Mental toughness is an athlete’s ability to perform their best in every competitive situation, regardless of the environmental obstacles or adversity faced (Burton & Raedeke, 2008). Mental toughness is not a single skill, but rather an entire set of mental skills that contribute to consistent optimal performance under pressure in competition. Mental skills are sport-specific psychological skills that contribute to an athlete’s ability to optimally perform (Weinberg & Gould, 2019). Below are a few examples of key mental skills foundational to sport & performance psychology. Learn more about how to develop mental resilience in sport and beyond.

Key Mental Skills in Sport & Performance Psychology

Concentration

Concentration is much more than just an on/off switch that the athlete flips during competition. Concentration is a mental skill that that needs to be broken down, learned, and practiced in athletes just like any other mental and physical skill in sports. Concentration is selective attention that focuses on relevant cues for optimal performance (Weinberg, 2019).  Concentration contains four distinct elements or foundational pillars (selective attention, maintaining attentional focus, situational awareness, and attentional flexibility (Weinberg, 2019). Learn more about obstacles to concentration.

Performance Routines

Routines can be broken down into three distinct categories, pre-performance routines, in-performance routines, and post-performance routines. Pre-performance, also referred to as pre-competition routines, are actions taken prior to the start of competition to prepare the athlete for psychological readiness for competition. In-performance routines are actions that an athlete does while competing either in-between plays or during timeouts. Post-performance routines take place after the competition has finished either in the locker-room, on the bus, or at home when the athlete has time to reflect alone. Learn the differences between routines and rituals.

Goal-Setting

Goal setting is a powerful strategy to get and stay motivated on the journey towards your dreams. Goal setting is the road map to the future that you want. Goal setting is the process by which you can achieve your accomplishments if you stay disciplined and continue to put forth the effort. However, there is more to goal setting, then just writing lofty dreams down on a piece of paper. Goal setting is an ongoing process that needs to be reflected upon, measured, monitored, assessed, and reassessed. When done well, goal setting can be a powerful motivator and play a critical role in achieving desired success. Learn how to make more effective performance goals.

Imagery

Imagery is a mental training tool in which athletes use all their senses to mentally rehearse, create, or re-create an experience in the mind (Vealey & Forlenza, 2015). The difference between visualization and imagery is that visualization only engages the sense of vision, while imagery is a polysensory experience, meaning all senses are engaged including visual, auditory, physical, olfactory, gustatory and the kinesthetic (Vealey & Forlenza, 2015). Imagery is a way for athletes to refine technique and practice specific sports skills in one’s mind regardless of whether they are sidelined by an injury or without access to a training facility. You can use imagery to reduce stress, return from injury and perform at your best. Learn how to write an imagery script here.

Self-Talk

Internal self-talk is intentional and productive internal dialogue that athletes have with themselves in their mind (Lodato, 2022). It is a form of intrapersonal communication that impacts athlete emotions, behavior, actions, and motivation (Lodato, 2022). Self-talk often surfaces within athletes in reaction to the outcome of a play, situation, or event in competition in which the athlete desires change for the future (Weinberg & Gould, 2019). Self-talk can enhance concentration, assist with breaking bad habits, sustain athlete motivation, and ultimately increase effort (Weinberg & Gould, 2019). However, self-talk can also be a lethal distraction during competition. How you speak to yourself matters. Self-talk can help you achieve your performance goals.

Deconstruct Perfectionism

Perfectionism is characterized by unrealistically high expectations of self and a tendency to be over critical of one’s performance. Learn effective techniques for to combat maladaptive perfection concerns with self-compassion to improve your performance and increase your well-being. Learn more about how to overcome perfectionism in sports.

Communication

Learn how to express your thoughts and desires clearly and effectively to the people on your performance team and in your life. Explore how attachment patterns are impacting your communication style.

Error Recovery

Performance errors and setbacks are a part of a every sport, for every athlete, at every level. Oftentimes athletes understand this concept and yet have a difficult time recovering from the previous play and shift their focus to the next one. Athletes who dwell on past mistakes inadvertently increase their arousal level by worrying about the future without realizing the attentional drift. Errors do not have to be catastrophic. The goal is not to never make mistakes in competition. The goal is to mentally recover from mistakes faster and move on to the next play.

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What types of sport psychology techniques can injured runners benefit from the most?

One of the most widely used and powerful sport psychology techniques to support injury recovery is the use of imagery. Imagery is a mental training tool in which athletes use all their senses to mentally rehearse, create, or re-create an experience in the mind.  

The difference between visualization and imagery is that visualization only engages the sense of vision, while imagery is a polysensory experience, meaning all senses are engaged including visual (what do you see?), auditory (what do you hear?), physical touch (what do you feel?), olfactory (what do you smell?), gustatory (what do you taste?) and the kinesthetic (what does the movement in your body feel like?).  

Runners can use imagery to mentally prepare for difficult race conditions, imagine desired race results, or refine your running technique. Injured runners can use imagery techniques to imagine the injured body part healing, reduce muscle tension, manage pain, decrease stress or re-injury anxiety, increase motivation for rehabilitation exercises, and imagine successfully returning to running.

Creating an Imagery Program

Holmes and Collins (2001) created the PETTLEP program to provide a framework for athletes to practice and integrate imagery into training. PETTLEP is an acronym for the model’s following seven key elements: physical, environment, task, timing, learning, emotion, and perspective. When designing and implementing imagery into your recovery program, runners should consider the following PETTLEP guidelines.

Your imagery should reflect the physical movement of running and the exact environment in which you plan to run in the future (i.e.. the New York Marathon). You should imagine the identical movement and task that you want to execute, in addition to the timing of the skill for the exact duration of time it takes to execute that skill. The learning element should be in alignment with your developmental stage of learning. Your imagery should incorporate as many race emotions as possible to make it feel real. Lastly you should engage in imagery using either an external or internal perspective, depending on whichever you find most effective.

External vs Imagery Perspectives

When practicing imagery, there are two different vantage points: external imagery and internal imagery. External imagery is viewing the action from outside of one’s body such as taken from the perspective of a video camera behind, above, or on the side of the runner. Alternatively, internal imagery is viewing the action from inside one’s body through your eyes. There is no right or wrong way to picture it. Both external and internal perspectives are effective. However, if you are having trouble with controllability or vividness, it might be helpful to try an alternative perspective when using imagery.

Controllability & Vividness

When practicing imagery, the two primary factors that impact the effectiveness are controllability and vividness. Controllability is one’s ability to imagine or control exactly what you desire to see in your mind.  Vividness refers to the level of detail and clarity that the image contains. It is important to remember that imagery, like all mental and physical skills, takes time to learn and master. The more you practice, the better you will improve, and the more effective the imagery will become.

Mental Performance Coaching & Consulting

Imagery is just one of many mental skills rooted in sport psychology that can help runners return to running. To learn more mental skills and sport psychology techniques to mitigate injury anxiety, manage stress, overcome injuries and help you achieve your optimal performance level, consult with a sport psychologist or mental performance coach for athletes. Mental performance consulting is a non-clinical alternative to traditional talk therapy using mental skills and sport psychology techniques to enhance performance, overcome obstacles, and increase enjoyment.

Originally published on Custom Performance.

References

Arvinen-Barrow, Monna, & Walker, Natalie (2013). Imagery in Sport Injury Rehabilitation. (1^st ed.). Routledge.

Holmes, P.S., & Collins, D.J. (2001). The PETTLEP approach to motor imagery: A functional equivalence model for sport psychologist. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 13, 60-83.

Vealy, Robin S. & Forlenza, Samuel T. (2015). Understanding and Using Imagery in Sport. In J.M. Williams and V. Krane (Eds.) Applied sport psychology: Personal growth to peak performance. McGraw Hill Education. https://www.mheducation.com/highered/product/applied-sport-psychology-personal-growth-peak-performance-williams-krane/M9780078022708.html

Scott, M. W., Wright, D. J., Smith, D., & Holmes, P. S. (2022). Twenty years of PETTLEP imagery: An update and new direction for simulation-based training. Asia Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 2(2), 70–79. https://doi-org.uws.idm.oclc.org/10.1016/j.ajsep.2022.07.002

Weinberg, Robert S. & Gould, Daniel (2019). Foundations of Sport and Exercise Psychology (7^th ed.). Human Kinetics.

Williams, J. M. & Krane, Vikki (2015). Applied sport psychology: personal growth to peak performance. Seventh edition. New York: McGraw-Hill Education. https://www.mheducation.com/highered/product/applied-sport-psychology-personal-growth-peak-performance-williams-krane/M9780078022708.html

Olympians Use Imagery as Mental Training, https://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/23/sports/olympics/olympians-use-imagery-as-mental-training.html

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One of the biggest misconceptions about confidence in sports is that most athletes and coaches think confidence is simply the belief in one’s ability to win or succeed. The problem with this definition of confidence is that it’s too narrow and often leads to a simplified “yes or no”, “you either have it or you don’t” type of thinking, when in fact confidence is much more complex.

Most athletes experience a spectrum of confidence levels that fluctuate throughout the season based on any number of both internal and external factors. Therefore, when teaching about confidence to athletes and coaches, I encourage them to consider this broader concept of confidence. It is much more helpful and accurate to think of confidence as a continuum centered by optimal confidence, with underconfidence on one end and overconfidence on the other.

Underconfidence

Underconfidence, also known as low confidence, is marked by an under estimation of one’s ability to perform (APA). Underconfident athletes tend to under estimate their skill level and potential. They are often overcome with self-doubt and have difficulty recovering from mistakes during practice or competition. Underconfident athletes tend to be under prepared both physically and mentally. These athletes are highly sensitive to feedback and experience a self-fulfilling prophecy of failing in pressure situations.

Overconfidence

Overconfident athletes believe they are better than their game statistics and have an inflated sense of their performance history. They also tend to lack physical and mental preparation. Overconfident athletes often respond to pressure situations by trying to over perform or hoard the ball. In many cases overconfident athletes have a history of being pampered by their parents or guardians and past coaches.

Optimal Confidence

Athletes with optimal confidence levels are adequately prepared for pressure situations in competition both physically and mentally. They have realistic and attainable individual and team goals. Optimally confident athletes also approach competition with a clear game strategy.

So now that we’ve reframed confidence to exist as a spectrum, how do we center athletes into the zone of optimal confidence?

According to Bandura, high levels of self-efficacy contribute to higher level of performances or “mastery experiences”. Athletes who receive feedback and assurance that their goals are attainable, often increase their motivation and effort until they achieve the success they desire. Here’s four imagery strategies and free confidence building worksheets to manage athlete confidence in preparation for competition that I use when I do mental coaching for athletes to help build confidence. I recommend that athletes dedicate quiet reflection time to each of the four categories: Performance Accomplishments, Vicarious Experience, Verbal Persuasion & Arousal Control or Emotion Regulation.

1. Past Performance Accomplishments & Experience

According to Bandura’s Theory (1997), the strongest predictor of self-efficacy is the athletes’ previous successful experiences (Williams & Krane, 2015). Take a moment to reflect back on all your past accomplishments in your sport from the beginning of your career all the way through to the present moment is one of the most effective ways to build your confidence in sports. Now bring to mind a mental highlight light reel of yourself playing your absolute best, maybe you have memories of playing in a flow state. Maybe it’s thinking about big plays you made in critical moments under pressure, or just shutting an appointment down that you were matched up against. You can also create and watch an actual highlight reel of video footage from matches to watch before or during competition during breaks. Imagery is a very effective sport psychology strategy to build your confidence in sports.

2. Vicarious Experience

Increase your confidence level through the process of vicarious experience. Vicarious experience is the process of identifying a role-model or expert in your field or sport and learning through the process of observation and modeling (Williams & Krane, 2015). This might mean watching college level or professional competitions. The Olympics and Paralympics are a fantastic opportunity to find and learn from new role models in your sport.

3. Verbal Persuasion

Verbal persuasion is another effective sport psychology technique for building confidence athlete confidence in sports. Verbal persuasion is positive feedback you’ve received from people in your life, most importantly your teammates and coaches. Spend some time reflecting on positive feedback, affirmations, and compliments you’ve received from your teammates and coaches. Trust that your teammates and coaches were being honest and real with you. Trust that your teammates and coaches believe in you. You also may find it helpful to reflect back on what it felt like when your coaches recruited. Remind yourself that you were recruited and chosen to play for your team because the coaches believed in your abilities, talent, and potential.

4. Arousal Control (aka Emotion Regulation)

Arousal control, or the process of recognizing and managing ones optimal arousal state during competition can also function to increase self-efficacy in athletes (Williams & Krane, 2015). Think about what it feels like in competition when you first start feel the pressure of a big game, meet or competition? What does it feel like in your body? Do your muscles feel tight or heavy? Do you start to feel tension in your jaw, neck, chest or stomach? Picture the tension in your body. Which color is it? What is the texture? Next envision the tension leaving your body. Some athletes find it helpful to picture tension existing their body through an exhale of breath. Notice that you are not your anxiety, your worry, or your stress. Your tension is separate from you. Externalize it. Let it go. Picture it leaving your body and notice a quiet sense of calm. Learning to regulate your emotion to experience optimal performance state is one of the most effective sport psychology techniques for increasing confidence in sport.

Free Confidence Building Worksheets

References

Bandura, Albert. (1990) Perceived self-efficacy in the exercise of personal agency, Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 2:2, 128-163, DOI: 10.1080/10413209008406426 

Bandura, A., & Cervone, D. (1983) Self-evaluative and self-efficacy mechanisms governing the motivation effects of goal systems. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 45, 1017-1028.

Burton, Damon & Raedeke, Thomas, D. (2008). Sport Psychology for Coaches. Human Kinetics.

Hays, K., Thomas, O., Maynard, I., & Bawden, M. (2009). The role of confidence in world-class sport performance. Journal of Sports Sciences, 27(11), 1185–1199.

Williams, J. M. & Krane, Vikki (2015). Applied sport psychology: personal growth to peak performance. Seventh edition. New York: McGraw-Hill Education. https://www.mheducation.com/highered/product/applied-sport-psychology-personal-growth-peak-performance-williams-krane/M9780078022708.html

Vealey, R. S., Hayashi, S. W., Garner-Holman, M., & Giacobbi, P. (1998). Sources of sport confidence: Conceptualization and instrument development. Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology, 20(1), 54.

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Whenever you do imagery it’s important that you are clear on the purpose of the exercise. A survey among teams at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs found that 90% of Olympic athletes use some form of visualization or imagery in their sport.  80% used it to prepare for competition, 48% used it to correct technical errors, 44% used it to learn a new technique or skill and 40% used it for relaxation.

Benefits of Imagery include:

• increased confidence in sport;
• increased concentration in sport;
• arousal control during pressure situations;
• preparedness for specific competition scenarios and matchups;
• extra mental repetitions using perfect technique;
• and error correction.

This is also a great tool for athletes to use when you’re injured. Injured athletes can use imagery while they are sidelined to picture past performances and imagine future performances. Injured athletes can also use imagery to envision their body healing itself and becoming stronger.

Imagery Script

An imagery script is the story you tell yourself when you’re mentally rehearsing. Writing your own, personalized imagery script to prepare for high pressure competition can be extremely powerful. Here’s a customized imagery script for volleyball players that you can modify and make your own. However, first I want to talk to the difference between an internal and external imagery perspective.

Internal vs External Imagery Perspectives

In an internal imagery perspective, you see the action as it would unfold through your own eyes as if you were playing on the court. In contrast, in an external perspective, you view the action from outside of your body as if you were watching yourself perform on tape. There is no right or wrong way to engage in imagery. The goal is to get clearest image of yourself possible, therefore you should use whichever form of imagery (external or internal) that provides you the clearest image.

A Few Final Tips

The use of imagery is different than visualization because visualization only uses the athlete’s sense of vision, while imagery applies multiple senses such as auditory and tactile sensory information. While practicing imagery, it is most effective if you engage as many senses as possible. Ask yourself questions such as: What will it feel like in my body? What will it sound like? What will look like? What will it taste like? What will it smell like?

If at any point while practicing imagery or guided visualization exercises you notice yourself distracted by thoughts that derail you from the intended purpose, don’t beat yourself up.  Just recognize your thoughts and redirect your attention to the visualization.

Resource

Sample Imagery Script

Reference

Burton, Damon & Raedeke, Thomas, D. (2008). Sport Psychology for Coaches. Human Kinetics.

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Athletes and coaches alike experience a fight-or-flight response when their sympathetic nervous system is activated. Physical symptoms of stress can include increased heart rate, stomach nausea, shortness of breath, muscle tension, and unwanted arousal. There are evidence-based muscle-to-mind techniques that you can use to help athletes reduce their levels of performance anxiety and stress.

For starters, it can be helpful to break down the techniques into two distinct categories: muscle-to-mind techniques and mind-to-muscle techniques. Muscle-to-mind relaxation techniques focus on relaxing the body as a means to calming down the mind. Examples of muscle-to-mind techniques include diaphragmatic breathing and progressive muscle relaxation (PMR). On the other contrary, mind-to-muscle techniques such as meditation and imagery, start with calming the mind as a way to relax the body. As a mental coach for athletes, I recommend integrating both types of techniques to improve emotion regulation and manage athletes stress.

There’s a ton of websites and apps boasting about strategies to de-stress however, before implementing any relaxation technique in practice or competition, it’s critical to understand the difference between total relaxation and rapid relaxation techniques. The goal of total relaxation is to help athletes completely relax by achieving maximal relaxation, while the goal of rapid relaxation is to reduce stress quickly without depleting one’s energy level (Burton & Raedeke, 2008).

The process for total relaxation typically between 10 and 20 minutes and can help athletes reduce chronic stress and anxiety (Burton & Raedeke, 2008). Total relaxation techniques are ideally performed after practice or competition to help them recover from intense workouts or just before going to bed to improve sleep. Total relaxation techniques should not be done prior to workouts because they leave players feeling lethargic, sluggish, and passive (Burton & Raedeke, 2008).The benefits of total relaxation techniques include chronic stress reduction, promotion of recovery from workouts, improved sleep, and the development of relaxation skills (Burton & Raedeke, 2008).

On the other hand, rapid relaxation is ideal for athletes and coaches to do prior or during practice and competition for example – during a time-out. Rapid relaxation can be done in any environment in a matter of 3 to 5 seconds and the benefits of rapid relaxation include reduction in muscle tension, arousal control, disruption of the stress spiral, energy conservation, and ultimately increasing athlete enjoyment in sport (Burton & Raedeke, 2008).

One effective muscle-to-mind total relaxation strategy that coaches can teach players to use is called progressive muscle relaxation (PMR). The premises of PMR is to flex individual muscle groups and then passively releasing the muscle group to promote deep muscle relaxation (Burton & Raedeke, 2008). When flexing one’s muscles, the tension should gradually build-up for 5 to 7 seconds and then released abruptly. After releasing the muscle, the athlete should direct their attention towards relaxing that specific muscle group for a minimum of 20 seconds and up to 1 minute (Burton & Raedeke, 2008). The athlete can continue this process of targeted muscle tension, followed by focused muscle relaxation for muscle groups (Burton & Raedeke, 2008).

Cued relaxation is an example of a rapid relaxation technique that can be used before or during competition (Burton & Raedeke, 2008). In cued relaxation, the goal is for athletes to identify a cue word that triggers the desired relaxation response (Burton & Raedeke, 2008). Cued relaxation should be paired with a total relaxation technique such as PMR. Once the athlete gets comfortable achieving a relaxation level of 8 or more on a 10-point scale with 10 being completely relaxed, they should start to repeat their cue word in their mind at each exhalation for 15 or more repetitions. With practice, eventually the athletes will be able to stimulate the relax response within 3 to 4 seconds by combining their cue word with 1 or 2 diaphragmic breaths.

Sometimes athletes need to be fired up and energized, rather than relaxed before competition. The term energization is the opposite of relaxation, it involves intentionally speeding up one’s heart rate to increase blood flow to muscles and stimulate brain activity (Burton & Raedeke, 2008). Energization can help athletes improve concentration, increase their energy level, motivation, and confidence level (Burton & Raedeke, 2008). One example of an energization strategy that athletes can use prior to or during competition is a technique called psych-up breathing. In psych-up breathing, the athlete is instructed to take quick and shallow consecutive breaths to inhale as much as oxygen as possible in a short period of time. During psych-up breathing, the breaths are shallower and taken in with the lungs as opposed to the diaphragm (Burton & Raedeke, 2008).

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