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MENTAL TOUGHNESS – Part One
Performing well under pressure is what competition is all about.
Many talented athletes fall by the wayside and do not realize their
full potential simply because they have not learnt to handle the
stress of competition.
Competition should bring out the best in you. The physical,
technical and bio-mechanical skills of hitting a topspin forehand or
a twist serve can be honed thru constant repetition and practice.
But a match is fought on the mental plane as well. Mental toughness
is the ability to perform close to or at your best regardless of
competitive circumstances.
Which brings us to the question…...? Can mental toughness be
acquired, just like any other physical skill? The answer is YES!
Mental toughness can also be acquired. Toughness can be learned.
A good competitor is someone, who is in control of his physical
skills as well as his mental and emotional skills. A good competitor
enjoys the competition, is positively charged and has all his
resources mobilized and at his command. A good competitor may have
poor physical or technical skills but still can make up for the
deficiency because of the strong will and mental skills. A good
competitor will always exhibit feelings of confidence, high energy,
relaxed fun, and challenge regardless of the emotions they feel
inside.
Make no mistake, champions and all good competitors experience
negative emotions. Anger, frustration, fatigue, nervousness,
disappointment during a match are all commonplace. But the key
difference is that good competitors do not reveal the emotions that
they are experiencing inside their system. A good competitor is a
good actor. A good actor can act out positive emotions and summon
positive energy at will.
On the other hand, bad competitors, show on the outside the very
emotions they are feeling inside. If they feel tired they show it,
if they feel angry, fearful, disappointed, nervous, helpless,
whatever, they just show it. They are unable to summon positive
emotions at will. This is caused by faulty patterns of thinking and
acting under stress as well as unhealthy emotional habits, poor
physical endurance or strength. Confidence, fun, and energy suddenly
become fear, doubt, disappointment and discouragement. Consequently
however gifted the athlete may be they will never be able to achieve
their full potential. Please remember, you can never enjoy
competition unless you are positive and have all your resources
mobilized and at your command.
Perhaps, in the world of tennis, there is only one athlete, who used
a negative emotion like anger fuel his system. McEnroe! Anger often
stems from negativism. Self directed anger and anger at the
environment, surroundings, competitors, just erodes your sense of
joy and fair play. One bad line call is sometimes enough to trigger
an angry response and think that the whole world is against you. As
a result, you lose focus on the match, start to over hit the ball,
create tantrums, fail to concentrate and in general lose the whole
picture.
How do top athletes conquer negative factors in a match situation?
It is simply through putting yourself through the right kind of
stress in practice. By stress I imply stress on technique, physical
conditioning, and emotional tuning. Begin by trying to understand
and realize positive and negative emotions. Emotions respond just as
muscles do…. the ones you stimulate the most become tough and
accessible. Thereby, you learn how to suppress negative emotions and
portray positive emotions regardless of competitive environment.
Parents play a big role in the toughening process. Parents who push
too much, attach too much importance to winning, live out their
dreams through their children, fail to meet needs of their children
, withdraw love and affection after a bad loss are all seriously
impeding the toughening process. Like wise a parent who is over
protective or over indulgent will most likely bring up moaners and
groaners who tank and quit even before the match commences.
We shall dig a little deeper into toughness in the next newsletter.
Bye for now! |
