Developing Mental Toughness

I believe everyone has some level of mental toughness and for athletes I believe mental toughness is the "ace in the hole" for strong athletic performances. For elite athletes, mental toughness can be THE DIFFERENCE of making the podium or or not. I believe elite athletes need to understand the unique balance of mental and physical training...one will not reach their true potential without that balance. Before we discuss how to develop a more effective mental toughness we must first define it.

I define Mental Toughness as... the process of developing a psychological edge over your opponents by remaining focused on the task and not being distracted by physical discomforts that the body is projecting once you have entered the "suck factor".

Jones et al. (2007)proposes a mental toughness framework that contains two components: belief and focus. "Mental toughness is composed of an unshakable belief that one can achieve her or his goals regardless of the obstacles or set-backs. Through focus, mentally tough athletes prioritize their long term sport goal over other life goals, yet possessing the ability to switch off this focus to maintain balance in their lives...contributing to their success.

In Jones' broader conception of mental toughness I highlighted "maintaining balance in their lives" ...I believe this is an important component to developing mental strength, toughness etc. I find most elite athletes already have the tough character, tough attitude and the training environment to build "mettle", but what they are missing is the balance.