Sports Performance
Experts agree that once an athlete learns the physical fundamentals of their sport their performance becomes 95% mental. For instance: If a professional golfer is leading their first major tournament, has been hitting every fairway all day, and suddenly yanks their drive OB, they have not forgotten how to swing! Chances are that their thoughts have distracted their body from a nice smooth swing.
And it is likely that if you are a golfer you have done this..."if I can just sink this putt I will par the hole...or break 90...or win the US Open!" And guess what happens....our conscious mind takes us out of the moment and into the future and WHAM...missed putt! Our conscious mind is also very capable of taking us into the past... a past that is filled with shots that we would rather forget...it CAN take us to wonderful shots and experiences from the past but it rarely does this without training!
Think about it... The same is true with basketball and every other sport...if a professional basketball player misses a free throw it isn't because he suddenly can't shoot the ball physically...it is likely that there was a lapse in focus, concentration or confidence...all of which are mind issues not physical issues.
So in order to achieve your best performances...you MUST train your brain in addition to your body. This is true of every level of athlete from beginner to the most elite in their sport. Concentration, focus, and confidence are the keys to accessing "the zone".
Experts agree that once an athlete learns the physical fundamentals of their sport their performance becomes 95% mental. For instance: If a professional golfer is leading their first major tournament, has been hitting every fairway all day, and suddenly yanks their drive OB, they have not forgotten how to swing! Chances are that their thoughts have distracted their body from a nice smooth swing. And it is likely that if you are a golfer you have done this..."if I can just sink this putt I will par the hole...or break 90...or win the US Open!" And guess what happens....our conscious mind takes us out of the moment and into the future and WHAM...missed putt! Our conscious mind is also very capable of taking us into the past... a past that is filled with shots that we would rather forget...it CAN take us to wonderful shots and experiences from the past but it rarely does this without training!
Think about it... The same is true with basketball and every other sport...if a professional basketball player misses a free throw it isn't because he suddenly can't shoot the ball physically...it is likely that there was a lapse in focus, concentration or confidence...all of which are mind issues not physical issues.
So in order to achieve your best performances...you MUST train your brain in addition to your body. This is true of every level of athlete from beginner to the most elite in their sport. Concentration, focus, and confidence are the keys to accessing "the zone".