Mentality in sports - prepare yourself mentally for peak performance

Mental training in sport - how it works

Both professional and amateur athletes know the feeling: if you feel mentally drained and unmotivated, you usually fail to achieve your best performance - no matter how physically fit you are. But even though mental strength is crucial for success, it is all too often neglected. Yet for years, methods and strategies have been developed to train mental strength, as it is not only innate, but can also be learned like all other skills[3].

The power of habit

Mental strength in sport begins with consistently following through with positive routines. For example, if we make regular training a habit and get into the habit of only skipping sessions if we are ill or injured, it will eventually become easier and easier to put on our running shoes or roll out the sports mat[4]

But the habit is only the first step. According to the modern definition, mental training encompasses all thoughts and feelings in competitive sport and includes training motivation, concentration, mental strength and mental preparation for competitions[5].

Internalizing movement sequences

A traditional area of mental training is concerned with influencing our movements through mental processes. We mentally imagine the optimal desired movement over and over again without actually performing it. In this way, we internalize the sequence and can then perform it more efficiently and with greater concentration in reality[6].

Positive thinking

Believing in yourself and your own success and constantly encouraging yourself are important steps on the road to success. Part of this is visualizing the experience of success[7]. If you imagine yourself overtaking the first runner at the last second before the race, this can motivate you and push you to new best performances.

Many mental coaches also recommend reciting positive mantras internally or out loud, such as: "I can do this", "I am focused", "I will win". It is important to know your own abilities and goals. This is the only way to realistically assess what is actually possible and achievable[8].

Tension and relaxation

Sports psychologist Jeannine Ohlert explains that the relationship between tension and relaxation is also an important factor for success. When we find ourselves in a stressful situation, such as a competition, we release adrenaline. And although we need the stress hormone during sport, too much of it can also be harmful.

If we are too tense, this can lead to a lack of concentration and mistakes. According to Ohlert, it is therefore important to relax in a stressful situation and control the release of adrenaline. This makes it easier to perform movements with concentration and awareness and avoid mistakes. This skill can be learned through breathing exercises, meditation and autogenic training[9].

Dealing with setbacks

Mental training in sport also teaches you to cope better with setbacks and learn from them. The ability to self-reflect is important for this. If you are aware of what went wrong at the last competition or in the last training session, you can learn from it. What mistake did you make and how can you avoid it in the next race? Or what unexpected difficulties can arise and how can you best deal with them?[10]

Using fear productively

Almost all athletes have to deal with fear sooner or later. It can warn of injury or be triggered by stressful situations such as competitions. Anxiety often leads to uncertainty, mistakes and interruptions in movement sequences. However, Thomas Schack, Professor of Sports Psychology at Bielefeld University, explains that this fear can also be turned into something positive. Through mental training, it can have an energizing and focusing effect and lead to better results.[11]

How sports professionals use their mental strength

All of these strategies can now lead to people achieving the (almost) impossible. After all, many people doubt that it is possible to run a mile in under 4 minutes: Until Roger Bannister became the first person to do it in 1954. Since it became known that the impossible is possible after all, over 1000 other athletes have achieved this feat[12].

Many top athletes have developed their own personal methods of dealing with stress and boosting their minds. Former Austrian biathlete Julian Eberhard visualized crucial situations of a competition, such as the finish sprint or the last shooting, during training and asked himself inwardly whether he was ready to handle the situation.[13]

Alisa Buchinger, former karate world champion, motivates herself before an important competition with memories of a successful experience from a previous competition and listens to motivating songs such as 'And we danced' by Macklemore.[14]

Long-distance cyclist Christoph Strasser is another remarkable example of mental strength. In 2011, he became the youngest ever participant to win the Race Across America (RAAM). He had help from his mental trainer Tom Jaklitsch, who hypnotized him into the 90-minute sleep phases and always woke him up after a deep sleep phase.

For Strasser, mental training is an important step towards success. In his opinion, you have to formulate goals in sport and also know why you want to achieve these goals and what they will bring you. Before the race, the extreme athlete prepares himself mentally for extreme situations such as scorching heat so that they don't take him by surprise and rob him of motivation. During the race, they visualize their future success. He vividly imagines arriving at the finish line first and winning[15].

Swiss biathlete Daniela Ryf also demonstrates an iron will. In 2018, the top athlete in Hawaii did not even let contact with a jellyfish stop her from winning the Ironman.[16]

Mental training for amateur athletes

But mental strength doesn't just pay off in the extreme situations of top athletes. Ordinary mortals can also use it to strengthen their willpower and improve their results in the long term.

The first step is to realize that it's not just physical strength that counts, but mental strength too. Mental trainer Patrick Thiele recommends consciously integrating mental training into your training plan, making it part of your routine and a priority in your everyday life.

You don't have to meditate for hours on end every day. It is enough to take 10-15 minutes every day to train your mind. Look for specific help on blogs, social media, podcasts or YouTube. Here you will find various instructions to help you formulate your goals, improve your concentration, calm and focus yourself and use your anxiety in a positive way. Having your own mental coach can also help you to improve your mentality in sport[17].

Continuous training will definitely pay off. With more mental strength, you will be able to venture out of your comfort zone, maintain an iron will in extreme situations and permanently improve your performance.