Attitude: the mental edge.

Nothing can stop the person with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal; nothing on earth can help the person with the wrong mental attitude.

- Thomas Jefferson

Nothing can stop athletes with the right mental attitude from achieving their goals

Coaches, reporters, and sport psychologists are constantly inundating the print media with critiques on the mental side of coaching and playing, such as "the psychology of winning," "the mind-set of successful coaches," "the mental side of hitting," etc.

The sheer volume of the literature posits two problems for the active coach and athlete: (1) how do you find the time to read everything, and (2) how can all this information be applied to the daily regimen?

My research findings on the mental processes that make for successful coaching and playing can be summed up in a single word - attitude. Though this may not qualify as a revelation, few athletes ever really reflect upon the meaningfulness of attitude in their playing and daily lives.

DEFINITION OF ATTITUDE

Webster defines attitude as a manner of acting, feeling, or thinking that reveals one's disposition, opinion, etc. Most sport psychologists agree that attitude plays a major role in the establishment of long- and short-term goals. The more positive the athlete's attitude, the more likely he or she is of achieving these goals. The more negative the attitude, the less likely he or she is of achieving these goals.

I'm not saying that an unprepared athlete with a positive attitude will be able to defeat a physically prepared athlete. I am saying that an athlete with a positive attitude can sustain over the long haul and achieve more success than anyone whose attitude has deteriorated over the years.

All athletes are physically limited to some extent, but their attitude can enhance their chances for success. Attitude is the filter through which they perceive the past, present, and future.

These perceptions may be positive, negative, or neutral. Athletes with a positive perception of their activity will be more likely to sustain a positive attitude about it. Coaches must strive to provide positive experiences for their athletes.

COACH'S ATTITUDE

Humans, by nature, are habit-forming creatures. Coaches must realize that they have a profound impact on their team's attitude and that the players' attitude is a synthesis of all the overt and covert messages and actions communicated by the coach throughout the season.

Since athletes pick up and internalize virtually every contact, coaches must make sure to conduct every contact in a positive manner. Even criticism can be delivered in a positive manner, letting the athletes know that the coach believes in them and is there to help them improve.

Though difficult at times, coaches should compliment the athletes far more often than they criticize them, smile more often than they glower, and go one-on-one with them more often than group meetings.

ATHLETE'S ATTITUDE

The intense types of athletes have to be watched for excessiveness. They can "burn out" - lose all their desire to compete. Or they may wind up overdoing everything - the training, relationship with the team and the coach, and the competition itself.

The difference between these extremes is a matter of attitude, generally determined by the athlete's past and present experiences and their perception of their future in the sport.

The great majority of successful athletes have very positive attitudes. They enjoy what they do in both practice and games, and they generally see potential in every circumstance.

Whether the situation is negative or positive, they find some way to gain inspiration or wisdom from it. Even a defeat will inspire them to work harder and longer to succeed the next time out.

Athletes who do not possess a positive attitude about their sport and refuse to learn what it takes to be successful are likely to vanish after a major defeat.

KEEPING IT IN PERSPECTIVE

In 1970 Gale Sayers, the super Chicago Bear running back, wrote a book titled, I Am Third, in which he admitted that football and his role in it were not the most meaningful things in his life. They came after family and religion.

I once heard Dan Jansen, the world's greatest speed skater, say much the same thing in recollecting a discussion with his father while driving home from a competition.

Dan had just gone through a down period and was looking for sympathy from his father. Mr. Jansen finally turned to him and said, "Son, there is a lot more to life than skating around in circles."

That simple remark changed Dan's attitude toward his sport forever. From that point on, he never allowed his life to be run by his sport. He realized that there was a lot more to life than skating.

The athlete's sport can and should occupy an important place in his/her life. Sport can be exciting, healthful, and teach a great deal about life, but it should never become the center of one's universe.

HAVING FUN

Most people start participating in sport or coaching because they enjoy the competition and the relationship with the team. So why do many athletes eventually lose their positive attitude about their sport?

Because it has stopped being fun. Maybe because of the pressure. Meddling parents. Overzealous coaches.

Young athletes generally have a great attitude about wanting to improve and becoming more competitive. Whenever the parents' or the coach's desire for success exceeds the athlete's ambition, the result can be distorted. Coaches and/or parents can start living vicariously through their athletes.

This should never be allowed to happen. Sooner or later the coaches and parents have to give the athlete control over his or her career. The coach and parent should periodically ask the young athletes whether they are enjoying what they are doing. When a game ceases being fun, the athlete's attitude will change and they will stop progressing.

The common response to boredom, fatigue, and burn-out is a moderation of the practice regimen plus the addition of variety in the drills, etc. That does not mean that practice has to be all fun. Hard workouts are frequently essential.

At the same time, sporadic fun activity can have an extremely positive effect on the athlete's attitude toward practice. It can prove both enjoyable and motivational.

Abraham Lincoln may have said it best: "Most people are about as happy as they make up their minds to be." He never noted that we are often only as happy as others make up their minds for us to be.

THE MEMORIES

Sports have provided athletes with some of the greatest experiences in their lives. Ask a high school or college athlete to recall the most memorable experiences in his or her sports and you will receive as many stories of happenings outside the field as on the field.

Sports bring much more into our lives than the competition itself. Athletes remember the fun things and the camaraderie as much as the base hits and baskets and touchdowns... thanks to the strong positive attitudes that have been built into their psyches.