My Personal Experience
I didn’t always have a positive mindset as an athlete, especially early in my sports, and sometimes now. Even though I haven’t completely developed my mindset, I am constantly looking to improve. I struggled with my confidence and willingness to put in the work effort, along with making mistakes. With the help of my parents and coaches, I was able to learn how to become a better player/athlete who can take constructive criticism, be resilient, and have top-tier confidence.
How important is mental Toughness?
Mental Toughness is an essential skill that allows athletes or people to adapt to challenging situations. Confidence, resilience, self-motivation, and consistency play a big role in mental toughness. When competing at a high level, mental toughness allows you to feel less stress and, most importantly, makes you feel more confident in how you play.
Mrs. Gallagher, a teacher at WMS and softball coach at JFK High School for 16 years, explains the effort and what it takes to have a great mindset: “I think the most important aspects of a teammate and athlete is the willingness to want to compete to win. Not just compete to be there and have fun but to compete to actually win, so every drill they try to win, every swing they try to hit, just every chance they get to compete to win assets them apart.” Overall, putting in the effort will continue to push a player to end up in a better position.
Ways to Gain Mental Toughness
Building mental toughness is key to overcoming challenges. There are many ways to gain mental toughness, however, I have my top five.
- Set clear and positive goals to stay consistent.
- Learn from your mistakes and learn to take constructive criticism.
- Be comfortable with being uncomfortable.
- Have a positive, growing mindset.
- Most importantly, prioritize your self-care
How to Prepare Mentaally
I have my way of preparing before anything as a basketball player. Daily, I read a set of affirmations before practice, training, or a basketball game to ensure I’m feeling the best version of myself and confident overall. Reading a set of affirmations daily sets retention, making your belief and practice come to life.
Gallagher tells how she prepares her softball team at practice to verbalize how they’re feeling, “We actually journal all the time, after practice we have a journal entry every other day, we discuss things like what does it mwan to play the right way, how do you show nonverbally that youre confident in your skills, kind of verbalizing and writing it down and visualizing what you want to see in your athletes is an important next step to the athletes development.” Telling us how practicing positive habits can elevate your game and character as a player.
Coach’s Point of View
I’m not experienced as a coach, but I believe that coaches look for players with characteristics that fit into mental toughness. They look for leaders, focusness, resilience, compassion, and a player who is willing to commit. As well as a player that can regulate their emotions and be smart when playing in/on the field.
Gallagher explains her personal experience and view as a coach for ten plus years, “My experience playing kind of led me into coaching, but being a mom actually helped me become a better coach because connecting to the athletes as a person and kind of pushing them with the goal only for them to improve their ability in the game and their mental awareness of whats going on then become a great teamate, is just gonna help them be the best person they can be as an adult.”
There are many ways to becoming a great athlete, such as sportsmanship, attitude, dedication, and so on, but the most important is MENTAL TOUGHNESS! With a good mindset, you can open many opportunities for yourself because it heavily affects your play, body language, and attitude toward the game. I’ve always been taught these things because you never know who is watching. I once played in a basketball tournament and ended up playing against a High School Coach at Saint Thomas Aquanias, he thought I was a good player with a great attitude. The coach allowed me to come work out with his girls a few times in his personal gym. With a positive mindset and focus, you can gain many things; it shows your character. Mental Toughness.
