The Mental Prep

Whether you're preparing for practice or a game, there is more than just being physically prepared to play. You have to be mentally prepared. You have to be in the right mindset.

Too many athletes think that because they're in great physical shape they are ready to step onto the field or court to play. What they don't realize is that they need more than their bodies to succeed. They need their heads, and they need to make sure that their heads are prepped and ready to go.

The mental prep is the process you go through to make sure that you know what you want, what you control, how to maintain your composure, what you focus on, and how to inspire and motivate yourself. It's mentally preparing yourself to play with a positive, productive and proactive attitude. The mental prep is putting your mindset in the best position to successfully perform in any game-time situation.

What is your mental prep for the days and hours leading up to the next game? Are you visualizing how you want to perform? Do you focus on your personal strengths and how to use those strengths? Have you identified your goals for the game?

Tone Lanzillo
The Mental Skills Coach
risson1954@gmail.com

Becoming A Powerful Athlete

"One-pointed attention brings freedom from internal distractions and can help you master any game."

"Freedom from mental distraction equals power."

Dan Millman - Body Mind Mastery


As an athlete, the more you can tune out or let go of those distractions that can disrupt or dismantle your game, the more powerful you become. What distracts you from elevating your game and playing at a higher level? How do you plan to tune out or let go of those things that are draining you - emotionally, mentally and physically?


Tone Lanzillo
Mental Skills Coach
risson1954@gmail.com

The Mental Peak


For athletes to reach their mental peak, I show them how to play with a sense of purpose, the right perspective, presence of mind, poise, passion and perseverance. There is a series of mental skills that athletes need to practice on a daily basis to reach their mental peak and elevate their game.

Tone Lanzillo
The Mental Skills Coach
risson1954@gmail.com

The Mental Prep Playbook

I have designed a new process or program for athletes. Based upon the concept of the traditional playbook, the Mental Prep Playbook takes athletes through 25 different steps to get mentally prepared to play their best game. It includes "playsheets" - outlines for mentally rehearsing and visualizing how to perform - and "playlists" - reviews of the key mental skills for game time.

If there is any coach or player out there who would like a powerpoint overview of the Playbook, just send me an email to risson1954@gmail.com. 


Tone Lanzillo
The Mental Skills Coach

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

The Mental Prep Playsheet

In developing the Mental Prep Playbook, I have designed a simple tool to help athletes visualize and mentally rehearse specific plays or game-time situations. Here is the overview for the Mental Prep Playsheet.

Take a piece of paper and do the following:

1. Write down the specific play or game-time situation that you want to work on.

2. Write down the primary role and responsibilities of your position for that play.

3. Write down a list of visual and verbal cues that provide an overview of your                           successful performance for that play.

4. Write down the positive feelings or emotions that you will experience from that successful      performance.

5. Before each practice session, sit down and read this playsheet. Then go back and review         the visual and verbal cues/prompts. After reading and reviewing this list, close your eyes,       and visualize and mentally rehearse this play.


Tone Lanzillo
Mental Skills Coach
risson1954@gmail.com

The Anchor

Find a word, phrase, image, piece of music or positive experience that you can use whenever you want to feel more relaxed and composed. It will help you to refocus, feel re-energized and remain steady.

Given the intensity and speed of playing sports, along with the physical demands and emotional stress of playing in a game, there will be times during that game when you may need the "anchor". It is a visual or verbal cue to steady yourself when you feel like you are struggling to keep your head above the turbulent waters of a very competitive and emotionally challenging game.

During any practice or training session, when you begin to feel emotionally stressed out, frustrated, angry or afraid, visualize yourself lowering the "anchor" as you replay that special word, phrase, image or music.  

Stephen Francis and the Success of the Jamaican Sprinters

Last weekend, I was watching both the women's and men's track teams from Jamaica win the 4 x 100 M relays at the Track and Field World Championships in China. Given the success of the Jamaican sprinters over the past 10 years from such a small country, I wanted to find out what has contributed to the success of these Jamaican athletes.

In a book entitled "The Gold Mine Effect: Crack The Secrets Of High Performance", author Rasmus Ankersen interviewed Stephen Francis who had helped establish the MVP Track and Field Track Club in Kingston, Jamaica in 1999. Francis told Ankersen that he believed that the Jamaican athletes should remain in their home country to train instead of going to the United States. Even though Jamaica didn't have the finances and training facilities of the U.S., Francis thought that he could develop successful sprinters at the international level.

Francis talked about what he would look for in a potential athlete to train and coach. He was looking for athletes who had a compelling story to compete and succeed. Francis stated that he wanted to know the personal stories of these athletes. He wanted to know what they were all about and how they had become who they were. Also, he was looking for athletes who had a strong desire to learn, using what they learned to get better, and then keep on learning.

For Francis, the success of these sprinters depended a lot on their mindset and motivation. He wanted athletes who had passion and perseverance to compete and succeed. And he wanted athletes who were never satisfied with their current performance, and continuously wanted to get better.

Francis believed that the ability to succeed was indicated by an athlete's passion and hunger to be better today than he or she was yesterday. He wanted to work with athletes with "cunning and resilience", and were able to bounce back from adversity.

What Do You Need To Know?

There are 9 things that athletes need to know to be mentally prepared to play their best game:

1. Know what you control
2. Know what you want to do
3. Know how to stay in the moment
4. Know what to ask
5. Know what makes you stronger
6. Know how to visualize your performance
7. Know what to tune out
8. Know how to respond to a mistake or difficult moment
9. Know what you're playing for

To be mentally prepared to play their best game, athletes need to know what to think and how to think when they step onto the field or court. It helps to mentally position themselves so that they are able to make the best decisions in any play or game-time situation. They become mentally stronger and smarter players.

If you would like to know more about the "9 things", and the mental prep test and mental prep playsheet, that are presented in the Mental Prep Playbook, drop me an email at risson1954@gmail.com. It can be presented as a workbook or in a mental skills workshop.  

The Mental Peak
How Exceptional Athletes Play at the Highest Level

In sports, there is the physical game and the mental game. While most athletes find themselves focusing on and preoccupied with their physical game, it's the exceptional athletes who know how important it is to invest the necessary time and energy into developing their mental game. They understand that the mental game is essential to being a competitive and successful athlete. Exceptional athletes know that mental preparation is the only way to play at the highest level. They have learned to play with a sense of purpose, the right perspective, presence of mind, poise, passion and perseverance. 

Exceptional athletes know why they are playing, what they are doing at every moment, and where they want to go with their game.

Exceptional athletes know how to think positively and constructively about every moment of their athletic careers.

Exceptional athletes know how to stay focused in the present moment, and think clearly and objectively about that moment.

Exceptional athletes know how to stay composed and keep their emotions under control.

Exceptional athletes know how to motivate and inspire themselves.

Exceptional athletes know how to keep playing and giving their best even in challenging or difficult moments.

Tone Lanzillo
Mental Skills Coach
risson1954@gmail.com 

The "Mental Prep" Playbook

For all the coaches out there who will be using their playbooks to teach the players how to run and execute various plays in games, make sure that you dedicate some time in your team practices to helping your players be mentally prepared to play their best game. Besides having the players physically run through the different plays from the playbook, it would be very beneficial to show your players how to "mentally run" through these plays in order to keep themselves composed, focused and perform with more confidence.

Once the team has physically run through a designated play several times, you could then introduce the following mental prep exercise for all the players in that designated play. First, have the players get into their positions for this play. Then, tell the players to close their eyes and take a deep breath. After the deep breath, ask the players to visualize each step that they are going to take to successfully execute their role in the play. And as they visualize their performance, tell the players to positively talk themselves through the series of steps. Then, after they have finished the visualization, ask them to identify the positive feelings from visualizing their successful performance.

If you are handing out playbooks to the players, encourage them to invest some time after practice to write down their visualizations for each play and attach them to each play in the playbook.

Are Your Players Combat Ready?


"...since initiative vis-a-vis the enemy is the key to successful battlefield outcomes, the side that can make the best decisions more quickly usually wins."     

Christopher D. Kolenda 
Discipline: Creating The Foundation For An Initiative-Based Organization

One of the most valuable lessons that a coach can teach his players is to be able to think for themselves or on their own two feet - especially when they are playing in a game for their team. Given that a coach can't be on the field or court with his players during the game, and telling them what to do at every moment, it's important for each of them to be internally directed and driven to perform to the best of their abilities. There are two different mindsets that a player needs to develop in order for him to take the initiative and make the best split-second decision in any game-time situation. 

The R-3 mindset is all about reading the situation, recognizing the opportunities that are available in that situation, and then responding by choosing the right option for that situation. Players need to keep their minds in the present moment, clearly see what is happening without any negative judgments or emotions, be mentally focused on what they control, and then identifying how they can use their personal strengths to make the right move.

The 3-D mindset requires players to be deliberate, disciplined and decisive. Being deliberate is knowing what you want to do or accomplish. Being disciplined is keeping your focus on what you want. And being decisive is acting on what you want. Without knowing what they want to do and not being able to stay focused on what they want to do, they won't successfully play or perform their role in the game.

Learning and integrating these two mindsets into the players' mental preparation is essential to helping your players take the initiative and make the best decisions at game time.    

If you would like to learn more about the R-3 and 3-D mindsets, drop me an email at risson1954@gmail.com.