Demystifying Mental Toughness

It is common for footballers or soccer players to have different values and ideas about the game than their coaches. On occasions, this can result in relationship challenges, where some players feel like they have been treated unfairly. On the pitch their application and effort in training and in matches, can slowly dwindle, often without them realising. Before they know it, they are only giving 70% of their full capacity. Away from football this can take a toll and negatively impact their day to day lives, mood and relationships with loved ones and friends too. What's the answer? Many of these footballers or soccer players can get caught out focusing on external factors outside of their control. This episode, is set up to help you if this situation sounds familiar, where I share a few ideas on how to place your attention on helpful things so that you give yourself the best chance of turning things around. Connect with David Charlton Sign up to The X-FACTOR regular emails helping football and soccer players to get the most from their talent Join David @ The Sports Psychology Hub Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn Check out our library of content supporting football and soccer players and coaches

In today's short bite sized episode, I chat with Dr Jim Afremow, the co-author of The Leaders Mind. Jim shares with you his thoughts about the field of sport psychology to improve your understanding on what we can offer as practitioners. He also touches on the crossover-between supporting people with performance issues as well as mental health concerns, working with youngsters and the fact mental skills, as is the case with mental toughness can be learned with good support and guidance. Key Takeaways include: Without taking care of your mental health, you'll find it difficult to perform at your best consistently. Too many people leave their mindset to chance, sports psychology bridges this gap with proactive support. Many people believe that you're either born with confidence or you're not which is incorrect. Mental skills training can help you improve your confidence levels. be developed and improved upon. Connect with Dr Jim Afremow: LinkedIn Website Connect with Phil White: Instagram Website Book The Leaders Mind Connect with David Charlton Sign Up to The Mental Edge Join David @ The Sports Psychology Hub Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn Podcast episodes to improve your approach to playing sport or coaching Ep 061: Paul Lyons – Why You Should Build Your Mental Toughness Ep 084: Dr Jim Afremow and Phil White – Mental Toughness and The Leaders Mind Ep 121: Doug Strycharczyk and Dr John Perry What Is New? Developments in Mental Toughness Research and Practice Ep140: Chris Cook – How to Improve Your Mental Strength: Secrets from an Olympian EP147: Aaron Walsh – The Application of Mental Performance Coaching in Elite Professional Rugby Relevant blogs to help you improve your approach Blog – 9 Tips for Children from Olympians Blog – 3 Tips for Playing with Confidence under Pressure Blog: 3 Tips to Help You Overcome Setbacks Blog: Coach Development – Helping Athletes Overcome Fear of Failure Sport Specific Resources from our Sports Psychology library to help you Soccer or Football Psychology Resources Hockey Psychology Resources Rugby Psychology Resources

Many footballers are driven to improve. They strive day in, day out, to get better. They sleep, eat and breathe football. Football is on their brain 24 hours per day. However, noticeably many footballers spend a lot of time thinking about the technical and tactical side of the game. They'll spend countless hours refining their touch. Improving the passing, shooting or positioning. The gym might also be a place they enjoy going to, pushing and strengthening their body. Yet, their mental game often gets left to chance. My advice in today's episode is to be curious about your mental game and mindset. By doing so, it can often, surprisingly, make a huge difference and elevate your performances and enjoyment to a new level. Connect with David Charlton Sign up to The X-FACTOR regular emails helping football and soccer players to get the most from their talent Join David @ The Sports Psychology Hub Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn Check out our library of content supporting football and soccer players and coaches

Most people at some point experience demotivation, where they lack interest and enthusiasm about something that they have once really enjoyed. This episode #189 is for you if you have reached that point, or if you are experiencing a loss of form or a performance plateau. Today, I share an approach which is connected to goal-setting and performance profiling and often yields positive outcomes, where athletes frequently feel a lot better about their situation and experience being re-energised as a result. Enjoy! Key Learning Points On performing at your best some great questions to ask yourself include: What do I think about? What emotions do I experience? What will other people notice in my actions and behaviours? Aim to note down 25 qualities that are associated with your best performances, then whittle the list down to the 5 most impactful, that can help you turn around your form or the situation that you find yourself in. Goal setting can be an overwhelming process for some people. Use a SMART approach when creating action plans for the 5 most impactful areas. Connect with David Charlton Sign Up to The Mental Edge Join David @ The Sports Psychology Hub Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn Podcast episodes to improve your approach to playing sport or coaching Ep021: Steve Hackney – How to Reach Your Full Potential Ep 084: Dr Jim Afremow and Phil White – Mental Toughness and The Leaders Mind Ep086: David Charlton: Observations – How to Learn From Setbacks Ep121: Doug Strycharczyk and Dr John Perry What Is New? Developments in Mental Toughness Research and Practice Ep166: Mark Bennett MBE – How To Help Athletes and Coaches Reflect On Their Performances Relevant blogs to help you improve your approach Blog: Steps To Form A Habit That Actually Sticks Blog: 6 Reasons Why Goal Setting Doesn't Work Blog: How to Find Your Why Blog: 3 Tips to Help You Overcome Setbacks Blog: Coach Development – Helping Athletes Overcome Fear of Failure Helpful resources to aid your development Driscolls Model of Reflection Gibbs Reflective Cycle Performance Profile for Long Term Goals Performance Profiling: When You're Looking For A Quick Boost Motivation for Sport Quiz

In today's bite sized episode, I was joined by the author of the Modern Soccer coach series Gary Curneen, where he opened up on an expensive mistake he made on his coaching journey. He also talks a lot about humility and the importance of integrating the psychological side of the game better. This episode is for coaches, especially those who are confident in their ability as you'll note when I share my thoughts at the end and ask you to reflect on your approach. Key Learning Points: At present for soccer or football coaches there's more pressure, many distractions and a lot of information to decipher through. The psychological and emotional elements to football can be overlooked however are vital components and crossover to technical, tactical, physical and lifestyle. Showing humility as a coach is a skill that everyone can benefit from. Appreciating that individual players preferences and personal situations can influence their numbers and therefore their mindset moving forwards. Connect with Gary Curneen Modern Soccer Coach Website Modern Soccer Coach Podcast Connect with David Charlton Sign Up to The Mental Edge Join David @ The Sports Psychology Hub Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn Relevant Soccer Related Podcast Episodes Ep064: Edu Rubio – How to Support Young Footballers Ep096: Gary Curneen – Developing Mentally Strong Footballers Ep093: Dan Abrahams – How to Overcome Mental Blocks in Football Ep146: John Nassoori – What Is The Role Of A Sports Psychologist In Football? Ep151: Compilation - Football Psychology: 50 Ways You Can Improve Your Performance Other Valuable Soccer or Football Resources Goalkeeping Psychology | Mental Skills for Goalkeepers Soccer Psychology | Mental Skills for Football Youth Sports Psychology | Mental Skills Training for Kids and Parents Frequently Asked Questions about Football or Soccer Psychology Frequently Asked Questions about Goalkeeping Psychology

Are you one of those people who sets goals for yourself, but you get frustrated at not achieving them? Or perhaps you're a coach or teacher who notices some of your athletes often display a negative, "can't do" attitude towards things that you ask them to do. In this short solo episode, I discuss the way that we view our ability goes on to underpin two different achievement goal states; task and ego involvement. Task and ego involvement, play a large part in how we view success and whether we get caught in the trap of comparing ourselves to others as I discuss. This episode I'm hoping will shed some light on answering the questions above so that you can set better goals for yourself. As well as helping coaches, teachers and parents create more of a task/mastery involved climate. Key Learning Points Our perceptions of competence can define how we view success. Many strikers in football judge past performances and their capacity to score or perform relative to others. Subconscious habits in relation to our goal orientations as well as the wider motivational climate play a big part in how we set goals. Task orientation is associated with a wide range of benefits; including positive thoughts, moods and emotions as well as "can do" behaviours. Ego orientation is associated with neutral or negative thinking and emotions and lower mood especially when task goals are overlooked. Connect with David Charlton Sign Up to The Mental Edge Join David @ The Sports Psychology Hub Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn Relevant Podcast Episodes to Help Your Commitment Levels Ep015: Nick Grantham – Essential Elements of Rest and Recovery Ep042: Mark Bennett MBE – Characteristics of High Performance Athletes Ep138: Nick Littlehales – Why do the Mentally Tough see Sleep and Recovery as Important Ep 154: David Charlton - How Do I Go About Controlling The Controllables To Help My Sport Performance? Ep186: David Charlton - Intrinsic or Extrinsic Goals: Do You Set Goals That Harm Your Performances? Other Relevant Blogs and Resources to Boost Your Commitment Blog: Focusing on the Process as a Team Blog: Why You Should Stop Setting SMART Goals Blog: Steps To Form A Habit That Actually Sticks Blog: How to Set Goals for Netball Success? Blog: 6 Reasons Why Goal Setting Doesn't Work

Commitment, a measure of mental toughness is largely about making promises to yourself and then going on to follow through with those promises, without being sidetracked or derailed. As a Sports Psychologist I note that a lot of people are highly driven and could be argued to be goal setters. Regularly setting goals and striving to attain them. Yet, they aren't shown what are helpful goals and they don't question whether the goals that they set are going to be beneficial for their performance or well-being. In this solo episode I unpick this, where I ask you to consider your goals, are they intrinsic or extrinsic? Are they helping you get to where you want to get to? Do you feel good, as a result of your goals? This episode should appeal to coaches, parents, teachers and athletes themselves. Key Learning Points Check out the work of Edward Deci and Richard Ryan prominent US based psychologists and the founders of Self Determination Theory. Deci and Ryan's work on Self-determination Theory suggests that as humans we have three innate psychological needs that are the origin for self-motivation. These are autonomy, competence and relatedness​​. It can be argued that intrinsic goals are motivated by internal reasons or basic psychological needs, such as feelings of competence or relatedness. One example of an intrinsically motivated goal in a sporting context includes a goalkeeper who is having difficulties dealing with crosses. The goal then is to improve this aspect of the goalkeeper's game, where the goalkeeper tries to see the situation as a challenge that can be overcome or a learning point, if they want to perform better for the team. Extrinsic goals, go on to satisfy external reasons and usually depend on external approval from others, rewards or avoiding punishments. Examples of extrinsic motivation driven goals include: The young goalkeeper who is told by their dad if you play well today, you'll get a bottle of prime after the match or a cricketer who is told by his coach in a grumpy manner that he or she needs to improve their skillset, and learn to master a new shot for the new season. A person's self-motivation and commitment levels, as well as their results are affected differently by the two kinds of goals that they set. Connect with David Charlton Sign Up to The Mental Edge Join David @ The Sports Psychology Hub Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn Relevant Podcast Episodes to Help Your Commitment Levels Ep002: Steve Judge – How to Deal with Adversity Ep021: Steve Hackney – How To Reach Your Full Potential Ep042: Mark Bennett MBE – Characteristics of High Performance Athletes Ep138: Nick Littlehales – Why do the Mentally Tough see Sleep and Recovery as Important Ep141: David Charlton – How to Help a Child Who Wants to Quit Sport Other Relevant Blogs and Resources to Boost Your Commitment Blog: Focusing on the Process as a Team Blog: Focus on the Process Blog: Why You Should Stop Setting SMART Goals Blog: Cricket Psychology Tips: Control the Controllables 4 Steps To Form A Habit That Actually Sticks Our guide to checking if your goals are intrinsically driven. Self Determination Theory Website

Commitment, setting goals and delivering on your promises without being derailed, is an important ingredient of Mental Toughness. In this BITESIZED episode leading Performance Coach, Mark Bennett MBE and I go on to discuss the differences in commitment levels between leisure and performance athletes. Mark goes on to share suggestions for coaches so that they can get the best out of their athletes. Key Learning Points: Technical ability, physicality or skill doesn't define a leisure or performance athlete, it is their attitude and daily behaviours. Whether they are supervised or unsupervised, a performance athlete is somebody that will do what they need to do to be the best they can be. The performance athlete will ask themselves important questions daily such as; "What's my plan for the week ahead?" "How much sleep do I need?" "What am I going to eat tomorrow?" "What do I need to do?" High performance coaches, continually look at the everyday behaviours of their athletes and don't overly concern themselves of the athlete's technical ability. Coaches will seek to understand the athlete as a person, their personality, preferred environment and habits, to understand where their mindset currently is and what their commitment is to their goals and objectives. Connect with Mark Bennett MBE LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube and Facebook Performance Development Systems, PDS Coaching Website Connect with David Charlton Sign Up to The Mental Edge Join David @ The Sports Psychology Hub Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn To Listen to Related Podcast Episodes Ep042: Mark Bennett MBE – Characteristics of High Performance Athletes Ep140: Chris Cook - How to Improve Your Mental Strength: Secrets from an Olympian EP147: Aaron Walsh – The Application of Mental Performance Coaching in Elite Professional Rugby Ep161: Paul Phillips – How to Create a Culture of High Performance in Professional Rugby Union Ep166: Mark Bennett MBE – How To Help Athletes and Coaches Reflect On Their Performances Other Resources to Help You Blog: Developing your Mental Game in your Downtime Blog: Training Hard Vs Training Smart | I Must Work Harder Blog: Are you Motivated or Committed Blog: 4 Steps To Form A Habit That Actually Sticks Blog: Why You Should Stop Setting SMART Goals

Rest and recovery is hugely important for us all, especially highly motivated and driven people. In this bitesized episode, I chat with Nick Littlehales, a Sleep Coach to many elite sports performers. Nick and I discuss sleep trackers and the upside to using them. He also talks about orthosomnia, which describes individuals who become overly concerned or obsessed with tracking their sleep, resulting in heightened anxiety towards their sleeping patterns. Key Learning Points: Orthosomnia refers to a situation where people rely heavily on sleep tracking technology and aim to achieve perfect sleep. This can lead to stress and anxiety, similar to the athlete who tracks too complex or unhelpful data when they perform. Maintaining a balanced approach to sleep tracking is essential. Connect with Nick Littlehales Website LinkedIn Book - Sleep: The Myth of 8 Hours, the Power of Naps...and the New Plan to Recharge Your Body and Mind Connect with David Charlton Sign Up to The Mental Edge Join David @ The Sports Psychology Hub Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn To Listen to Football or Soccer Podcast Episodes Ep015: Nick Grantham – Essential Elements of Rest and Recovery Ep065: Dr Amy Izycky – Encouraging Mentally Healthy Cultures in Sport Ep092: Dr James Hegarty – ACT in Sport, Improving Performance through Mindfulness Ep113: Polly Brennan – The Relationship Between Mental Fitness, Mental Health and Mental Toughness Ep138: Nick Littlehales – Why do the Mentally Tough see Sleep and Recovery as Important Other Helpful Resources Blog: How Mentally Healthy is Your Clubs Sporting Environment Blog: Does Your Warm Up Influence How You Perform? Blog: Using ACT and Mindfulness to Improve Your Sporting Performances Blog: Why You Should Meditate To Improve Your Sport Performance? Download THE FOCUSED ATHLETE CHECKLIST

Supportive coaching is shown to be effective in having a positive influence on an athlete's development, particularly when athletes are unsure of themselves, are less confident and lack mental toughness. Feel free to check out today's solo episode where I discuss compassion, mental toughness and high performance to help with the development of sports coaches and to improve the experience for athletes. Key Learning Points High performing teams such as The Lionesses recognise showing compassion is hugely beneficial to individuals and the team as a whole. Fear cultures and giving out "tough love" are thing of the past in miliary circles. In elite sport top coaches are well educated and are aware of the need to balance support and challenge with their players. Compassion can help us feel safe and protected leaving us better able to learn and develop. Sarina Weigman's response to Lauren James' red card in a recent World Cup match versus Nigeria is a classic example of compassionate coaching. As a coach how do you naturally respond to difficulties or mistakes? Dr Kristin Neff has many helpful resources on compassion. Google Professor Sophia Jowett's work on the coach-athlete relationship and the relationship with performance and well-being. Connect with David Charlton Sign Up to The Mental Edge Join David @ The Sports Psychology Hub Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn Relevant Podcast Episodes to Help Sports Coaches Ep039: John Fletcher – How to Develop Fearless Athletes Ep123: Richard Dorney MBE – Supporting People: What Can You Learn About Resilience From The Military Ep180: David Charlton - How To Work With Team Units To Improve Culture In Teams Ep181:David Charlton - How to Improve Teamwork using a 4Cs Mental Toughness Approach Ep182: Doug Strycharczyk - An Introduction to Mental Toughness and Psychological Safety #BITESIZE Other Relevant Resources to Upskill Sports Coaches Blog – 5 Ways to Create a Psychological Safe Sporting Environment Blog – Mental Health Guidance For Coaches When Supporting Athletes Blog: How Coaches Can Help Athletes Deal with Mistakes Online Course for Sports Coaches developed by Professor Sophia Jowett - Empowering the athlete: The coach-athlete partnership Dr Kristin Neff's Work on Compassion Cath Bishop - Compassion can produce better performance – just look at the Lionesses