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Basketball Mental Skills Article

Overtime – Mental Toughness on Display

“Toughness is in the soul and spirit, not in the muscles.” Alex Karras

alex-karras-mental-toughnesFormer professional football player Alex Karras sums up the core value of a keen football mind: toughness transcends the physical realm, and is as much mental – even spiritual – as it is athletic.

Football confidence wears thin as football games drag on, and mental toughness for football is a core component of modern day psychology for football.

When the game is deadlocked in a tie and the muscles are taxed, an enduring mental strength born of mental preparation for football is needed in order to persevere and win the game, snatching victory from the very jaws of defeat.

Football psychologists point to the myriad ways athletes can get themselves psyched for overtime, the do-or-die tie-breaker that may decide ultimate victory, but every football mind can reinforce the core mental resources needed to re-energize, reassess, and regroup for one final quarter of game play.

In a game of inches every second matters, and football mental toughness is as much about clock-watching as it is about physicality.

Four quarters of game time can feel like an eternity to a fatigued body and a weak mental game . When muscles grow fatigued and the mind starts to question further efforts, great athletes turn to their inner-most football psychology – the love of the game.

Winning the match is a bonus on top of the passion for football that has defined their athletic prowess from an early age, therefore strong football minds embrace the do-or-die nature of a sometimes ruthless sport and carry their weakened muscles over the top for the pursuit of a team victory.

The agony of each bone-crushing quarter can cripple lesser football minds, but football mental toughness can win no matter what the score.

Every football player – from the quarterback to the field goal kicker – understands the physical and mental drain of each game, and the mental game of football can be just as exhausting as the physical game.

When you and the opposing team are locked in a dead-heat within a game of inches, the prospect of overtime – committing one’s mind, body and spirit to 15 more football minutes – can be beyond daunting, causing one’s mind to falter.

Understanding the love of the game for the game’s sake can help athletes to elevate their tired 4th quarter game strategy to the fresh-faced next Sunday mindset of ‘win now.’ ‘

Win now’ is defined by the endless preparation for each week, the lifetime pursuit of the fame and celebrity and recognition, and the admiration of one’s athletic peers on the field with them.

Football confidence is a deep mental well, deepened further only by repetition, ritual, physicality and mental focus, but – above all – it can be simplified down to sheer love of the sport.

Once the 4th quarter clock strikes zero and the score remains tied, the stadium lights don’t go out – they stay on, just like every bright football mind should too.

The strength of resiliency needed to champion overtime is within each and every bit of mental preparation for football.

Winning that extra quarter is up to those who choose to win the game for the game’s sake, and with the requisite football mental toughness to get the job done.

Download the free mental game assessment and get started on Improving your Mental Game in football.

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