I have heard this question many times growing up as an athlete. It is also a question I have asked athletes as a sport psychology practitioner. As you can imagine responses have ranged from 50 to even 99 percent! That is astounding right?
My next question typically is how much time do you spend training and improving the physical side of your sport performance compared to the mental? Are these equitable? Does that breakdown make sense? I typically see an overwhelming amount of physical training and less to virtually no time and effort on mental training.
I like this discussion because it is self-reflective and builds self-awareness. It can shift an athlete’s priorities to strive to become a more complete athlete and reach their TRUE potential. However, in all the times I have heard and been involved in this discussion I have yet to hear a correct response…
The right answer to how much of your sport performance in mental is 100%. We all have a primary motor cortex and multiple secondary cortices in the brain that are strictly devoted to initiating and controlling all of our physical movements. We actually have a map of our body in the brain with larger more complex brain matter assigned for parts of our body that require larger amounts of complex motor movement and control like our hands and fingers. So ALL of our movement, all of our performance, rely on the brain. We rely on the mental side of performing not only on skills like focusing, arousal and emotional control, and visualizing success, but also for the foundation for sport… movement!
Knowing this, do not let anyone tell you that the mental side of your sport is not important. It is naturally embedded with your body’s physical performance and you will be amazed when you spend deliberate time training the brain at how your performance will skyrocket.
Let it fly – TK