fast, and strong?
Could it be luck? History would say no. There is a reason why some athletes with elite physical skills consistently win when it counts, and others consistently struggle in big moments. When it appears that all things are equal, some athletes still find a way to eke out an edge.
Moreover, athletes don’t get that edge through getting bigger, faster, or stronger. Instead, every elite athlete who finds a way to consistently edge out other elite athletes win because of a mental edge not a physical edge.
It could be a mental edge in training that allows them to develop more physical skills, a mental edge in strategy that allows them to out maneuver their opponents, or a mental edge in coping with pressure that makes them clutch.
The bottom line is that when an athlete must compete in an environment where everyone has elite physical skills, mental skills are the only remaining differentiator. Therefore, to reach the top level of any sport, an athlete must be diligent in finding ways to grow their mental skills as much or more than they grow their physical skills.
The Mental Skills That Separate Athletes with Elite Physical Skills
Every athlete is different; therefore, every athlete needs a unique set of mental skills to optimize their performance. However, there are several basic mental skills that separate the best from the rest that are universal. How much one perfects these mental skills without mental lapses during the process of execution is what makes sports a game of inches.
These basic mental skills include:
- Maniacally stepping yourself through the same pre and post competition routine before and after each and every time you compete.
- Consistently showcasing optimistic, positive, or neutral body language and self-talk that makes you look and feel like you will win.
- Bringing a high state of emotional intelligence to high pressure situations.
- Getting in the optimal zone of intensity regardless of the environment around you.
- Spending as much time thinking about and planning your training routine as you do physically training.
- Using both the growth mindset and strategic mindset to learn from failure.
- Leveraging visualization and imagery techniques to train your mind.
- Focusing most of your energy on achieving task goals instead of ego goals.
- Proactively building your mental muscles as part of your daily strength training routine.
- Consistently using positive training pain to increase pain tolerance and mental toughness.
Everyone knows you can’t be great without the physical tools. However, it’s a fact that being a physical specimen is not enough. If you want to be a winner in an environment where everyone is elite physically, you must be mentally sharp, psychologically savvy, and use fanatical focus to train your mind.