6,200 Thoughts? No wonder some of them stick!
Your brain cycles through 6,200 thoughts per day. That’s one new thought every 9-10 seconds. Put that into real life, and every time your child takes a free throw, between the foul being called and their actual shot, at least 60 seconds have passed. Six new thoughts that can support a successful attempt or derail it. What kinds of thoughts show up for your athlete in their free-throw moment, and do they know how to respond to them?
Mental performance is the ability for athletes to use their brain to their advantage. Imagine the physical progression of a cartwheel: floor, low beam, high beam, competition. By the time the athlete competes, they are confident in their cartwheel skills and know exactly what to do when the landing is off. Their physical preparation matches their performance. You can prepare your mind in the same way. Using mindfulness and intentional grounding exercises, an athlete who used to get stuck on the thought, “I’m soooooo tired!” is able to perform at their best that day anyway. It might not be a personal best, but because they’ve practiced training their brain, their mind didn’t get in the way of their performance. Some other examples of the 6,200 thoughts I’ve heard from my athletes:
“_________ is better than me!”
“I suck!”
“I have to love this all the time!”
“My coach hates me!”
“Why can’t I be better!”
“That was a stupid mistake!”
None of these thoughts are inherently good or bad… until they affect our physical performance.
In ACT (Acceptance and Commitment Therapy), an evidence-based approach widely used in sports psychology, we call this being hooked by our minds. Getting hooked is a normal part of the human experience. Even adults get hooked! I hate my job. My boss sucks. Why did this happen to me? I’m so sore. What I try to show your athlete is how to unhook and move forward. The problem with some thoughts, and in this example, “I’m soooooo tired,” is that it’s all the athlete thinks about. They can no longer focus on their good enough next move because they’re wrapped up in their exhaustion. This does not mean the athlete is not tired. Our body is good at determining what type of energy we have left. But let’s be honest, high performers have to accept the discomfort of being tired if they want to achieve their potential. And I’m not advocating for pushing through every time, because our bodies need rest, but there are times where we “feel” tired, and we still have quite a bit left in the tank. Learning what to do with thoughts as they arise is key to working with your mind.
So what can you do to help your athlete? Here's a simple three-step process that can change how your athlete responds to their thoughts, and remember, response is the key!
Acknowledge the thought…I’m tired. Don’t try to pretend you’re not. Don’t attempt to ignore or silence the thought. Some part of your body feels that way, but most likely you’re still able to compete in a way that aligns with your values.
Come back to your body. Take a few deep breaths (in for 3, out for 5), press your feet to the ground, press your fingers together or shake it out. Try one and see what works for you.
Engage in what is a “good enough next move” for you. When you’re tired, this might mean fewer made shots or not your typical defense. We can’t be our ultimate best every time we show up, but we can show up and do our best with what we have in the tank at that moment.
This 3-step process is most effective if your athlete practices it in their daily life and in practice, and then transitions to competition. You wouldn’t do a cartwheel on the high beam if you couldn’t do one on the floor. So just like physical skills, mental skills take time and intention to develop.
As you go about your day, thinking your 6,200 thoughts, one new one every 10 seconds, check yourself. What do you get hooked by? And what is your good enough next move despite all the noise?
Until next time — one good enough move at a time, so you can stay in the game.
Kim
