“When you make a mistake, there are only three things you should ever do about it: admit it, learn from it, and don’t repeat it.” Paul Bear Bryant

Mental preparation is among the most important aspects any coach can give his players in any game, not only football. As veteran coaches will tell you, football confidence comes not as much from the physical practice but more from mental practice. What does mental preparation for football entail?

There are many factors that contribute to mental breakdown of players during and after football games. Here are some of top aspects that could undermine football confidence:

Cannot be less than perfect – the coaches use football psychology to instill in each player a thirst for being perfect. This is required to make them tough, competitive, and unrelenting in their quest for playing to win. However, this can easily turn into frustration when performance is not up to the mark.

Dreading failure – it is very common to have players dread failure, especially when the game depends upon their one move or best move. When this happens the line between exhilarating joy and deepest despair/ mental breakdown is a very thin line.

Inability to move on – Football coach Vince Lombardi said, “It does not matter how many times you get knocked down, but how many times you get up.” Unfortunately not many players are able to get up after a mistake. Unless carefully nurtured, the player’s football mind will not forgive the mistake and push him to breakdown.

Pressure to deliver – it is easy to understand football psychology in term of peer pressure. The team expects you to do your best. However, not many are prepared for the football mental game, many play to intimidate. Sometimes the pressure of this intimidation becomes so much that the players shut down completely.

Lack of self confidence – the player is taught to build a tough football mind where there is no scope for failure, mistakes or under-performance. You can be nothing but perfect in the field or your team will suffer for it. Most players do not develop that level of football mental toughness where they can “get up” when they fall. They fear of not raising to the expectation often takes a heavy toll on the mind.

Perception Worry – another major factor that the football psychologist will warn you about is the perception of what other think. The player’s football confidence will often depend upon what he perceives other think of him. Unless the coach will teach the players to move beyond, the player’s mind will be highly affected by this factor.

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