TRAINING WEEK 2 - APRIL 1ST/3RD

Training the Brain to Win

Aim- Training Athlete Z to believe he has what it takes to win and feel like a winner

This week is all about ‘Training the Brain to Win’ a famous quote from coaching Phil Jackson, “Wisdom is always an overmatch for strength.” This week its simple and easy for Athlete Z, it is all with what and how he thinks of himself, with the help that is stated below Athlete Z must work towards techniques identified below to train his brain to win and nothing less.

Sports psychology is the scientific study of mind, emotion, and behaviour as it relates to athletic performance and physical activity. The mental demands of rigorous competition can be enormous, making sports psychology a crucial part of any athlete’s training regimen.

Athletes who diligently train their minds play their best more consistently, experience greater enjoyment, and increase their odds of victory. As one progresses to the higher echelons of any sport, physical skills tend to balance out among competitors. How, then, does the athlete distinguish him- or herself from the pack? It is here where we discover that having a superior mind-set is the key to gaining the upper-hand.

*There is no training programme for this or a long process, it is quick and simple. Athlete Z must make sure that he trains his mind to believe he is the best.

How can this be done?

Important mental skills for athlete z’s excellence include:

• Supreme, unwavering confidence in your abilities
• The ability to keep a laser-like focus when surrounded by distractions
• The capacity to sustain a high level of motivation throughout a long season
• The strength of will to conquer all anxiety, frustration, and discouragement
• The power to bring your intensity to the next level when needed

Effective mental training tools include:

• Clear and challenging short- and long-term goals
• Visualization of making great plays and succeeding on the field
• Positive, energetic language used to motivate yourself into a winning frame of mind
• A consistent breath during all moments of action
• Confident, upbeat body language to get the feeling of success in your body and mind

As athlete z is looking to improve his game it can benefit from sports psychology at any time. Junior athletes can get a significant head start on their peers by developing their mental strength early on, rather than waiting until college or beyond. Seasoned pros can ensure they stay on top of their game, never letting themselves get complacent, by training their minds appropriately.

Sports psychology services can be applied in all scenarios. Specific examples include:

• When the athlete z wants to reach his full potential. By fine-tuning his game mentally and emotionally, he can eventually exceed even his greatest expectations.
• When the athlete experiences any kind of setback, such as a mental block, performance plateau, prolonged slump, demotion, or injury.
• When off-field issues or concerns begin to interfere with the athlete ‘s z performance.

Athlete Z’s mentality will either hold him down or bring him up. He must strive to master his mind rather than being mastered by it. If he doesn’t, he will risk losing every game before it even starts. He must think about how he can improve his performance in the following areas:

• How you prepare mentally in practice and during training
• How you maintain a winning mind-set on the day of competition
• How you manage your thoughts in the moment of action
• How you deal with distractions
• How you use the results of competition to build your character from event to event
• How you communicate with others as a leader and a teammate
• How you decompress after training and competition to stay fresh and avoid burnout

To excel in each of these areas, he’ll need a game plan. For example, when dealing with results, he should take the time to learn from every poor performance rather than brooding or trying to forget it. After a peak performance, write down specifically what you were thinking, feeling, and doing immediately before, during, and after the event. The next time you need a boost in confidence or motivation, refer back to the list.

Athlete Z has his say
This week I have been working on training my brain, so it can help me to overcome tough obstacles and become a winner. This week I am out of action so I have taken this free time to work on this by continuously saying to myself I am the best and thinking of me becoming successful by scoring great goals and providing goals too. I am thinking positively which is helping me already as I feel confident and feel better about myself which is important. I am working even harder at the gym pushing more weights to build my strength and overcome my little injury, I really cannot wait to get in to action now. There is a great sense of ‘buzz’ and feeling I feel as though I really can finish the season strongly when I get back to playing ways.

Conclusion

Sports psychology is the key that can transform a weak performance into a brilliant one, and a good athlete into one of the best to have ever played the game. This can only be done by training the mind to believe that they can achieve the best by continuously talking and thinking positively, its quick and simple and has his great effects and you can see already by reading what Athlete Z had to say that he is feeling better about himself and is highly confident and cannot wait to be playing again. It really is a treat for one to become the best.