I get it, you want to perform at a higher level more consistently, and you’re constantly frustrated or anxious about the gap between where you are and where you think you should be. Well we’ve all been there.

After 20+ years of studying the neuroscience of the mind and it’s influence on athletic performance, my primary focus as a collegiate volleyball coach gradually shifted from a self-described content coach to a performance coach that coached volleyball. We still trained at a high level to execute efficiently, but using The unTrained Mind workbook to weave together mental skills with physical skills, was a flat out game changer to improve performance.

Once an athlete is technically proficient at their craft, the mind plays a vital role in athletic success and an athlete must begin training mentally. According to neuroscience, the mind operates off of subconscious programming, which is an automatic blueprint of hard wired beliefs, mindsets, habits, behaviors, and attitudes. This is good because subconscious programs are running our lives and frees us up to learn new things, and it’s bad because some beliefs, mindsets, habits, behaviors, and attitudes are holding us back.

I was facinated to learn, that an athletes self-talk will impact their performance significantly more than anything a coach or parent can say to them. An athlete must learn how to talk to themselves and not listen to themselves. You either train the mind to elevate performance, or the mind automatically defaults to what has already happened from a past practice or performance, which makes future performances predictable.

The five primary mental skills taught in The unTrained Mind are:

1. Imagination: Dreams and Goal setting

2. Self-talk

3. Visualization

4. Energy

5. The Space Between: (after action)

Numerous aspects of mental training affects performance, but one of my biggest transformations was learning that the mind is MORE heavily influenced by negative self-talk and mistakes, than by positivity and success.

It’s easy for an athlete to understand that they must commit to the physical development of their craft, sacrifice, work hard, and do the little extra lonely work to gain a competitive edge. But it’s not as easy to understand that the secret to extraordinary performances is not increasing technical reps, the secret is:

Possessing an extraordinary mindset, while understanding that the HEART-MIND-BODY must be in-sync, in-rhythm, and in the present moment to perform consistently day after day after day.

In the words of the late great Kobe Bryant, “the Mamba Mentality was not about seeking results, it was about how I went about the process of getting to the results; it’s an ongoing everyday quest of intentionally leveling up beliefs, mindsets, habits, behaviors, and attitudes to be the absolute best version of yourself.” Showing up to practice is the minimum, getting to the next level requires operating from a Blueprint, an organized Performance Plan. It starts by learning how to be present moment, and intentionally synchronizing the heart-mind-body on what’s happening NOW without distraction. This type of focus doesn’t happen automatically, and requires a Performance Plan to level up how you think, act, and behave.

1. Can you learn this extraordinary mentality?

2. Can you learn the beliefs, mindsets, habits, behaviors, and attitudes of extraordinary performers? 

3. Can you learn the level of focus required to gain a competitive edge? 

ABSOLUTELY YES!

When discussing mental skills, you often hear comments like, “sports is 80% mental,” yet how much intentional time do athletes spend on training the inner game? So how important are mental skills as compared to the technical, tactical, or physical skills? Is it:

1. “Less” important?

2. “As” important?

3. “More” important?

It is definitely not more important because you must possess the skills of your craft in order to play the game, but it is “AS” important if you want to take your performance to the next level.