How To Create A Mentally Tough Environment…

As a coach, you must constantly be leading your Athletes to the “Promised Land”. Usually, the final destination is a championship of some sort.

For some of you, it might be simply getting through the season with enough players!

So, you want to create a mentally tough environment? This email contains 7 ways to fine-tune your team’s environment to foster mental toughness.

AS A COACH, I MUST......

Promote Mastery

As mastery improves, esteem and a sense of achievement are realized. Greatness is rooted in simplicity. Great Coaches are always stressing the importance of fundamentals. It is impossible to reach levels of mastery if fundamentals are ignored…

Create A Non-Hostile Environment

Entering into an environment that is physically, emotionally, and mentally healthy frees an Athlete to perform at higher levels. In times of chaos, or in times of peace, people always run toward love & safety. Whether this safety is psychological or physical, Athletes will respond favorably in non-hostile environments…

Make My Players Feel Respected

When an Athlete is treated with respect, they will answer the call...and then some. The return on investment for respect is immeasurable. You must NEVER tolerate disrespect in your culture…

Make My Players Feel Cared For

Listening to and caring for the needs of the individual will in turn allow that individual to align and contribute to the benefit of the team. The cheesy adage: “People don’t know how much you know unless they know how much you care” is worth more than it’s weight in gold…

Encourage Input From My Players

Encouraging input requires ‘giving’, and giving is usually intentional. Add this up, and you have an athlete who is invested because his efforts have contributed to team success. The days of old-school-dictatorship-coaching is perishing by the wayside…

Challenge My Players

No man or woman ever rises to low expectations. Challenge promotes growth, improvement, and new levels of success. If something is too easy, Athletes become bored or apathetic. If something is too hard, Athletes become angry and frustrated. Your job as a Coach is to find the happy medium…

Be Competent and Confident In My Craft

Confidence in oneself strengthens confidence in others. Know your craft. Put the work in. Athletes today have access to so much knowledge and information, and they will be able to tell if you are prepared. While you don’t have to be a savant, you need to have a firm grip of your profession. Be proactive in your personal & professional development. You can only give what you have, and if what you have is from 15 years ago, you are in trouble…

In summary, if you want to create a mentally tough environment for your players, you need to think about incorporating the following:

• Promoting Mastery

• Creating a Non-Hostile Environment

• Making Your Players Feel Respected

• Making Your Players Feel Cared For

• Encouraging Input From Your Players

• Challenging Your Players

• Being Confident In Your Craft

Hopefully, these areas give you ways to incorporate areas for improvement within your team’s environment. For more on what Mental Toughness looks like from a scientific standpoint, see the links below.

To your continued success!

-Josiah Igono, PhD

Sources

Boardley, I. D., Jackson, B., & Simmons, A. (2015). Changes in task self-efficacy and emotion across competitive performances in golf. Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology, 37(4), 393-409.

Feltz, D.L. (1988). Self-confidence and sports performance. In K.B. Pandolf (Ed.), Exercise and sport sciences reviews (pp. 423–457). New York: Macmillian.

Mahoney, J.W., Gucciardi, D.F., Ntoumanis, N., Mallet, C.J. (2014). Mental toughness in sport: Motivational antecedents and associations with performance and psychological health. Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology, 36, 281-292.