What Do You Believe?

At the 2014 Winter X Games, Colten Moore wins the gold medal for the Snowmobile Freestyle. In a statement on ESPN.com and the Bleacher Report, Colten talks about his brother who died the previous year in the winter games because of a fatal accident during the competition. 

"This is the greatest moment ever, to be able to come back and ride for my brother. And not just for him, but with him, because I know he was out here with me all night. To be able to come out here and get gold is unbelievable. I just give it all to him. I know he was the one helping me do everything I was doing...It's what me and Caleb grew up doing, pushing each other to go for it. I just knew that he'd be riding with me." 

As an athlete, you need to check your beliefs. Are your beliefs engaging and empowering? Do your beliefs make you emotionally stronger and fuel your competitive spirit? 

Map It Out

The Mental Approach to Practicing

"Those key coaching points for managing the mental and emotional aspects of performance include: 1. Creating a statement of purpose that includes why you play the game, what you hope to accomplish, and what sort of person you hope to become. 

This is the map..."

Augie Garrido

Life Is Yours To Win: Lessons Forged from the Purpose, Passion and Magic of Baseball

An athlete can ask these three simple questions in order to create within himself an empowering and compelling picture of attending and participating in practice:

* Why am I here?

* What do I bring?

* Where can I go? 

"Each practice is an opportunity. It is an opportunity to get better, and an opportunity to make a breakthrough and reach a new level."

Jay Bilas

TOUGHNESS: Developing True Strength On And Off The Court

What aspect of your game do you want to work on today? In what area of your game do you want to step up and reach a new level? Where is the breakthrough?

"I wanted every drill to have a mental purpose to it. I made it mandatory for the players to have a clear objective and a plan to achieve the objective before every match."

Craig Manning

The Fearless Mind: 5 Essential Steps to Higher Performance

A player can find the purpose for any drill by creating a full-impact image of how that drill will help him successfully execute a play in a game-time situation. You develop a picture in your mind of your performance on the field or court. In fact, you want to use all of your senses in your visualization...see it, feel it, hear it, say it, then replay it.

The Craft of Mental Conditioning

6 Components to Gaining the Competitive Edge

1. Clarity

    Do you have a clear idea and vision of your goals?

2. Concentration

Do you know how to focus and give your undivided attention 

to the task at hand?

3. Composure

Have you learned how to remain centered, calm

 and collected during the competition?

4. Confidence

Do you believe in yourself and your abilities?

5. Character

Do you know the difference between what is right and wrong 

in playing the game?

6. Courage

Have you learned to face your fears and play with perseverance?  

The Mental Game of Nick Foles

Yesterday, in the Thursday, December 12th edition of the Philadelphia Daily News, John Murrow wrote an article about Eagles quarterback Nick Foles being placed on the cover of Sports Illustrated. In reading the article, you see how Foles has been mastering the mental aspect of playing football. He not only is focused on how best to serve his team but also has learned to focus on what's most important when he is on field. According to Murrow, Foles has been able to zone out the "noise from all the extra attention, accolades and honors", and simply focus on the game of football. 

In my work with athletes, I have several mental skills which Nick Foles successfully utilizes as a professional athlete...

Circle of Control - Identifying and understanding the difference between what you control and don't control. To be a successful athlete, it is essential that you always focus only on what you do control: your attitude, your actions on and off the field, the time you put into practice, physical conditioning and studying game films. 

Avoid The Minefields - An athlete has to be careful not to step on the mental minefields of complaining, blaming, doubting, resigning or questioning yourself or your teammates. Concentrate on what you want to accomplish and achieve to make yourself a better player, and focus on the positive and productive thoughts or images of what you are currently doing or capable of doing.

Tune In/Tune Out - As an athlete, you need to learn how to tune into those things that are beneficial and essential to your performance while, at the same time, tuning out whatever will distract you or take you away from your game. You tune into your strengths, what you control, positive thoughts, serving the team, the present moment, and learning from your mistakes. You tune out negative judgments about yourself, questionable calls from the officials, any frustrations from the previous play, and wondering who will win the game.

Gratitude

(Being Grounded)

Sometimes I wonder
 if the most grateful athletes
 are the ones 
who are most grounded. 

When a player comes 
from a place of gratitude, 
he brings a sense of enjoyment
 and enthusiasm 
to every moment in a game. 
 Being thankful for the ability
 to play the game he loves, 
he can not hold himself back 
from wanting to give 
and serve the greater good.

  Being grounded, 
the roots
 of his character 
run deep.
The desire to play
with heart
fuels his courage 
and compassion.

To give thanks
for his teammates,
for all the trainings and practices
for every moment in the games,
for being healthy,
for each memorable play,
for the support of his coaches,
for his strengths,
and for the people he will 
meet along the way. 

Reading The Court

Mastering 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

"To win, you must stay in the moment because that moment can change everything."

Augie Garrido

Life Is Yours To Win: Lessons Forged from the Purpose, Passion and Magic of Basketball

"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

"Greatness in sports is born in the moment."

Sam Sheridan

The Fighter's Mind
  

According to Anthony Robbins, author of "Awaken The Giant Within", you will make three decisions at any given moment of the day that will determine your future - deciding what to focus on, deciding what things mean to you and deciding what to do to create the results you want. So, in sports, and especially in a game-time situation, it is important that you are mentally prepared to make the right decisions. It is knowing how to mentally manage any moment to create a bigger moment for yourself and your team. And it begins with how you think.

Making the best decisions as a basketball player on the court is all about learning how to assimilate, anticipate and act. It is the "Triple A" formula to building a sharper mind, and knowing how to cut through anything that is a distraction, and destroys your concentration, composure and confidence. It's training your mind to continuously ask yourself - what do I see? - what do I expect? - what do I want? When you do this, you will be able to focus, put things in a positive frame of reference and be a proactive player. It's all about reading the court and mastering the moment.

You are learning how to take in, on a visual and cognitive level, what the moment is offering you, and then translating that into identifying your options and opportunities. It's mentally conditioning yourself to be present and proactive. Positioning yourself to respond to what's happening right in front of you and playing a pivotal role to help your team. To set the screen, make the backdoor cut, block and rebound, initiate the fast break or go for the layup. It's being in the right place at the right time with the right move. And all five players on your team who are on the court as playing pivotal roles.

If you want to successfully read the court, and therefore master the moment, here are a few things that you shouldn't do and actually want to refrain from doing - think about what you can't control, the mistake you just made, looking bad to others, what others say about you, how you compare to other players, why you didn't get more playing time, only yourself, your weaknesses, what you don't want to happen, the last game, the scoreboard, how good the other team is, and what is wrong.

When you think about any of these things, you can't be in the moment and you can't read the court. In fact, you are in many different places except on the court at that moment. You are essentially out of place. And you have definitely lost your opportunity to make the most of the moment in front of you.

Therefore, if you want to read the court, master the moment and become the best player you can be, then you will want to practice these mental strategies on a regular basis - think about your strengths, your purpose, what you control, why you love the game, how you can serve your teammates, what you are grateful for, what you want, what you are learning, what is right, what brings you joy, what inspires you, playing within yourself, and taking a deep breath.

It simply involves being in the moment, seeing the opportunity in that moment and believing that the moment belongs to you.  

Game Time Vows

"Alertness is a measure of how many nows you are alert to in a given period. The result is simple: you become more aware of what is going on as you learn to keep your attention in the now."
W. Timothy Gallwey
The Inner Game of Tennis: The Classic Guide to the Mental Side of Peak Performance


"One of the best ways to create desire in yourself is to learn to really enjoy your own performance of skills well done."
Kirk Mango
Becoming A True Champion: Achieving Athletic Excellence From The Inside Out


"...if you stay focused on the immediate and realistic options that are open to you, you can transform even the most extreme situations in to meaningful experiences."
Ron Brafman
Succeeding When You're Suppose To Fail: The 6 Enduring Principles Of High Achievement



When the game begins, make three mental vows to yourself.

Now - Be Present 
Have the presence of mind to be aware of what is happening at every moment.

Wow - Be Positive
Continuously remind yourself why you are enjoying playing this game and what you admire about yourself as a player.

Pow - Be Proactive
Always focus on your task or responsibility at each moment, and decide how you can make the greatest impact.