Are We Playing the Mental Game Well Enough?

I don’t know how the sports junkies who bet on results did this Australian Open. I’d imagine they did pretty well. I don’t follow tennis all that much. But, once the Quarter Finals were done, a friend asked me what my predictions were.

And, without much thought, I said ‘Djokovic Murray is a no contest. Nadal beats Federer as he’s in Federer’s head and then Djokovic beats Nadal as he’s in Nadal’s head.’ (The only part he wasn’t so happy about was me describing Murray’s game as a no contest. He’s British…)

Yes, the path was scenic. 2 epic games against Federer and Djokovic but the result was rather predictable. When it came to the deciding points, the one with mental advantage won. And we’ve seen this happen over the year across sports. The winners summon that extra bit of resolve when it matters.

This season aside, Manchester United have been doing it almost out of habit. You just know that a goal will pop up in the 90th minute. You just know it.

And, if you’ve played either of these sports regularly, you also probably know how much it is in the mind. On a bad day in football or tennis, it doesn’t matter how good you’re technique is, you’re likely to make an incredible amount of errors. It seems so obvious in sports. That got me thinking..

What about us? How much of what we do is in the mind? Are we playing the mental game well enough?

There are enough quotes about attitude, determination and the like out there to fill a book. I did believe in them but I still felt ability mattered a heck of a lot. But, I’m gradually beginning to revise my perception. It seems to me that your ability is only channelled through your mental beliefs.

So, I may be the smartest guy in the world. But, if I have a shitty can’t do attitude, then I’m probably never going to make it in the big league. That’s interesting. Because, at our jobs, we spend a lot of time learning the trade. For juniors, it’s paying attention to detail, learning to make good spread sheets and the like. We hardly ever learn the mental game. We hardly ever work on our attitude, on learning to stay calm when things are beyond our control, on channelling our mental energy. That’s because we often treat them as intrinsic i.e. stuff that’s there and doesn’t need to be worked on.

Science, of course, tells us otherwise. Managing our mind takes a lot of effort. As much effort as everything tangible and real that we do.

Sportsmen seem to get it’s importance. Why don’t we?