Mental toughness is a phrase that is used frequently in sport. The definition mental toughness can vary from team to team even from athlete to athlete. In order to define mental toughness, the first step is to understand what mental toughness looks like in an athlete.

Think of some of the top athletes in your sport, how do they handle high pressure games, how do they handle slumps, how do they handle winning?

Pre and post-game interviews of your favorite athlete can share a great deal about their mental toughness.

• Do they talk about winning as a group?
• Are these athletes taking responsibility for their mistakes?
• Listen for them to mention ways they aim to fix any present problem

This is what the greats do. Any athlete at any age or level can take away lessons from these points.

In my personal definition, a mentally tough athlete is one who displays self-awareness, composure, confidence, growth mindset, and present focus.

This athlete notices their reactions to the current situation, they are aware if they are overly anxious or low energy for the upcoming athletic performance. Then they can utilize the proper skills to modify their energy to the necessary level. This athlete understanding their reactions to outside events are within their control and monitors their reactions to put themselves in the best position for competition. This athlete has a belief in their abilities to work through any challenge they may face. And lastly, this athlete can shift their attention and energy to the necessary task.

This can sound like a lot of different factors happening simultaneously. The 4 C’s of Mental Toughness breaks this down in a way that is easy to remember.

1. CONTROL

This is an athlete that understands the components of sport within their control and directs their attention and energy towards those areas.

The beauty about sport is that there is an inherent challenge in competing against another athlete or team.  However, in competition there are many factors outside of an individual athletes control:

• The weather
• The referee
• The playing surfaces
• The other team

When an athlete worries about the uncontrollables, valuable energy and attention is wasted. As an athlete you cannot do anything about the ref or the weather. A mentally tough athletes reserves their attention and energy on the controllable:

• Effort
• Self-talk
• Communication
• Routines

These areas are within the athlete’s control in every performance, practice or game. These components increase mental toughness and improve overall performance.

Control the Controllables

2 . COMMITMENT

An athlete who is committed has a tendency to involve themselves and take an active role in their actions and events.

A committed athlete is not just along for the ride, they are entirely involved in their sport. This is an athlete who

• Arrives to practice on time
• Is ready to put forth effort in every drill
• Understands development of skill takes time and consistency
• Works hard for themselves and their teammates

This is an athlete who has made the conscious decision to commit to competing to the best of their ability despite any the challenges that arise during the season, games, or practices.

3. CHALLENGE

This is an athlete with the belief that life is changeable and believes that events offer an opportunity for growth and development.

As previously mentioned, challenge is part of what makes sport fun and entertaining. We watch the best teams compete at the end of the seasons to see how each can manage the challenge and pressure surrounding the event. While it may not be at the same level as the pro’s there is challenge present at every level of sport.

Challenge can be viewed in multiple ways.

Negative view:

• A negative experience
• An obstacle that will prevent me from my goals
• A difficulty that will prove I’m not good at my sport

However, a mentally tough athlete has a positive view of challenge:

• An opportunity to learn
• A temporary failure that leads to greater effort
• A time for growth and development

Realistically in sport, at least 50% of those competing in a single match/game will lose. Two football teams competing will lead to 50% of the athletes experiencing the challenge of a loss. Two tennis players, two basketball teams, two fencers, all lead to the result of 50% of those competing facing a loss. In sports with individual athletes in a single event the odds are even higher. An event with 8 swimmers, will result in one swimmer winning with 7 swimmers experiences the challenge of coming behind first.

This is NOT to discourage you; the point is to recognize that challenge and adversity is a natural part of sport. Again, this is what makes sport excited and fun to be a part of!

Armed with this understanding you can be ready to face the challenges that will inevitably come up during your time as an athlete.

4. CONFIDENCE

A mentally tough athlete has high sense of self-belief and an unshakeable faith in their ability to achieve success.

This athlete understands they have done the work to be in the position to compete. They have prepared and developed the skills necessary to bring it all together on game day.

All too often athletes rely on confidence coming after a win, after a good practice, after some feedback from the coach. However, confidence can be built and developed before any of those things. Confidence comes from the active choice in believing in your abilities, understanding that personal goals and success will be met through hard work and dedication. This belief in yourself can be developed in warm ups, practice, and competition through intentional choices and actions.

Confidence is developed through intentional actions.

Now What?

These 4 C’s offer a model that is concise and centered around the controllables an athlete has influence over. I encourage you to bring these 4 C’s into your next warm up, practice, and game. The foundation of any change or improvement is self-awareness. Developing an understanding of where you are and what you’re doing currently increases your ability to improve significantly.