discipline thoughts = disciplined mindset

For those of you who don't know my family, we spend a lottttt of time in the Stave house watching and talking about sports, including all things 360U and what we're doing there. Many of these discussions end up revolving around what 'really' works, what really doesn't, how coaching/parenting impacts athletes' experiences, and most importantly - how we can ensure we're giving our 360U athletes every 'best kept secret' that we've uncovered through our own experiences. And believe me, college/professional sports exploit every single weakness you have, and force you to face them head on and conquer them (whether you want to or not!)

It's actually amazing how almost all of the discussions we have end up being about the things we had to do different MENTALLY. A change in approach, a new way of looking at something, time spent practicing the 'mindset' piece, an overall awareness and discipline of our mindset during competition. This is the exact reason why 360U busted into this industry 10 years ago when very, very few were talking about 'mental training'. From day 1, we've prioritized this type of training and fully integrate it because you simply can not have one without the other. It's been so cool to see the recent shift where more teams, organizations and others in the industry are buying into this and seeing the results.

To summarize a few high points of these discussions, we've highlighted how DISCIPLINE is central to the mental side of any sport.

1. disciplined thoughts

If you've been to 360U for any type of training, you've likely heard our team emphasizing the importance of controlling your thoughts. Your thoughts make up your mindset. These thoughts can either be emotional and reactionary OR disciplined and practiced. We aim to help our athletes operate out of an unemotional, calm and confident state of mind but that takes some SERIOUS discipline. To summarize this type of 'peak performance' mindset, there are two angles worth exploring - both working towards the same goal, but going about it in very different ways.

a. Creating Positive Self-Talk: Does your athlete team practice positive self-talk or have pre-determined phrases they use when entering the batter's box, receive a pitch call, or get set on defense? As silly as that may seem, one way to help your athletes be pro-active about what's happening in their heads it to put it on 'auto-pilot' for them when they struggle with confidence. For many athletes, when that first pitch gets thrown so does everything they've thought about in the days/week leading up to the game because their emotions and fears hop into the driver's seat. However, if we can help train them to have a different response in that situation, they can go back to a practiced, choreographed phrase or routine and let their brain go into that 'auto-pilot' mode. Will they sometimes still have nerves and other emotions sneak in, YES of course, but at least they have a 'baseline' or routine to go back to to hang on to (think of it like your favorite teddy bear or blankie when you were little.)

b. Avoiding Negative Self-Talk: My husband, Joel, actually introduced this to me a few years back. In one of our many discussions revolving 360U and our athletes, we were talking about the role that our mind plays in high-pressure, game situations. I talked about 'positive self-talk phrases' I've used and shared with some of my athletes. He shared with me something that he used to do during his time playing college football for the Badgers (typically in very loud, high pressure, and hostile environments) Rather than pumping himself up with phrases and more 'noise' in his mind, he would instead focus on his breath and actually REMOVING any words or outside thoughts. He'd simply try to hear and count his breath to quiet everything around him, and simply see the field before the snap. This was fascinating to me and opened my eyes to another way of getting into a great head space -- we can either FILL our minds with positivity, or EMPTY out minds of negativity.

2. disciplined mindset

Each athlete is going to be different, and there is probably a time and place for both strategies outlined above, but finding what works for your athlete and becoming disciplined about prioritizing time to practice this is key to peak mental performance. Simple as it may seem, this is a very, very challenging skill and something that takes an incredible amount of time, self-awareness, practice, and discipline. But it's something that can start small and continue to get better, just like anything! Then, you'll start to see that 'auto-pilot' mode kick in more frequently, and the more it does, the more it will become your athletes' norm or baseline mindset.

What Can We Do?

One thing I can promise you, telling an athlete once to "Be confident!" or "Think positive" absolutely will not flip the switch for them. It doesn't just turn on and off like that. It's something that needs to be practiced and emphasized consistently, or it becomes one more 'variable' being thrown at our kids during games (and we know there are already enough of those!).

So coaches and parents, what can we do? Well let's start by building time into practice to talk about these things, having discussions at home about things besides batting average and mechanics, and watching for times when you see your athlete responding to high pressure situations the right way, regardless of the outcome (i.e. a confident swing, at a good pitch, in a full count with runners on base!) and PRAISE them for that!

The coolest part about what we do at 360U, and what you all do for your athletes in these ways outlined above, is that we're developing transferable skills that will actually change their lives. They'll grow up to know that they DO have control of their thoughts, on good days and bad days alike, and will be less shaken by the outside noise that floods into our young peoples' lives and phones every day.

THIS is why we love sports.