Every athlete knows that training is key to success. Between the gym, eating well, and recovering properly, athletes are taught to prepare and strengthen their bodies. However, sports don’t just test them physically; they test them mentally as well. The stress leading up to a game, the mistakes inevitably made throughout, and the reality of the final result all challenge an athlete’s mental resilience. As pressure builds over the course of a season, both their mental strength and mental endurance are tested.
Unlike physical strength, mental resilience isn’t easily measured. Tulsa Douglas, a mental performance consultant, works with athletes to identify and build mental skills. She defined mental resilience as “the ability to respond and bounce back quickly in challenging situations.” An athlete’s mental resilience represents the person that they want to be on the field, both for themselves and for their teammates. That resilience is about “being able to respond in a way that better aligns with who you are, who you want to be, [and] where you want to go,” Douglas said.
In sports, mental resilience is often referred to as mental toughness, emphasizing strength and athletic performance over emotions. However, Douglas said that mental strength does not mean powering through no matter what. “It’s not always about pushing through [and] putting your head down,” she explained. Instead, mental resilience is about “being able to experience something hard, something surprising, and not get pulled in or dragged down by that.” Rather than ignoring negative emotions, strong mental resilience involves recognizing those emotions and understanding where they come from without letting them take over.
Mental resilience doesn’t develop overnight; it takes intentional practice and training. “I like to think of it like you do the on-field training, you do the in-the-gym training, and then you do this training for your mental space too,” Douglas said. After making a mistake, athletes face what Douglas calls a “choice point,” where they must decide how to respond to the error. Practicing making and responding to mistakes is a great way for athletes to train their mental resilience. “Put yourself in an opportunity to respond,” Douglas advised.
Dealing with mistakes is one of the hardest parts of being an athlete. It’s easy to say mistakes don’t define a performance; it’s a lot harder to actually believe it. “The overarching general piece I see showing up for athletes is self-judgement,” Douglas said. Athletes often don’t respond to mistakes the way they want to, which can lead to additional frustration and spiraling. “Try and let go of any self-judgment that comes from that second layer of frustration with how you responded,” Douglas said. “So if you’re disappointed in the way that you did respond, not beating yourself up or judging yourself about it is the first step.”
From there, reflection is the next step in improving mental performance. What happened can’t be changed, but it could be different next time. “Okay, I didn’t respond the way I wanted to respond,” she concluded. “How do I do it differently next time?”
