“Winners, I am convinced, imagine their dreams first. They want it with all their heart and expect it to come true. There is, I believe, no other way to live.”
Hall of Fame Quarterback Joe Montana

The quest for developing a strong football mental toughness begins from within the thoughts of an athlete, and not from external sources such as coaches, parents, fans, or media. The inner voice a football player allows to reside in their mental focus is crucial to either strengthening or destroying their football confidence.

Certainly peripheral distractions must be controlled with a positive mindset during the mental preparation for the game. The athlete with strong mental toughness and solid football mind allows for only positive self talk in their mental preparation.

Every single person on the planet has some form of self-talk, and it is either decidedly encouraging or debilitating negative. There is no neutral ground. Initially it is important for improving overall football confidence to first analyze how you talk to yourself.

Do any of the following questions and statements sound familiar?
• Can you ever get it right?
• You’re so dumb.
• You’re so clumsy.
• That was lame.
• You’re weak.

Any variation of a negative or hurtful statement destroys your mental toughness and ability to maintain positive focus. Do you offer the same encouraging words to yourself or the equal amount of patience that you would to a fellow football player? Oftentimes an athlete criticizes themselves with such a harsh tone that they would never extend to another person.

The mentally tough player understands the need to keep self-talk positive and encouraging, not critical which leads to limits in physical performance. True football confidence starts within your thoughts. No amount of praise and support from coaches and teammates can overcome a negative self-talk and judgmental outlook of a player.

If an athlete struggles with mental focus, it is important to improve their inner voice toward one of calm encouragement.

The following are positive affirmations of self talk.
• You can do it.
• I am strong.
• I’ve got this.
• Bring it.
• I am tougher than my opponent.

Your self-talk is your central core of developing a strong football mind. It is almost impossible to build your mental toughness and focus with external encouragement when your inner voice is screaming criticism. If your self- talk is negative, then it is imperative to consciously choose positive affirmations that reframe your thoughts to a more positive mental focus.

When you feel the negativity overcoming your ideas, then you must choose a positive statement to repeat in your mind, thus replacing any damaging self talk. Analyze your thoughts constantly; before practice, during practice, after practice, game situations, and all other times in the day. Seek the help of a trusted teammate or coach to alert you anytime they hear you saying statements that do not support a positive mindset.

The process is deliberate, and does not seem easy at first, especially for any athlete accustomed and comfortable with constant self criticism. We’ve all heard the statement, “He’s harder on himself than anybody.” Improvement comes from analysis and a desire to get better, but harsh criticism only lessens physical performance.

Negative self talk is very different than constructive criticism. A negative inner voice attacks viciously and personally. Positive criticism with encouragement provides the process for improvement laced with enough encouragement for the journey.

The mentally tough player performs at a much higher level than one lacking football confidence, so hard work and analysis are critical to finding success on the football field and well worth the effort.