Are Your Goals Written Down?

"Peak athletic focus is forward-thinking and goal oriented."

Chris Berdik - Mind Over Matter

"Goals give you something concrete to focus on, and that has a positive impact on your actions."

John G. Maxwell - 3 Things Successful People Do

As an athlete, what are your goals for the season? 

• What are your goals for each practice? 
• What are your goals for an upcoming game? 
• What are your goals for your athletic career? 
• Have you written your goals down and do you read them each day?

Tone Lanzillo
The Mental Skills Coach
risson1954@gmail.com

Are You Learning And Growing?

"My goal is to constantly be improving. Year after year you can grow as a player, just as in life. You can always learn something new. And sometimes in the moment you can reveal something in yourself."
Lionel Messi
Sports Illustrated - 5/30/16


Whether it's Lionel Messi or any other all-star player in sports, the exceptional players are always looking for opportunities to learn and grow as they strive to elevate their game to the next level. Here is an excerpt from The Mental Tune-Up which serves as a journal to help athletes develop their mental skills, and become mentally stronger and smarter players.


Day 12 

"Some people learn to lose. Others lose and learn. The latter is a much better approach in my opinion because it focuses the mind on the positives and keeps your thoughts away from the negatives."
Georges St. Pierre
The Way Of The Fight

"The most humble guys, who are the most open and willing to learn, are the ones who become the best."
Sam Sheridan
The Fighter's Mind

What am I learning today to become a better player?


Tone Lanzillo
The Mental Skills Coach
risson1954@gmail.com

Tune In/Tune Out 

Most people who listen to the radio have their favorite station. When you turn it on, you have to make sure that you tune it to the station you want. If not, you will end up hearing something that doesn't interest you or maybe even annoy you. And if you are not paying attention to what you are doing, you'll end up simply getting static or no sound at all.

Likewise, when you are an athlete in practice or a game, you need to learn how to tune in to those things that are beneficial and essential to your performance while, at the same time, tune out whatever will distract you or take you away from your game. You tune in to your goals, your strengths, what you can control, positive thoughts, learning from your mistakes, the present moment, and playing with a sense of purpose. You tune out any comments from the opposing team, negative judgments about yourself, questionable calls by the refs, people yelling from the stands or sidelines, and frustration over the last play.

"Montana was never the most physically gifted player. But he was focused and smart and extremely coachable and had great instincts. He could block everything out around him, and now that ability to push distractions to the side was being put to the ultimate test."
Gary Myers - The Catch: One Play, Two Dynasties, And The Game That Changed The NFL 


Tone Lanzillo
The Mental Skills Coach
risson1954@gmail.com  

How To Mentally Manage Your Game

Visualize how you want to play before you play
Concentrate on what you control
Focus on what you want to do
Play in the present moment
Learn from each mistake
Look for opportunities
Acknowledge your strengths
Tune out any distractions
Avoid the negative attitudes
Cut the game into smaller time segments
Respond appropriately to every situation
Measure yourself against yourself
Be grateful
Enjoy the experience
Encourage your teammates
Take a few deep breaths
Expect the best from yourself
Remember why you love to play the game


Tone Lanzillo
The Mental Skills Coach
risson1954@gmail.com

Mentally Tough At Critical Moments

"Mental toughness is a process of using your mind to gain the most from your abilities."
Karl Kuehl, John Kuehl and Casey Tefertiller

At any point during a game, the athlete may find himself facing a difficult and challenging game-time situation. Maybe, he has made a mistake, been called for a penalty or finds himself being verbally and physically taunted by an opposing player. Maybe, the coach just put him in the game because the best player on the team has been injured or the team is already behind on the scoreboard by twelve points in the first quarter. 

Whatever the challenge is, the athlete is trying to maintain his concentration and composure while, at the same time, deciding how to mentally manage that game-time situation. He wants to keep his head in the game, control his emotions and find a solution to the problem facing him. It's all about being mentally tough at a critical moment.

Mental toughness is a combination of believing in yourself, being passionate about playing the game, celebrating your strengths, keeping your focus, having the desire to succeed, knowing how to bounce back from a poor performance, and fueling the competitive spirit. It's having the psychological edge over your opponent by coping with the various demands of the game, and being able to stay in the moment with confidence, and feeling as if you're in control under pressure. 

Being mentally tough is knowing what you must do to achieve your goal, seizing the opportunity to win, not being fazed with a mistake, and really loving the pressure of competition. Beginning with a sense of optimism and self-belief, the athlete builds his mental toughness through the use of mental imagery, self-talk, relaxation techniques, emotional control, and setting goals. 

Tone Lanzillo
Mental Skills Coach
risson1954@gmail.com

Mental Renewal

"Quality mental renewal gives us added knowledge and perspective in decision-making moments."

"Meaningful mental renewal empowers us to transcend the limited wisdom of our environment in decision moments and keeps our minds sharp and clear and well exercised for ready use."

Stephen R. Covey - First Things First

As an athlete, what am I doing on a daily basis for my mental renewal to keep my mind sharp, clear and ready for any and every game-time situation? As a coach, what am I providing at each team practice to help my players with their mental renewal in order for them to keep their minds sharp, clear and well exercised for ready use in a game?


Tone Lanzillo
Mental Skills Coach
risson1954@gmail.com

Play With Power

"There is tremendous power in total attention to the matter at hand."

"Freedom from mental distraction equals power."

Dan Millman
Body Mind Mastery: Training for Sport And Life

With mental preparation, you can become a more powerful player. It's when you have learned to play with a sense of purpose, presence of mind, right perspective, poise, passion and perseverance that you evolve into a more powerful and exceptional player on the court or field. A powerful player knows what he controls, knows what he wants, knows how to stay in the moment, knows his strengths, and knows to keep on learning. 

Tone Lanzillo
Mental Skills Coach
risson1954@gmail.com

To Be Unpresent

"I'm wholly unprepared, so I become unpresent."
Andre Agassi 
Open

As an athlete, to be "unpresent" on the field or court is probably the most significant indication that you are not mentally prepared to play your best game. To be unpresent means that you are not focused, are probably not concentrating on what you control, and are thinking or worrying about past events or future expectations. Your mind is anywhere or everywhere but where it should be; which is with what is happening right now and right in front of you.    

To be unpresent means that you can not tune out all of the irrelevant distractions surrounding you, and are unable to tune into what you clearly see and are doing at any given moment or game-time situation. Being unpresent means that you have mentally and emotionally pulled yourself out of the game. Your head and thoughts are simply not in the game.

You become unpresent when you start playing in a game and are still thinking about the last game that you lost. You become unpresent when you are thinking about a bad call that the refs made five minutes ago. You become unpresent when you are wondering if you will win the game and it's still the first half. You become unpresent when you are looking for who's on the sidelines or stands watching your game. You become unpresent when you keep looking at the scoreboard. You become unpresent when you focus on how you feel instead of what you see.

Do you have any problems with being unpresent? Do coaches or teammates talk to you, and then you ask them to repeat themselves because you weren't listening? Do you look away from the field or court and miss something that happened in the game? Do you get called for a foul or penalty because you didn't hear the ref blow his whistle to stop the game?

If you are one of those athletes who is often unpresent in practice or a game, then you need to step back and take a serious look at what you are not doing in your mental preparation to be present, and think about what could be taking you away from your mental game.

If you would like to figure out how to do this, drop me at email at risson1954@gmail.com.

Playing From The Inside Out 

"If you want to be truly successful, you can't be content with 'pretty good'. You need to find an extra gear."   Tim S. Grover -  Relentless
 

Exceptional athletes play from the inside out. They know that how they play and perform comes from their state of mind, and the time and effort that they put into their mental preparation. They are willing to take the initiative to develop their mental skills. These athletes are internally driven and directed to play at a very competitive level. They have learned how to mentally shift into three different gears which makes them mentally stronger and sharper.

You must use all of these gears throughout all of your training, practice and workout sessions in order to play and perform at a higher level at game time.

1st Gear - "Inquisitive"
An athlete must take the initiative to keep asking questions that focus on his or her development and progress. These questions are asked everyday and should be especially addressed when you are practicing or working out. Keep asking yourself..."What can I do today to become a better player?...How can I develop or improve a particular skill that I use in the game?...Where can I use my strengths and skills to help the team succeed?...What can I learn from watching the game films?"

2nd Gear - "Intentional"
An athlete needs to know what he or she is doing at any given moment of a practice or in a game. You want to know the purpose of the different drills and exercises in practice, as well as having a goal for the overall practice on any given day. It's important that you know where you are going whether it's for one practice or the whole season. You can set goals for training or practice that focus on the development and use of specific skills. 

3rd Gear - "Inspired"
An athlete needs to take ownership and responsibility for figuring out or finding what inspires and motivates himself or herself. Maybe, it's a quote, piece or music, moment in a film,  or playing for another person or athlete. Identify what inspires you and incorporate it into every training and practice session.


Tone Lanzillo
Mental Skills Coach
risson1954@gmail.com