Diana’s Tips on Mental Toughness
One must train the mind for “Championship Racquetball.”
In Sports Psychology we talk about an athlete having two brains…one in your head and one in your “gut.” You have the Learning Brain (head) and the Sports Brain (gut).
1. Learning Brain – this is the brain in your head where you are auditory and then visual. At first you listen to instructions (auditory)and once you have heard the message your brain tries to see or “visualize” the message. In this way you have heard it and then have seen it and now you are ready to try it.
a. Auditory Brain – when you first learn a new skill that is taught to you it enters the auditory brain-the left side of your brain, and you understand the concept. For some athletes this is good enough, they hear what you say and then do it.
b. Visual Brain – most athletes need more than just hearing it, so they need to then add the visual picture of the skill-this happens in the right side of the brain.
2. Sports Brain – once you have performed a skill perfectly at least seven times it then gets imprinted and sent to your “second brain” (kinesthetic/feeling center) which lives an inch and a half around your belly button-this is called your gut or instinct. All mucle memory is stored here and is triggered by sight and sound.
It all sounds so easy. Learn the skill, practice the skill, imprint the skill and go out there and win, but there is a lot more to it. Seeing and believing are two different things. In our book we teach you the latest skills and strategies that Jason and Sudsy use to Maintain Mental Toughness.
Check out the techniques of Mental Toughness in our book, “Championship Racquetball.”
Loading ...