“Every quarterback can throw the ball; every running back can run; every receiver is fast; but that mental toughness that you talk about translates into competitiveness” – Tom Brady

Football is a game that demands much from the body, often requiring a physical pounding in order to get there. While the physical demands are evident for all to see the demands on the football mind are less obvious despite carrying equal significance to an athlete’s overall performance on any given day.

An athlete’s level of football confidence can impact their mental game. When an athlete’s awareness of their own football psychology is methodically being heightened over time the football mind becomes better streamlined to perform more efficiently and a tougher football mental state is acquired.

These athletes’ understanding of their own psychology for football has allowed them to realize the benefits of competing with a performance mindset (e.g. an increased awareness of a situation). There have mostly overcome the ways in which they used to block it (and which resulted in a loss of trust in their own skills).

Athletes that are predisposed to the perfectionist mindset tend to be super motivated and enjoy training. The perfectionist mindset though also brings with it trouble in trusting their technique and performing fearlessly in competition. This is because they also tend to strive to look good on the field, for their performance to feel correct, for their technique to look good and to get correct results when competing.

This almost incessant focusing on looking good, technique and feeling correct infringes on the perfectionists ability to focus on the real objective in the sport, which is to get the job done efficiently in order to give the team its best chance of securing the win.

By focusing on the “wrong” thing athletes often end up worrying and making it hard for them to play with freedom and with a calm and quiet mind.

The only way of finding out if an athlete’s technique is good enough is to first understand and then separate the practice athlete from the performer.

This can be done by letting go of this “trying” mindset and getting into the “flow” mindset during competition.

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