The following post is an excerpt from Frank’s newest book, The Soft Science of Tennis.
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Reprogramming a Negative Athletes Brain
It’s within the parent’s and coach’s job description to help change the way negative personalities see themselves and the world around them. Often, like my younger self; athletes harbor past oppressive patterns of belief. These false beliefs are their perceptions of the truth and they are often based on the distorted knowledge that is likely holding them back.
Negative believers typically have a fixed mindset versus a growth mindset. Fixed mindset individuals stubbornly believe that individuals can’t really grow, learn and improve. A common false fixed mindset belief is “Some are born with it… some just aren’t.”
Psychologists refer to the subconscious knowledge (negative thoughts) we form as young children as conditioned beliefs. These pessimistic beliefs are developed with the help of parents, friends, social media, teachers, coaches, and society. All of these influencers mold the athlete’s thoughts and actions. Without a conscious effort to question whether or not these beliefs are helpful, many children unknowingly take these conditioned beliefs into adulthood.
Believing the negative perceptions of others can destroy an athlete’s inner belief (dialog) and override intelligent self-coaching under stressful match conditions. Negative past beliefs become the athlete’s self-fulfilling prophecy. Athletes young and old often believe what their authority figure tells them, such as:
- You’re not talented enough.
- You’re not smart enough.
- You lost in your first three events. Try another sport.
- You’re too short; you’re too slow.
- You’re too young; you’re too old.
It is essential that parents, coaches, and mentors learn to teach optimism, regardless of their personal conditioned beliefs to maximize the potential in their children and athletes. Though not every athlete is capable of or may not even desire to become a high-performance player, it is essential that every athlete is given the opportunity a growth mindset affords. When nurtured correctly, one day these children will be able to influence others positively.
