The following post is an excerpt from Emotional Aptitude In Sports NOW available through most on-line retailers! Click Here to Order
Popular Performance Anxieties
To illustrate how unique personalities operate differently, I’d like to reintroduce you to the twins: Evan and Jarrod. Let’s again call upon the brothers to offer their take on the following top ten performance anxieties. (Following is Solution Number 2)
2. Mental Toughness
Evan: I’m probably more successful than my peers, but not because I’m a better athlete, but because I prepare my psychological responses to game time stress. I think it’s because we make the time to discuss all the emotional scenarios and have pre-set the appropriate protocols.
Jarrod: I don’t care about mental toughness in practice. I’ll save my focus and concentration for the real match. You mean players actually train their concentration and intensity levels? Wimps…
Frank’s Tip: Athletes and coaches often categorize emotional toughness as mental toughness. In my opinion, there is a difference between mental (X’s & O’s of strategy) and emotional (performance anxieties.) It’s important to correctly categorize the cause of the performance inabilities. For instance, is the athlete unaware of the proper strategy to be implemented or is the athlete so nervous and fearful their strategy is un-accessible under stress. Identifying the cause will help define the solution.
