March 25, 2012

“I think I've always had the shots. But in the past, I've suffered too many mental lapses. Now, I'm starting to get away from that and my mental discipline and commitment to the game are much better.”
-Andre Agassi, tennis champion

 All athletes have an Achilles' heel. Agassi had his mental lapses but every player or team has a weakness.  What’s yours? Sports coaches make a point of knowing the weak spots of the opposing team. Generals do it in the Army. CEOs do in the world of business. It seems like everyone is trying to exploit the weakness of the other. We spend so much time looking at what's wrong with the opponent we don't work on our own shortcomings. Successful businesses seek to identify their competitive advantage, all the things that make them unique and valuable to the consumer.  You're probably very aware of your weaknesses but if you're like most athletes you spend a lot more time working on your strong suit.  There's definitely something to be said for bettering your best.  After all, it can be a lot of fun to lift weights when you can already bench 300 pounds but not as much fun to get on the treadmill when you know your cardio needs a lot of work. Being the best in your sport may elude you until you've mastered some of those weaker areas. If you play a sport like football or wrestling, your size, strength and speed probably count for a lot. But if you play pool or are an archer then those factors probably won't be your most important physical asset. Those sports rely on accuracy.

 A calm, composed mind is an athlete's greatest asset. I say this based on my 15 years of experience studying and/or working with athletes in virtually every sport. A deficit in either of those two areas leads to more problems on the playing field. Not all sports allow coaching during the competition. For example, in golf, a player is on her own. In mixed martial arts a coach can call out instructions to guide a fighter out of a trouble spot or into a more dominant position. In between rounds, a coach can reinforce what the player has done well and give feedback on the best possible course of action in light of recent events in the last round.  The plan may stay the same but certain adjustments may be necessary. The best fighter will be the most "coachable" fighter, the one who listens. Are you able to listen to the advice of your coach and make the appropriate changes?

 
The mental discipline and commitment to the game that Agassi talked about is not physical thing, it’s mental. While it's not possible to remove physical factors like size, strength and speed from a sporting contest it isn't possible to discount so-called intangibles like confidence, heart or “coachability”. We've all known strong athletes who didn't know their own strength and smart students who couldn't recognize how smart they were. How much more strength can you bring forth when you also have confidence? How much more stamina can you bring forth when you can visualize your victory? How much faster can you be when you're able to consciously relax and allow the muscles to work more cooperatively?  It's not a question of developing strong physical skills or developing strong mental skills. One set of skills supports the other. The M.E.N.T.A.L. Games ™ approach has a clear, dramatic impact on the improvement of all physical skills.

 Ajamu Ayinde, C.M. Ht., A.C.H., Certified Sports Hypnotist & Creator

M.E.N.T.A.L. Games ™ sports enhancement system
Sports success begins in the mind. ™
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