Mental skills of a successful athlete

You don’t have to be a professional athlete or an Olympic champion to be a successful athlete. Nor do you have to have a room full of trophies, win a state championship, or make the front page of the sports section.  Successful athletes are those who feel that their sport is important to them and they’re committed to being the best that they can be within the scope of their limitations – other life commitments, time, finances, and their natural ability. They set high, realistic goals for themselves and train and play hard. They are successful because they’re pursuing their goals and enjoying their sport. Their sport enriches their lives and they believe that what they get back is worth what they put into their sport.

Dr. Jack Lesyk from the Ohio Center for Sport Psychology has identified nine mental skills that contribute to success in sports.  They are all learned and can be improved with instruction and practice. These skills are:

• Attitude: View the sport as an opportunity to compete against themselves and learn from successes and failures. Pursue excellence, not perfection. Respect the sport, other participants, coaches, officials, and themselves.
• Motivation: Be aware of the rewards and benefits that you expect to experience through participation. Be able to persist through difficult tasks and difficult times. Realize that many of the benefits come from participation, not the outcome.
• Goals and Commitment: Set S.M.A.R.T. long and short-term goals. Be aware of your current performance level and be able to develop plans for attaining your goals. Be highly commited to your goals and to carying out the daily demands of your training programme.
• People skills: Realize that you are part of a larger system that includes your family, friends, teammates, coaches. Communicate your thoughts, feelings, and needs to these people when appropriate. You've learned effective skills for dealing with conflict, and difficult opponents.
• Self-talk: Maintain self-confidence during difficult times. Talk to yourself the way you would talk to your best friend. Use self-talk to regulate thoughts, feelings and behaviors during competition.
• Mental Imagery: Prepare yourself for competition by imagining yourself performing well. Create and use mental images that are detailed, specific, and realistic. Use imagery competition to prepare for action and recover from errors and poor performances.
• Dealing effectively with anxiety: Accept anxiety as part of sport. Realize that some degree  of anxiety can help perform well. Know how to reduce anxietywhen it becomes too strong, without losing your intensity.
• Dealing effectively with emotions: Accept strong emotions such as excitement, anger, and disappointment as part of the sport experience. Be able to use these emotions to improve, rather than interfere with high level performance.
• Concentration: Know what you must pay attention to during each sport situation. You've learned how to maintain focus and resist distractions. Be able to regain your focus when concentration is lost during competition.   

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