The principle is competing against you. It’s about self-improvement, about being better than you were the day before.
Steve Young

The successful football athlete must possess a solid mental toughness in order to find any success on the football field. The mental preparation for the game is just as critical as off season weight training and cardio conditioning. Developing a strong football confidence is necessary to dominate an opponent in a game as physical as football.

Building confidence is important, but it is also just as necessary to incorporate practices that maintain that confidence throughout a game, season and career. Adversity is a certainty, but mentally preparing to deal with any obstacles diminishes any negative impact on focus and performance.

There are many distractions a player faces during the game of football, but negative situations must not alter their mindset or game plan. The confident player never loses composure when faced with unexpected circumstances. Mentally tough athletes maintain a sound focus on their goals and present game plan, not expending any energy on worry or how to react to unknown challenges.

One strategy to limit the effects of a distraction is to predict all the possible challenges you might face during a game situation. While this list is long, and constantly changing, it does help to look at all the factors that affect an athlete’s mental focus.

Sports psychology in football gives players the tools to quickly address a negative situation, and return their focus to a positive mindset and the next play at hand. Possible circumstances that might cause an athlete to lose focus are: equipment failure, taunting players, hateful fans, screaming coaches, poor play, formidable opponents, bad luck, poor officiating, weather, field condition, injury, teammates, etc. This list remains dynamic throughout a season with new situations appearing that diminish mental focus varying from game to game.

Write all of the scenarios on a piece of paper that might affect your confidence within a game. Next, read each situation separately, and determine what is the best reaction? What is the most positive response for not only you, but also your team? Write this down as well. This allows you to process your response in a positive mindset, and not simply react in the heat of the moment full of emotion and lacking good judgment.

Mentally envision every single scenario, with every single positive response within your reaction. This visualization actually strengthens your football mind and builds your football confidence because of limiting the number of situations that catch you off guard. You can’t be surprised as easily because you’ve already decided your reactions prior to the game.

Adversity and challenges are principles within the game of football. The mentally tough player learns to face these challenges while keeping a positive mindset and football confidence on their play.

Joe Namath spoke of this mental toughness, “You learn you can do your best even when it’s hard, even when you’re tired and maybe hurting a little bit. It feels good to show some courage.”

Incorporating activities within the mental preparation for the game will show tremendous gains in your ability to maintain focus, develop confidence, and ultimately improve performance on the field.