When we speak of great football players  we think of Joe Namath, Michael Irvin, Tony Dorsett and many, many others. They possessed psychological traits which enabled them to become some of the greatest athletes of all times.

One of the many traits that stand out among all these great football players is their football mind. They have a zone like focus and football confidence that you can see in their eyes. They play as if second place is not an option. They are so mentally tough the only thing that can satisfy them is to win and win big. Their zone like focus and football confidence is directly on what need to be done in the game at that exact moment. It doesn’t matter what others think, say, yell or do; their focus and confidence is so great and on point it sets them apart from the other players and the result is peak performance over and over again.

Along with the zone like focus and football confidence comes relaxation. When a player is focused and confident such as these great athletes, they are also relaxed. Relaxation is a natural reaction to peak performance. When a player is tense, lacks focus, lacks confidence and has a poor self image, that’s when mistakes will happen, performance is poor and games are lost. Mastering the art of relaxation will put you on the road to a strong football mind and peak performance.

Another psychological trait that is found across the board in great athletes is a positive self-image.  It’s an old cliché but still stands true – if you feel good about yourself, see yourself and the team as winners, you will come across as winners. Without a positive self-image it’s almost impossible to have football confidence, a strong football  mind and reach peak performance. To build a positive self image you must invest quality time in yourself. Like any other skill it takes time and practice to develop. It is important to start from within; changing the way you think about yourself, your circumstance and your team. The goal is to improve self image in order to remove self defeating barriers that are preventing you from being mentally tough.

Yet another trait of great athletes is self-possession. Webster defines self possession as the trait of resolutely controlling your own behavior. Being aware of every movement you make, every play that is made, every man that is on the field, etc; all of these things need to be firmly resolved or determined in your mind before you go on the field. It is important to be clear within your mind what your purpose is in any given situation or play.

Self-possession also means taking responsibility. Taking responsibility for yourself will both challenge and push you to become a better athlete. This requires giving a effort 100%  to off season training as well as on season training.

Great athletes are not satisfied with just doing what is required of them. They go further, much further. They read motivational books; they study the psychology of the great athletes before them,  they condition themselves psychologically and physically above what the coaches require; in other words they have a determination and a self-possession to not let hindrances, barriers or basic requirements limit them.

Further, the vast majority of the great athletes have some sort of mental game coach or sport psychology consultant to assist them with developing their football mental game. In order to be a great athlete you have to be committed to developing all areas of yourself including your football mind.

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