Thinking Through Performance

From a mental standpoint, the most tried-and-true way to increase performance is to improve confidence. Self-talk is one of the most influential agents for honing selfconfidence. Extensive research in the sport psychology world confirms that an athlete’s internal dialogue significantly influences performance. Athletes who have negative self-talk will generally experience poor performance; conversely, when athletes keep their minds focused on positive performance cues, they are more likely to experience success. In 1985, tennis great Ivan Lendl had a record of nine wins and twelve losses against John McEnroe. To improve his chances for success against McEnroe, Lendl decided to improve his self-talk. He began repeating to himself daily, “I look forward to playing John McEnroe,” and over the next six years, Lendl beat McEnroe ten times while only losing three times.1 Pete Sampras, another tennis superstar, said that positive self-talk was a definite help to him in working through adversity and tough points. Sampras would tell himself to “stay focused on the present” and “prepare for the next point” rather than letting his thoughts swirl and become negative.2 The benefits aren’t limited to the gym and tennis court. In preparation for the Ironman World Championships, one athlete had this to say after achieving her best time and finishing fourth in the world: “Training the positive selftalk for a few months allowed me to focus only on myself and what was going on in my body and mind in sync. . . . The tangible rewards were a huge perk for me, but the real treasures of that race were my newfound ability to use my self-talk tools and remain in the moment.”3 A performance statement is a type of self-talk designed to help athletes zoom in on one specific thought to enhance performance consistency. It is a simple, yet concrete, thought that specifically identifies the process of success, or what it takes to perform at your best. As you read through the next pages, think about the one core thought that puts you in the best position to play at your peak when you focus on it. For some sports it will make sense to have more than one performance statement. For the baseball player, there may be a performance statement to emphasize hitting (track the ball, smooth and easy) and defense (set, stay down, watch it into the glove). A basketball player may choose to combine both offense and defense into one performance statement (hustle every possession; attack every rebound; drive, drive, drive), while the gymnast may have a performance statement for every event she competes on (floor: quick hands, tight legs, squeeze; vault: top speed, feet in front; bars: hollow handstands and elbows locked). The key is to identify the single most fundamental idea of what it takes for you to be successful to allow you to simplify the game. Keeping it simple will allow you to free your mind and body from complications and distractions and play loose with great confidence and passion. As we reach the end of the chapter, I will ask you some very specific questions to help you identify the exact performance statement best suited for you. It is highly beneficial for athletes to know what to think as they are preparing for competition. Many times during training and competition, an athlete will experience what I call “don’t” thinking. In “don’t” thinking, people tell themselves what not to do. For example, a hockey player with whom I work used to tell himself, “Don’t screw this up, don’t swing too hard, and don’t hit the ice before the puck.” This type of thinking is not helpful, because by directing the mind to what is not supposed to be done, it increases the likelihood that the athlete will feel stress and anxiety. This state, in turn, makes it harder to pay attention to the task at hand, and thus people are more prone to do exactly what they were hoping to prevent. Mental clutter is another impediment to clear thoughts among athletes. Mental clutter is all the stuff that goes through the mind that interferes with important thoughts about the performance. For the majority of athletes, mental clutter usually occurs because individuals do not know what they should be thinking. Even athletes who have been instructed on what to think have trouble at times because they haven’t trained their minds to maintain a specific focus under pressure. Performance statements help athletes stay focused and perform at their best when it counts the most. Now as the aforementioned hockey player prepares for training and competition, he says to himself, “Relaxed and smooth; my shot is compact and powerful.” When he stays relaxed, it helps him to play his game and stay within himself. He knows that if he keeps his mind on “relaxed and smooth,” he is better able to avoid all “don’t” thinking and mental clutter. In his first year of using 10-Minute Toughness, his scoring percentage increased from 8 percent to almost 30 percent.