About Author: Alex Bolowich is the owner of Elite Mental Performance and a sport psychology coach that works with high performing athletes get out of their head and into the game. As a former NCAA Division 1 soccer goalkeeper, Alex understands the significance of having a present-focused and motivated mind has on an individual. Alex seeks to empower the highly ambitious athletes to have full control of their experience, instead of letting their experience control them.

The New Method of Athletic Training: Mental Performance on the Rise!

Question! How much of your sport is mental vs. physical? Give it a percentage. No matter what the number, I'm going to guess you agree there is some significance to the mental part of the game.

But we always talk about athletes being these physical powerhouses, right? The slam dunks, the walk-off home runs, and the top bin goals in soccer. What the world sees is the physical execution of a unique skill demonstrated at its best. But where did the physical production start? You guessed it, in between the ears.

As Dr. Michael Gervais from Finding Mastery states, "You can train one of three things, your body, your craft, and your mind. The serious competitors don't leave any of those up to chance." So, who are these serious competitors?

Olympians Are Leading the Way

Think about the Olympians we admire – the ones who always seem to have that extra edge. Take Simone Biles, for instance. She's not only one of the greatest gymnasts but also someone who’s openly talked about using mental techniques to manage the insane pressure she faces.

And Michael Phelps? The guy with the most Olympic medals ever? He didn’t just rely on swimming laps; he used visualization and relaxation techniques to stay on top of his game. He did a visualization practice of 85/15, where 85% percent of the time he rehearsed successful swims, and 15% of the time, he rehearsed anything that could go wrong and how he would adjust, for example, his goggles filling up with water. Guess what happened during the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games? You guessed it, his goggles filled with water and he continued to swim for 175m blind! Don't believe me? Check out his testimony yourself!

These athletes are showing that the mind can be trained to enhance focus, boost confidence, and keep emotions in check, just like you’d train your muscles.

MLB Teams Are on Board

It’s not just the individual athletes, though. Entire MLB teams are hiring mental performance coaches. If you haven't heard already, basketball is a game of failure, and being able to stay focused one pitch at a time, whether you're on the mound or at bat, can be a deciding factor on whether you are making a contract or not. Talk about pressure!

"If you want to control your performance, you first need to learn how to control yourself" - Ken Ravizza

Sport Psychology on Full Swing

For any golfers hesitant on moving towards mental performance training, look no further than Netflix's series Full Swing. In season two we get a really close look at how Joel Dahmen saw tremendous benefit from his mental performance coach, Geno Bonnali, even after Joel stated "I am very resistant to seeing a sport psychologist. This came after professional golfer Wyndham Clark hired Julie Elion as his sport psychologist. Get more detail in the featured article of Golf Weekly.

Breaking Down Mental Performance Training

So, what exactly is mental performance training? It’s pretty cool – it includes mental skills like:

• Focus and Concentration: Athletes use techniques like mindfulness and focus cues to help anchor back into the present moment, where all things high performance take place.

• Confidence Building: Is there a magic pill for this one? Nope! In fact, confidence building is actually a very uncomfortable process, but it can be done through self-talk and doing very difficult and tasks.

• Emotional Regulation: Strategies for managing stress, anxiety, and frustration, like cognitive reframing (which is just a fancy way of changing negative thoughts) and breathwork to help downregulate into a more controlled state.

• Visualization and Imagery: Athletes mentally rehearse their performances, which helps with both technique and confidence. Now the key to this is not just practicing what you see, but recruiting the senses of sound, touch, and even taste and smell make this practice much more impactful.

• Goal Setting: This is a messy process which is why most athlete's don't utilize it, but when done right it can be so simple and so significant to your performance. We use a hybrid of SMART goals, mixed with process, performance, and outcome goals.

The Science Behind It

There’s solid science backing this up. Studies have shown that mental training can actually improve performance. Visualization, for instance, has been proven to activate the same brain areas as physical practice. Mindfulness and meditation can enhance focus and reduce stress. The brain’s plasticity means it can adapt and improve with mental exercises just as it does with physical ones. Take a look at the study involving mindfulness interventions and it's effect on basketball free throw shooting.

Real-Life Transformations

Let me tell you about some real-life examples. Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan, two legendary NBA players, were big on mindfulness and meditation, that they used from mindfulness expert George Mumford. I know what you're thinking... Michael and Kobe, the two most aggressive NBA players were mindful meditators? Indeed they were! Take a look at the video below for proof.

Another notable mental performance advocate is Carli Lloyd. The 2015 World Cup winner and hat-trick scorer attributed a lot of her success to mental performance, more specifically the skill of mental rehearsal (or visualization). Lloyd told the Philadelphia Inquirer "It sounds pretty funny, but over the years and definitely over the last four years, I’ve taken that visualization part to another level.” Get more to the story in Carli Lloyd on Visualization.

How to Start

If you’re thinking about trying this out, the first step is to find a good mental performance coach. But even on your own, you can start small – like with a few minutes of mindfulness meditation each day or visualizing successful performances before you practice or compete. The key is consistency. Just like physical training, you have to stick with it to see results. At Elite Mental Performance we work with the highly ambitious athletes. Most typically they are collegiate or professional athletes, but high ambition doesn't require a level of play, it requires a level of commitment. Any athlete that is all-in on themselves and their craft, you can schedule a consultation by clicking the link below and get started toda

Get Started Today: Schedule a Consultation

The Future of Athletic Training

Some may see it as a "trend," but let's look at strength and conditioning training. Did that "trend" ever go away? No. It is now a pre-requisite to performance excellence. What do you think mental performance training will be like in 10 years time? The same. We can either wait until everyone is doing this, or we can get ahead!

It is an exciting time in the world of sports and how it is evolving! It's not just about physical strength anymore. Everyone has access to speed and agility training now. The margin of success is getting smaller. Mental performance training is proving to be the secret sauce for success, and it’s opening up new possibilities for athletes.