Good athletes must possess physical strength and speed, but great athletes must also maintain a football mental toughness in order to meet their full athletic potential.  football mental toughness is the ability to perform at your best level, exceeding expectations during the pressures of a competitive situation.

These are the players who bring their best game when the pressure is the highest, and also motivate those around them to perform at a higher level in team sports. football mental toughness allows a player to execute at a superior level, despite pain or exhaustion, and not limited by external factors.

Fear of failure creates an anxiety that hinders any athlete. The power of negative thinking truly cripples a person from their best performance.  Every athlete experiences failures, shortcomings, and injuries, but how the athlete views these setbacks makes all the difference in the final outcome.  The football player who miss a tackle, make a bad block or pass; later is constantly repeating the words, “Don’t mess up” as he approaches the next play this is creating anxiety.

This anxiety can evolve into a full blown mental block not dealt with in a positive manner. Past mistakes should certainly be examined, but the frame of mind should center on a constructive plan for improvement.  Instead of the comment, “Don’t mess up”, the football player should use a positive thought such as “Be aggressive, be fast, focus on the position for my pass” when he approaches the next play.

It is critical for an athlete to visualize themselves competing perfectly in their mind.  They must believe they can win.  A football player who cannot picture in their mind what it looks and feels like to make good blocks, good tackles and good passes will never play to their full athletic potential.  Improving your mental game in football is imperative and true athletes desiring improvement must deliberately seek methods to improve their football mental toughness and devote time to the effort.  Practice perfect in your mind before you ever hit the gym or the field.

Learning to control your emotions and adrenaline during competition is another component of football mental toughness.  There are many relaxation techniques that allow you to control your breathing and positive mindset despite external influences.  This also improves your ability to deal with the exhaustion and sometimes pain of the competition, keeping your focus on your performance and not on anything detrimental to fulfilling your goal or mission.

The mind will either be your biggest asset or your greatest enemy if you are an athlete.  The positive mindset allows athletes to utilize adrenaline and emotion in a constructive manner to improve their level of play in competition.  Permitting negative thinking causes emotions to work against you and thereby limits your physical ability. It restricts your focus, and depletes your ability to perform.  Great athletes understand this choice and devote both time and energy to developing their mental game and their football mental toughness.