Mental Conditioning and Meaningful Questions

Enabling Athletes to Become Effective Decision Makers

"...informed decisions by athletes are essential to performance success..."

Lynn Kidman

Athlete-Centred Coaching: Developing Inspired and Inspiring People

For any athlete who plays a team sport, every moment on the field or court requires a quick decision. Deciding how to position yourself, support your teammates, respond to a mistake or turnover, defend, setting up the offense to score, deal with any verbal or physical taunting from the opponent, coming back from being down by five points or trying to stay focused with the distractions. Every decision is, in many ways, based upon the athlete's state of mind and what kinds of questions he asks himself.

To make the best decisions and become an effective decision-maker, an athlete must be able to concentrate, remain composed and play with confidence. As part of a mental conditioning program, these mental skills can be learned, during training and practice sessions, so that the athlete has the ability to make informed decisions when he is competing in a game. This program will make the athlete smarter and mentally sharper so that he can make the necessary adjustments to address any game-time situation.

Making an informed decision in a game-time situation, the athlete needs to know how to assimilate what is happening in the game, to anticipate what could happen in the next moment, and to choose an action that reflects what he sees, what he expects and what he wants. By doing this, the athlete will be able to focus, put things in a positive frame of reference and become a proactive player. He is essentially learning how to read the field or court, and master the moment.

"The key is seeing and doing. If you're focusing on anything other than reading the court and doing what needs to be done, the moment will pass you by."

Phil Jackson

Sacred Hoops: Spiritual Lessons of a Hardwood Warrior

According to Anthony Robbins (2007), a person will make three decisions at any given moment of the day that will determine his future - deciding what to focus on, deciding what things mean and deciding what to do to create the results one wants. So, in sports, and particularly in a game-time situation, it is important for an athlete to be mentally prepared to make the right decisions. The athlete must know how to mentally manage any moment in order to create the best opportunity for a successful performance. It's being in the right place at the right time with the right move. And it definitely begins with whether or not he is asking the right question and putting himself in the right state of mind.

Athlete-centered coaching proposes that giving the athletes a sense of ownership over their learning will give them the ability to become more self-aware and self-sufficient, and thereby provides them with the necessary skills to make informed decisions; especially when they are competing (Kidman, 2005). By being able to make choices and having some sense of control over what they are learning, these athletes become internally motivated to discover the most relevant and useful ideas and information to successfully perform. Athletes will learn how to think on their own two feet, and effectively meet various challenges and problems which they will encounter in a game-time situation.

It would appear that athletes who are internally directed and driven are more capable of making the best decisions in a competitive environment. This is essential to athletes who find themselves in fast-paced games where the coaches have fewer or limited opportunities to directly speak to their players during the competition. One of the key components of athlete-centered coaching that can empower these athletes is the ability to ask meaningful questions. These are open-ended questions which will require the athlete to consider and clarify what he needs to do to become mentally stronger and therefore, a better player in any game-time situation. As part of the mental conditioning program, this process of questioning can build a smarter and sharper mind-set that ultimately gives an athlete the mental and emotional skills to make informed decisions throughout the competition.

In training and mentoring athletes, coaches need to create an environment in which each athlete feels comfortable and, in fact, compelled to ask questions which will give him a greater sense of purpose and perspective. These meaningful questions can bring more clarity, composure and confidence to the athlete who wants to be prepared to think and respond on a "moment's notice" to the ever changing atmosphere of a very competitive game. Incorporating meaningful questions into the mental conditioning program of an athlete provides a valuable opportunity for him to not only gain a greater perspective of his strengths and skills but also to become more proficient in learning how to be mentally prepared to play with a higher level of concentration and perseverance. It is a very effective approach to developing the athlete's ability to make informed decisions. In essence, he becomes a more proactive player.

"You look for opportunities - moments some call risks - and you figure out how to manage those moments to create big moments."

Rex Ryan

Play Like You Mean It

Mental conditioning, and asking meaningful questions, should be a part of all training and practice sessions throughout the season. These questions will help an athlete become a critical thinker and learn how to be more intentional, insightful, intuitive and inspired. During a game, when the coach tells one of his players to "get your head into the game", he will be able to respond and make any necessary mental adjustments because he has identified and practiced those mental skills which give him the ability to make effective and informed decisions on the spot. This commitment to a comprehensive mental conditioning program will provide the coaches with a unique opportunity to develop empowered athletes who truly understand and appreciate that their power "comes from within, not from without", can develop a sense of self-efficacy, and at the same time, will commit themselves to elevating their performance to a higher level (Kidman, 2001).

Throughout the day, we continuously ask ourselves a number of questions. What many of us don't realize is that a lot of the questions that we ask ourselves only make us feel worse, more frustrated, out of control, indecisive and will basically contribute to a variety of negative thoughts, feelings and behaviors from one day to the next. In sports, too many athletes find themselves asking questions that take their power away and therefore, will deplete their mental and emotional energy. They feel drained, disappointed and often discouraged.

How many athletes do we know who are asking questions as "why am I a failure?"..."how come I can never get it right?"..."why am I not as talented as the other player?"..."why do I make so many mistakes?"..."how come the coach doesn't give me more playing time?"..."what's the use in trying?"..."why do the refs always make calls against my team?"..."why won't anyone help me?" If the athlete chooses to ask these kind of questions, then he will be given answers that only reinforce the negative nature of the original question. So, if an athlete asks himself why he is a failure, then his brain will simply give him a variety of examples of why he is a failure. And, if the  same athlete asks why he is not as talented as another player, then he will be given a list of all the different ways in which the other player has better skills and is more talented. Asking negative questions only contributes to an athlete losing his focus, sense of purpose and desire to play.

For the athlete who wants to motivate and inspire himself, it's very important that he chooses questions which make him feel empowered, and provides the positive self-talk and encouragement to give his best in a practice or game. He needs to ask questions like "what are my strengths?"..."what do I want?"..."what can I do today to become a better player?"..."how do I visualize success?"..."how can I support my team?"..."what can I learn to improve my game?"..."what am I grateful for?"..."how do I gain more confidence?"..."how do I make the most of this game-time situation?"

"Answers come from questions, and the quality of any answer is directly determined by the quality of the question. Ask the wrong question, get the wrong answer. Ask the right question, get the right answer. Ask the most powerful question possible, and the answer will be life altering."

Gary Keller

The One Thing: The Surprisingly Simple Truth Behind Extraordinary Results

References

Kidman, L. (2005). Athlete-centred Coaching: Developing Inspired and Inspirational People. Christchurch, New Zealand: Innovative Print.

Kidman, L. (2001). developing decision makers: An Empowerment Approach to Coaching. Christchurch, New Zealand: Innovative Print.

Robbins, A. (2007). Awaken The Giant Within. New York, New York: Simon & Schuster.