Improve your mental game
For this week's D-Line Examples, I'm having my good friend Jake Perez of SportsPsychTips write up his thoughts how to improve your mental game this off-season. Enjoy!
Also, if you want your D-Line to improve their performance, motivation, leadership and mental health I'd highly recommend checking out the SportsPsychTips twitter and blog.
So it's off-season and you're ready to start improving every aspect of your game. Now you're sure to spend some time in the weight room and may even make it to the field to run through some D-Line drills, but are you dedicating time to your mental game as well?
If you're like many of the athletes I've talked with, you've likely put this on the back-burner, but this is a massive mistake!! If you're not working your mental, your mind is likely blocking you from achieving your goals.
Ok so now you want to work your mental game, but how? Thankfully I've read through 100s of sports psychology books and have a paired down a list of the best books and concepts to improve your mental game this off-season. Let's take a look...
Top 3 Sports Psych concepts
I know you likely won't read all my book recommendations so I've compiled the top 3 most helpful concepts from the below book list that you can apply this off-season.
Concept #1: Get excited!! (Performing Under Pressure)
Did you know that NBA players make 7% less free throws in high pressure situations. Much of the reason is because these players don't know how to train their mind to handle the pressure. To combat this, Hendrie recommends that athletes concentrate on the excitement of the challenge rather than staying calm.
The reason is when you get excited you release more adrenaline which causes your blood vessels to dilate and your lungs to expand thus resulting in more oxygen to your brain and and increased mental clarity.
Hendrie sums it up perfectly here...
"Individuals who perceive a task or situation not as a threat but instead as a challenge, an opportunity or fun are far more likely to perform up to the level of the level of their ability, increasing their chances for success." - Performing Under Pressure
So here's how you can apply this concept. During off-season workouts have one O-Lineman and D-Lineman face off in a 1-on-1 pass rush rep. If the D-Lineman or O-Lineman doesn't win their whole position group has to run suicides. And make sure to tell your guys to get excited by the challenge vs. "stay calm". This will help your D-Line to practice responding with excitement vs. anxiety to high pressure situations.
Concept #2: Habit stacking (Atomic Habits)
James Clear in Atomic Habits states, "When it comes to building new habits, you can use the connectedness of behavior to your advantage. One of the best ways to build a new habit is to identify a current habit you already do each day and then stack your new behavior on top."
So, let's say you want to improve your get off by executing the tennis ball reaction drill every day after school. The way you would make this behavior a habit would be to use an old habit to trigger a the new one (seen below).
So in this example, you could stack the old habit of changing into your workout clothes and going to the gym with your teammates after your last class, with the new habit of bringing your cleats and a tennis ball to the gym so you can practice your get off after or before your team workout. Try this out and let me know how it works for you.
Concept #3: The power of journaling (Rebound)
Coming back from an injury can be long, arduous and sometimes hopeless. To combat this, Jackie cheadle and Cindy kuzma recommend the practice of journaling to build the 15 mental skills necessary to overcome injury (listed below).
While some athletes may brush off journaling as pointless activity, it is actually a very powerful mental exercise. By writing things down on paper, you can better organize your thoughts, deal with your emotions, and improve your mindset. Journaling can greatly help you with your self-talk and goal-setting.
Not only this, but by keeping a "training log" and journaling things such as your diet and sleeping habits, you can gain great insights to improve your training.
So, for this off-season right when you wake up grab a notebook and journal for 15 minutes. Do this by first writing your 2022 goals at the top of your journal. Then take 5 minutes to think about what it will feel like once you achieve your goal. Then, during the last 10 minutes take time to write down any thoughts or emotions you have as a way to become self-aware of the thoughts and feelings you're having.
Note: I use the last 10 minutes of my own journal time to pray and jot down bible verses from my morning devotional
Top 10 Sports Psych Books
And with no further adieu here are my top 10 book recommendations by category to improve your mental game...
Mindset
​How Champions Think by Bob Rotella: Learn how to think, train, and perform like a champion.
​The Brave Athlete by Simon Marshal and Lesley Paterson: Contains practical tips for maintaining motivation, building confidence and performing under pressure.
Perform under pressure
​Performing Under Pressure by Hendrie Wesinger and J.P Pawliw-Fry: Teaches you almost everything you need to know about how to perform better under pressure.
Mental toughness
​The Comeback Quotient by Matt Fitzgerald: Learn how to deal with difficult situations by accepting, embracing, and addressing the reality in front of you.
​Endure by Alex Hutchinson: Deep dive into the science behind endurance running. The lessons in this book can help you improve your mental toughness for football as well.
Productivity & work ethic
​Relentless by Tim Grover: This inspirational book teaches you what it takes to become the best at what you do.
​Atomic Habits by James Clear: Transform your life by creating positive habits and breaking bad habits.
Leadership
​Extreme Ownership by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin: Learn how to be a better leader by taking responsibility
​The Captain Class by Sam Walker: Deep dive into the importance of team captains and how you can be a better teammate and leader.
Mental health
​Rebound by Jackie Cheadle and Cindy Kuzma: Learn how to deal with the stress of overcoming injury.
If you don't have much time, I'd recommend reading the one or two books for the mental skill you'd like to improve the most this off-season.
A final word
I assure you that if you dedicate the time to improve your mental game this off-season you will reap the rewards when it counts during season. Also, if you want to get even more sports psych tips feel free to follow me on Twitter or Instagram. Would love to have you join the SportsPsychTips community!
That's all for this week! See ya soon!
And whenever you are ready, there are 2 ways I can help you:
Learn how to develop top tier pass rushers and a lethal pass rush attack here (1,000+ students)
Learn how to turn your D-Line into a block destruction machine here (1,100+ students)
-Craig​