“To me, football is so much about mental toughness, it’s digging deep, it’s doing whatever you need to do to help a team win and that comes in a lot of shapes and forms” —- Tom Brady,

There are certain moments during competition that appear to carry great mental significance, when the momentum starts to shift in one direction or another. These situations require athletes to remain completely focused and calm in the face of difficult circumstances.

For an athlete, it could be the final throw in a game after seriously under-performing; it could be how you react to a perceived bad refereeing call or it could be the catch needed to win the game.

Mental toughness is a key factor in the football mental game and it separates an athlete thriving on elite competition from one who disintegrates under pressure.

To actually achieve football mental toughness, however, you need to have a clear understanding of what mental toughness is and how you can achieve it.

In the broadest sense, mental toughness can be defined as the ability to maintain the focus and determination to complete a course of action despite difficulty or consequences—to never quit.

Or, as one football psychologist put it, “Mental toughness is having the natural or developed psychological edge that enables you to:

• Generally, cope better than your opponents with the many demands (competition, training, and lifestyle) the football mental game places on the players.

• Specifically, be more consistent and better than your opponents in football confidence, focus and determination”

Athletes who are able engage in the mental side of training and performing of their football mind have a greater advantage to those who are unable to do this.

The biology of the human body is designed to regulate its very existence and this regulation stems directly from the central control system, the brain and the mind.

Regardless of the physical attributes that athletes may possess, the ‘tougher’ athlete will most often prevail and it is a key determining factor between success and failure.

It has now become crucial for athletes, should they want to succeed, to obtain the ability to cope mentally..

Gucciardi, Gordon, and Dimmock (2009) use the concept ‘Mental Toughness’ as an umbrella term for athletes who are considered to possess superior mental characteristics and they believe that it is the mental game that will differentiate the performers. It can be simply put that “Mental Toughness sets apart good and great athletes when physical, technical and tactical skills are equal”.

The great thing about mental toughness is that you are not born with it. You don’t have to learn it at a young age.

Football mental toughness comes simply from the decision to consistently apply the traits that makes you mentally tough.

You can start learning football psychology today and reach levels of your game, relationships, and success that you never thought possible.

Outstanding athletic prowess, superior intellect, talent may take you so far. But without mental toughness you will not reach their full potential.

*Download the free mental game assessment and get started on Improving your Mental Game in Football

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