If you had told me at the start of the season the Bengals would be playing for the conference championship, I would have told you you’re high. This is why I don’t be on sports.

Since nearly all of you are going to be glued to the TV watching the games, let’s discuss something tangentially related to fitness: Five Theories of Sports Psychology.

 

1. Mental toughness

Coaches and athletes recognize mental toughness as a psychological construct vital for performance success in training and competition. Mental toughness helps maintain consistency in determination, focus, and perceived control while under competitive pressure. Mentally tough athletes are highly competitive, committed, self-motivated, and able to cope effectively and maintain concentration in high-pressure situations. They retain a high degree of self-belief even after setbacks and persist when the going gets tough. This explains the incredible back and forth between the Bills and the Chiefs last week.

Mental toughness is made up of four components, known to psychologists as the “four Cs”:

  • Feeling in control when confronted with obstacles and difficult situations
  • Commitment to goals
  • Confidence in abilities and interpersonal skills
  • Seeing challenges as opportunities

 

2. Motivation

Motivation has been described as what maintains, sustains, directs, and channels behavior over an extended amount of time. While it applies in all areas of life requiring commitment, it is particularly relevant in sports. While there are several theories of motivation, the Self-Determination Theory (SDT) has proven one of the most popular.

Based on our inherent tendency toward growth, SDT suggests that activity is most likely when an individual feels intrinsically motivated, has a sense of volition over their behavior, and the activity feels inherently interesting and appealing.

 

3. Goal setting and focus

Setting goals is an effective way to focus on the right activities, increase commitment, and energize the individual. A well-constructed goal can provide a mechanism to motivate the individual toward that goal. Athletes can use goals to focus and direct attention toward actions that will lead to specific improvements. Goal setting can define challenging but achievable outcomes, whatever your sporting level or skills.

 

4. Anxiety and arousal

Under extreme pressure and in situations perceived as important, athletes may perform worse than expected. This is known as choking and is typically caused by being overly anxious. Such anxiety can have cognitive (erratic thinking), physical (sweating, over-breathing), and behavioral (pacing, tensing, rapid speech) outcomes. It typically concerns something that is not currently happening.

It is important to distinguish anxiety from arousal. The latter refers to a type of bodily energy that prepares us for action. It involves deep psychological and physiological activation, and is valuable in sports.

 

5. Confidence

While lack of confidence is an essential factor in competition anxiety, it also plays a crucial role in mental toughness. Confidence is ultimately a measure of how much self-belief we have to see through to the end something beset with setbacks.

 

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I heard Elizabeth Nolan Brown on the Reason Roundtable podcast. I immediately knew what this week’s music was going to be. You can click the link, laugh at the song title, and get the joke. Or you can listen about halfway through for the money shot. I want to see some hands clapping and hear everyone sing the chorus. I promise everyone around you wants to sing along too.