The 10 Mental Routines Athletes Must Use to Be at Their Best
Every athlete is different; therefore, every athlete needs a unique set of mental skills to optimize their performance. However, there are 10 basic mental skills that separate the best from the rest that are universal.
How well an athlete incorporates these 10 mental skills into their training routine without mental lapses during the process of execution is what separates athletes who perform at their best from everyone else. Although it may appear that two athletes with talent who both work hard are equal, athletes with mental skills routines have an 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 outmaneuver their opponents, or a mental edge in coping with pressure that makes them clutch. Unquestionably, building a training process that includes the following 10 mental skills is a game changer.
The 10 Mental Skills Athletes Need to be at Their Best
- Discipline to wake up each day with a plan to step yourself through a routine to establish muscle memory and consistency.
- Positive or neutral body language and self-talk that makes you look and feel energized no matter the circumstances.
- Using emotional intelligence to make high pressure and stressful situations manageable.
- Train and compete in your optimal zone of intensity regardless of the environment around you.
- Use what you control as the source of your confidence.
- Using both the growth mindset and strategic mindset to learn from failure.
- Leverage visualization and imagery techniques to train your mind before and after practice and competitions.
- Focus most of your energy on achieving task goals instead of ego goals.
- Proactively build the mental muscles for focus and concentration as part of your daily strength training routine.
- Consistently use positive training pain to increase pain tolerance and mental toughness.