The Hat Trick Of Mental Toughness

Great athletes are usually known by the public during the time they play. Their greatness lasts as long as they are playing, once they retire another player steps in and takes over the title of “great player”. The synonyms that accompany a “legend”: myth, epic, fable, folklore and if a person is a legend their stories often become on par with myths and folklores. Only a few great athletes become legendary.  The intangibles are what boost the talented players to legends. When the game is on the line, make your coach rely on you, here are four ways to develop your ability to strengthen your mental toughness and attain legendary status.

Noise distractions:

You’re about to shoot, easy shot, you got this! All the sudden someone yells something that catches your attention. Instead of hitting the corner you miss by a couple inches, enough to not score. Our minds run, they are built to protect us, a great ability for survival is being able to catch important signals from the outside… but not while  you’re in the process of scoring the game winning goal. If your shooting pucks outside, in your garage, in the basement, once you’ve developed the technique needed, have someone call out corners and another person trying to make you laugh, anger you, upset you, whatever. Work on blocking out the noise.

Movement distractions

You’re about to shoot and all the sudden you’re being hooked!  You just lose the puck all together. Really? you lost focus that easy? Develop the technique and follow up with being hooked, slashed, lost edge and/or bodied up. Take the game situations into your own hands. create a mental road map of what to do if your name is called and its up to you to win it. They hook you, they slash you, it doesn’t matter. You will still make the play.

Thought distractions:

You got on the bench, coach yells at you for not making a play, now the rest of the game you can’t focus. Find your mental toughness, scratch the one bad shift or one bad play, reset and get back to dominating.

Taking it to a legendary status there is a whole other level to achieve. Live every part of your life with mental toughness and it becomes an ability within you instead of an add on. Unconscious competence, means the habit has been formed. No longer a need to think about it, your mind just does it, AKA a habit. When distractions can no longer affect you, you become automatic.

Kirill Vaks
BA,CSCS,ACSM-cpt

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