MENTAL PLANS: Developing Mental Toughness Thru Systematic Planning

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MENTAL PLANS Developing Mental Toughness Thru
Systematic Planning

• Matt Vaartstra
• University of Idaho
• Edited from Damon Burton

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• What is mental toughness?

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DEFININGMENTAL TOUGHNESS

• Playing your best in any situation, even when you
  encounter problems, hassles, adversity, or
  failure.

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• When is mental toughness
• at a premium?

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SITUATIONS DEMANDING MENTAL TOUGHNESS

• Playing on the road in front of a hostile crowd
• Fighting illness or injuries
• Suffering through a slump or losing streak
• Confronting adverse playing conditions
• Against difficult opponents
• During really important competitions
• When the situation is critical or the game is on
  the line

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• What are the benefits of Mental Plans?

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BENEFITS OF MENTAL PLANS

• Create a Flow mindset
• Enhance performance quality
• Increase performance consistency
• Promote mental toughness to deal with adversity

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CREATING MAINTAINING THE IDEAL MINDSET

• In-the-Zone
• confident
• focus intently on key process cues
• keep thoughts positive and limited
• maintain poise and control arousal
• execute automatically and let it happen

• Choking
• diffident, stressed, and anxious
• distracted or focused on outcome and product
• let thoughts get negative and intrusive
• lose poise and get overaroused
• try to control performance and make it happen

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THE FLOW MINDSET

• Unshakably confident
• Totally focused on key performance cues
• Optimally aroused or psyched up
• Motivated to push your limits
• Poised with a positive mental attitude
• Performing automatically

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• How do we create the Flow Mindset in practice and
  competition necessary to promote mental toughness?

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CREATING MENTAL TOUGHNESS

• Develop mental plans to deal with any situation
• Work your plans to perform your best under any
  circumstances

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MENTAL PLANS

• Systematic mental strategies to help athletes
  perform their best by attaining, maintaining, and
  regaining a Flow Mindset.

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TYPES OF MENTAL PLANS

• Mental Preparation Plans
• Mental Performance Plans
• Mental Recovery Plans

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Mental Preparation Plans attain Flow mindset
Optimal Performance
Mental Recovery Plans regain Flow mindset
Mental Performance Plans maintain Flow mindset
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PRIMARY MENTAL PLAN STRATEGY

• One plan for both practice and competition
• Make practice more like competition
• Make competition more like practice

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MENTAL PLAN OBJECTIVES

• Attain a Flow Mindset (FM)
• Maintain that FM during practice and competition
• Regain your FM if you lose composure

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• What are . . .
• Mental Preparation Plans
• and how do they work?

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PURPOSE OF MENTAL PREPARATION PLANS

• To promote optimal performance by utilizing a
  structured personal mental warm-up routine that
  creates a Flow Mindset

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MENTAL PREPARATION PLANS
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MENTAL PREPARATION PLANS
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• What are . . .
• Mental Performance Plans and how do they work?

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PURPOSE OF MENTAL PERFORMANCE PLANS

• To promote optimal performance by helping
  athletes maintain their Flow Mindset throughout
  practice and competition to achieve their goals.

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PERFORMANCE PLAN ALTERNATIVES

• Standard plans
• Backup plans

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STANDARD MENTAL PERFORMANCE PLANS

• Goals you want to accomplish if everything goes
  perfectly
• Action plans for focusing on and achieving goals

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BACKUP MENTAL PERFORMANCE PLANS

• Plan for dealing with obstacles and roadblocks to
  stay in a FM and remain focused on achieving your
  goals
• Plan for performing well by overcoming problems
  or things that go wrong.

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3 TYPES OF MENTAL PERFORMANCE PLANS

• Competitive plans or routines
• Pre-performance or between-performance routines
• Interactive sports

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STANDARD RACE PLAN FOR 1500 METER RUNNER

• Chunk 1500-meter race into 3-7 meaningful parts
  (e.g., start, first 400 meters, middle part of
  race, last 400 meters)
• Develop goals and action plans for achieving them
  during each race segment
• Identify cue words that trigger correct focus
  during each race segment (e.g., race start--
  explode push, let it flow!)

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400 METERS RACE PLAN
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PURPOSE OF PRE-PERFORMANCE ROUTINES

• Pre-performance routines (PPRs) create
  consistent, high-level performance on repetitive,
  self-paced tasks such as free throw shooting,
  serving in tennis or volleyball, kicking in
  football, or all shots in golf, archery and
  shooting.
• PPRs promote FM, particularly focus, confidence,
  and trust so performance becomes better and more
  consistent.
• Consistent pre-performance routines are effective
  because they allow athletes to trust their bodies
  and execute with greater automaticity.

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PRE-PERFORMANCE ROUTINE COMPONENTS

• Relax your body and remove unwanted tension
• Adjust your arousal to its optimal level
• Utilize a confidence cue
• Create a positive, stress-free and productive
  mental attitude using a thought cue
• Use multisensory imagery to experience successful
  performance
• Execute automatically using feeling cues

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TOM AMBERRY FREE THROW PRESHOT ROUTINE

• Step 1 relax your arms and legs by taking
  several deep knee bends while clinching fists and
  shaking them out and set feet square to the free
  throw line.
• Step 2 bounce the ball 3 times using the
  inflation hole as a focus cue while bouncing the
  ball deliberately.
• Step 3 put your thumb in the channel with your
  index finger pointing at the inflation hole while
  boosting confidence by imagining the perfect shot.

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TOM AMBERRY FREE THROW PRESHOT ROUTINE

• Step 4 elbow in the shot pocket while imagining
  perfect touch and feel throughout the shot.
• Step 5 use an initiation cue such as cocking
  your wrist to automatically initiate the shot by
  bending your knees while keeping your eyes on the
  target.
• Step 6 repeat cue word nothing but net.
• Step 7 execute automatically, following thru
  completely with your hand in the cookie jar.

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BETWEEN-PERFORMANCE ROUTINES

• For sports where there are regular breaks in the
  action (e.g., tennis, volleyball, football,
  shooting, archery, field events in track, etc).
• Goal is to employ a 3-step process to ensure that
  the down time between plays, points or trials is
  used productively deal with previous performance
  and effectively prepare for upcoming performance.

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3 STEPS FOR BETWEEN-PERFORMANCE ROUTINES

• Step 1 React develop a composed reaction to
  previous good or bad performance to remain
  emotionally stable.
• Step 2 Relax and Reflect learn from previous
  performance without dwelling on mistakes.
• Step 3 Refocus and Ready cue a pre-performance
  routine to refocus on the task at hand and get
  ready to perform automatically.

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STANDARD INTERACTIVE SPORT PERFORMANCE PLAN

• Beginning of each quarter or half
• End of each quarter or half
• Against the press (situational)
• After a run of points

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BACKUP INTERACTIVE SPORT PERFORMANCE PLAN

• When officials make a bad call
• When opposing fans become rowdy
• Following a turnover or major mistake
• When the coach yells at you
• When opponents get a run of 3 or more baskets

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• What are . . .
• Mental Recovery Plans and how do they work?

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PURPOSE OF MENTAL RECOVERY PLANS

• To help athletes regain their Flow Mindset during
  practice and competition when they totally lose
  their composure.

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WHEN YOU MAY NEED MENTAL RECOVERY PLANS

• Prevent hassles
• Non-ideal conditions
• One-sided and/or poor officiating
• Physical or illegal play
• Poor early performance or critical mistake
• Subpar overall performance

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MENTAL RECOVERY STRATEGIES

• Initiation cue (e.g., clap your hands)
• Relax physically
• Identify new goals
• Counter negative thoughts and develop a
  constructive perspective
• Image new objectives
• Trust bodys ability to execute automatically

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IMPLEMENTING MENTAL PLANS

• Write out each plan in as much detail as
  possible.
• Use imagery to rehearse each plan.
• Try out plan in practice and refine.
• Employ plans in low-stress competition.

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IMPLEMENTING MENTAL PLANS

• Evaluate plans effectiveness to develop,
  maintain, and regain Flow Mindset before
  during competition.
• Refine and extend plans based on
  evaluation.
• 7. Continue using, evaluating and
  refining plans until satisfied.

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EVALUATING MENTAL PLANS

• Did you stay focused on your process and
  performance goals?
• Did you develop and maintain a Flow Mindset?
• State in which you perform best rather than
  feel best or most comfortable

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ULTIMATE IMPACT OF FLOW MINDSET

• Put mind on
• automatic pilot
• DONT THINK! -- JUST REACT!
• Play In-The-Moment.