Mixing Sports and psych

            
            
             The mind-body connection is a very powerful one. For everything you think in your mind, your body has a reaction, regardless of whether it is real or imagined. . Slowly but surely athletes, teams, coaches and managers are not only saying that they feel sports is mental, but also they are doing something about it. They are hiring Sports Psychologists, reading books, and devoting time to team building and mental training. Athletes spend so much time physically practicing to get an edge on the competition. Yet what teams and athletes can really do to get the edge is right in front of their nose. We hear the same thing all the time, "Sports is 90-95% mental." Athletes and coaches at all levels say it, but how many of them do something about it? It may be common knowledge, but it is not always common practice. Maybe they don't have the time, maybe they don't have the resources, or maybe down deep they don't really believe it. Whatever the reason, the fact remains the same, that athletes are not utilizing their most powerful resource, the mind. Most athletes fatigue mentally before they fatigue physically, due to the fact that their mind is not in as good of shape as their bodies.
             Managers, coaches and players are realizing that to get ahead they need an added resource, and that resource is a trained mind. Still, many coaches are blind to the importance of mental skills in their athletes. When there are two teams that are physically equal, it is the team that works together smoothly and is mentally prepared and confident that will come out on top. You need to be strong, technically and mentally. Unluckily, many times one aspect of your game is magnified at the cost of the other. You should give equal attention to both. You are given the talent, it's your job to develop it and watch it flourish by combining physical and mental training with a great work ethic. Oklahoma State University's Baseball Coach Gary Ward says, "Combining the two elements [mental training and technical training] gives the players an opportunity to establish a consistent, "peak performance" every time they step on the field".