Mental Toughness

By Bruce Lindsay

For many years now I’ve been a soccer coach, first with Clifford (4 years) and now with Emma (this will be year #5). A few years back, Clifford switched to Baseball and I’ve been a baseball coach too, since then. Hey! I was Soccer Coach of the Year back in 2006!

I love team sports and I think it’s important for children to learn and play team sports especially when they are young. Learning about teamwork helps in a family setting for sure. Learning about setting goals, working hard and achieving them is something that if learned at a young age, I believe, will carry on as a good habit through all a child’s life, building confidence through past experience.

I think it’s good to be competitive, but to be a good sport about winning and losing. I think being accountable for what you do is good. I think some pressure to do your best is good. All these things are easy to learn through sports. Besides all these important life skills, children learn some sport skills, stay in shape, make new friends and have fun.

Recently I’ve been learning about a different aspect of sports: The mental game. I’ve heard people say that the mental preparation is every bit as important as the physical preparation, but I’m only beginning to understand what that means.

Clifford recently tried out for the Peterborough Tigers. He made the team too. Since then, in the few practices I’ve had time to attend, I’ve heard the coach talking about the mental game.

All these boys are good. By 13 years old, they can all hit, catch and throw. They all know the rules and they know how to get you out. They are getting into excellent physical shape. Clifford says the workouts are even tougher than football. The coach knows that it’s the mental game that makes a difference between winning and losing.

But how do you teach mental toughness? How do you teach a boy that he should hold his head up high and keep a stiff upper lip when someone has just belted a 3 run home run off him?

I was on a canoe trip with 3 younger guys in their early twenties recently. I learned a lot about myself. On this particular trip, there was one portage that was nearly 2 km long. I think it was the longest portage of my life. I wouldn’t have tried it, except that I figured with these 3 strong guys I wouldn’t have to carry too much. Oh how wrong I was.

I had my old fiberglass canoe and borrowed a second – a light Kevlar canoe - from Mr. Van Lier at church. For the first few portages I was carrying my canoe showing the guys how to do it. On the big one, I left it up to them. I walked half the portage carrying some packs, looked back and found I was alone. I left my packs at the top of the mountain and walked back to find these 3 struggling with the 2 canoes. Walking 40 yards and then putting the canoe down, ‘taking a break’. I tried explaining how much better it is to just carry it and take a break at the end, but the message wasn’t getting through. I ended up carrying my heavy canoe the whole way. I didn’t think I could – they didn’t think I could, but I did. I demonstrated mental toughness to them. I learned that at 40, I’m still a big strong guy who can do anything I set my mind to. Who knew?

Mental toughness is not giving up when your body tells you that you can’t go on. I’ve found when each step hurts, and you are so exhausted that you don’t think you can take another step, YOU CAN!

Another aspect of the mental game I’m only learning about is muscle memory. By repeating a movement over and over your muscles learn to do it without you having to think about it. That’s how I’ve learned to play songs on the banjo faster and faster – by practicing slowly, being sure to play it perfectly, then over and over. Soon I can play faster than I can possibly read the music. I explain to Clifford that is how he plays computer games so well. He doesn’t need to think about the controller at all, I do. So he whips me in every game. This is also the reason why he spends at least 30 minutes of every baseball practice playing catch and picking up ground-balls. Soon it will be second-nature. He won’t even have to think about it.

But muscles can learn from the brain too. If you rehearse something in your brain perfectly, over and over, your muscles will respond as if you have been teaching them physically. Listen to Chandra Crawford – Canadian Olympic Gold Medalist, 2006 Torino Italy, 1.1 km cross-country ski sprint.

“That's right, I'm on the line, Sandstorm is back and its go time, baby! People line the stadium cheering, and the "sun is shining, weather is sweet" like in the dance remix of Bob Marley's song. To my right is German Nicole Fessel (who will later become second in the world in this race), with two fast looking girls from France and Austria right next to her. I feel amazing! The gun goes off and I shoot out of the starting gate in a sandstorm of excitement and energy! Just 100 meters out of the start, the French girl goes down right in front of me and I lean onto my left ski to just miss going down with her. I tuck in right behind the German on the downhill and come out right beside her, then Austria passes me and I stay right behind them up the climb. The German makes some time pushing up and over the hill and I get stoked for the final stretch; here comes the kick, I'm making a move! I push right past the German, beside the Austrian all the way to the finish, and in the end I get her by a little less than a ski length. Wow!
At this point all I want to do is keep going.

What a race and an amazing experience!”

What’s most amazing about this interview is that Chandra is not talking about the gold medal race. She is talking about how she envisioned the race in her mind before it ever started. Wow! All that detail, from which other athletes are on her right and left, to the song in her head, the crowds, right down to the weather! Once she arrived at the Olympic venue she was seen walking the race course over and over. Playing the race over and over in her mind, until on the race day, her muscles responded not like she was racing this race for the first time, but like she had already done it 1000 times, and this was number 1001. Amazing.

As I learn about this stuff, I’ll try to pass it on to my children. Imagine Clifford being so comfortable hitting in a clutch situation that there is simply no doubt that he will hit that ball hard into a gap and drive home the winning run. Imagine him being so confident in the outfield that he is hoping that the ball is hit his way so he can make that last out.

I know it’s only part of it and it doesn’t make up for lack of fitness or preparation, but the mental game, the toughness, the confidence is what I want from my team and my children and myself.

Resources:

Chandra Crawford - http://www.cccski.com/main.asp?cmd=doc&ID=3087
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Additions by Pastor Murray Lincoln
Thanks Bruce – great words and ideas… what if we also applied this to our spiritual lives?

Take from “The Message” 1 Corinthians 9:24-25
You've all been to the stadium and seen the athletes race. Everyone runs; one wins. Run to win. All good athletes train hard. They do it for a gold medal that tarnishes and fades. You're after one that's gold eternally.

1 Corinthians 9:23-25 (Amplified Bible)
23And I do this for the sake of the good news (the Gospel), in order that I may become a participator in it and share in its [blessings along with you].
24Do you not know that in a race all the runners compete, but [only] one receives the prize? So run [your race] that you may lay hold [of the prize] and make it yours.
25Now every athlete who goes into training conducts himself temperately and restricts himself in all things. They do it to win a wreath that will soon wither, but we [do it to receive a crown of eternal blessedness] that cannot wither.