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 is self-talk?

Self-talk is 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 increase effort (Weinberg & Gould, 2019). As an athlete, it is critical to develop awareness and control over self-talk in competition.

3 Types of Self-talk

Coaches and players often think self-talk as either positive or negative. However, there is actually a third category that often gets missed. Self-talk generally falls into the following three distinct categories: positive and motivational, instructional, and negative (Weinberg & Gould, 2019). Developing an awareness of these three categories is the first step to self-awareness which eventually leads to self-regulation during competition.

1. Positive or Motivational Self-Talk

Positive or motivational self-talk is general, optimistic and supportive. It maintains a positive attitude and is typically directed towards increasing one’s effort (Weinberg & Gould, 2019). Research suggests that positive and motivational self-talk is mostly effective for increasing motivation and psyching up athletes prior to competition (Hatzigeorgiadis et al, 2014).

Here’s a few examples: “I am doing the best I can“, “I’ve got the next one!” or “I am getting better.“

2. Instructional Self-talk

Instructional self-talk directs the athletes mind toward specific and strategic task-oriented aspects of performance (Weinberg & Gould, 2019). In other words, instructional self-talk provides either technical or tactical feedback on a specific skill. If you’re trying to think of an example of instructional self-talk for your specific sport or position, think back to things you’ve heard your coaches yell at you during practice.

In volleyball, hitters often use the cue word “reach” to remind themselves to extend their arm before contact or “snap” to give the ball top spin. Similarly, setters might tell themselves to have “high hands” as a reminder to refrain from dropping their elbows, or “quick release” to speed up the pace. Each of these examples serve as mental coaching cues to improve and execute the desired technique or skill. Instructional self-talk utilizing task-relevant cues is most effective when you are in the process of learning new skills or trying out a new technique.

Here’s a few examples instructional self-talk for volleyball: “high hands”, “reach and snap your wrist“, or “keep your eye on the ball“.

3. Negative Self-talk

Negative self-talk is notoriously self-critical, destructive, and ultimately counter-productive (Weinberg & Gould, 2019). You are most likely to experience negative-self talk after you make an unforced error. We often get stuck over thinking about the negative. Negative self-talk often cultivates anxiety, promotes self-doubt, and can erode confidence (Weinberg & Gould, 2019). Negative self-talk can also deteriorates team cohesion if you are playing a team sport. There are some circumstances in which negative self-talk can help by serving as a wake-up call, adding pressure, or creating tension. However if negative self-talk is used during competition, it should be intentional and productive (Lovato, 2022). Otherwise, negative self-talk is generally something you want to avoid and learn to maintain control over when you are competing.

A few examples of negative self-talk include: “How could you miss that ball?!”, “You don’t belong on this team” or “You’re such a __(fill in the blank)_____!”

Negative Self-Talk Interventions

There are numerous interventions and strategies to improve self-talk habits within athletes. Mikes (1987) outlined the following six guidelines to apply self-talk techniques in sport: (i) keep phrases short and specific, (ii) speak to yourself in the first person and present tense, (iii) construct positive phrases, not negative ones, (iv) state the phrases with intention and attention, (v) be kind to yourself when you speak, and lastly (vi) repeat your phrases often before, during and after competition (Weinberg & Gould, 2019).

As a mental performance coach, teaching negative self-talk interventions and helping athletes manage their internal dialogue is one of the most foundational mental skills that make up sport psychology.

Never forget that how you speak to yourself matters. Personally I love Brené Brown’s mantra, “Talk to yourself like you would to someone you love.” My guess is that most of you would never speak to your teammates or friends, the way you speak to yourself both on or off the court or field. I challenge you to commit to changing the content and tone of your inner voice and learn to speak to yourself with respect and encouragement. Positive self-talk is more than just a mantra, it’s an intentional way of being.

Download a FREE WORKSHEET to improve your internal self-talk by creating a negative thought replacement plan.

Schedule a free 15-minute consultation with Dr. Brooke Rundle to discuss how mindset coaching and mental performance consulting can help you stop negative self-talk in competition.

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