Chances are that you have clicked on this post because the idea of strengthening your mental core appeals to you. Perhaps you feel something is amiss. You don’t feel quite right. Perhaps you sense that you are not getting the most out of your talents and abilities.
Perhaps you are around others who seem to be performing at the level that you wish for yourself.
Perhaps you aren’t winning enough games or are finding yourself dissatisfied with your performance in some way. Perhaps your coach or your team is on you about your game. He/She thinks you aren’t playing up to your potential. You might have hit a plateau. You feel that you aren't getting any better even though you have been putting a great deal of time and effort into your sport. Maybe it looks like it comes more easily to others around you. Perhaps you aren’t as excited or interested in the hard work that it takes to keep your performance at the level that you need to excel. Maybe you just don’t enjoy your sport like you used to.
Regardless of your current state of mind, you are looking for something to just kick start your game. This serial publication just might be the thing you need.
Simply stated, this is the type of thing that I wish I had had available to me as a developing athlete. At the same time, I am fortunate that my opponents at the time did not have access to all of what we currently know about sports and performance psychology, mental conditioning, and the behavioral sciences.
Every word, every idea included in this publication is intended to improve and enhance your understanding of your mental core, as well as your approach toward and effectiveness with conditioning your mental core.
The athlete of today is stronger, faster, quicker, and more physically conditioned than at any time in the history of sports. What we know about physical training, conditioning, and nutrition continues to be applied at all levels of athletic competition at greater and greater frequencies. Therefore, more athletes are achieving physical peak performance than ever before.
In order to achieve a competitive edge in the future; however, the athlete of tomorrow will have to gain a mental edge as well to achieve success over equally physically developed and gifted opponents.
Because this is the case, sports/performance psychology and mental conditioning are two of the fastest growing disciplines in the world. The ever-growing financial, mental and emotional pressures placed on athletes are demanding a more prominent role for sports and performance psychologists. Constant stress and expectations are placed on sports stars, coaches and organizations – leading to the current increased interest in sports and performance psychology, as well as mental conditioning.
This serialized Substack publication is an advanced introduction to sports and performance psychology, including mental imagery, visualization, and mental conditioning. Our publication schedule is to put out a chapter per week. Welcome, I hope I have piqued your interest.