How Singapore's Top Athletes Stay Mentally Tough

"Training your brain is something everyone can do," according to Elle Magazine Feature Writer TAN Min Yan.

According to her, "the most successful athletes, no matter their speciality, all have one thing in common: an incredible mental toughness that helps them tide through immense physical and physiological pressures."

What are some of the mental toughness techniques used? Here's a summary list:

Singaporean Swimming Paralympic Bronze Medalist Theresa GOH uses

Visualisation
Confidence-building exercises
Mindfulness exercises
Thinking positively
Consulting with a sport psychologist to assess and working on one's mental readiness

Visualisation: Theresa imagines the ideal race plan executed perfectly. Likewise, any athlete from any sport and any level can do the same! Imagine the processes involved in your sport when performing. Here are some audio-recorded scripts for visualisation.

Confidence-building exercises: There are many ways to build confidence. One way is to repeat the above-mentioned visualisation exercises regularly many times. It gives your mind the assurance you need. In addition, being mindful of your body helps you focus on the process of performance, while thinking positively can help you boost your own self-belief.

Mindfulness: To help runners get into "the zone," Nike Running Club app partnered with meditation app Headspace(tm) to co-create audio-guided runs to give guidance on staying focused and in control of their runs. Learning to focus on and "listening" to your body or rhythm while moving is one way.

Thinking Positively: SportPsych Consulting's Founder and Chief Sport & Performance Psychologist Edgar Tham says that:

"Self-talk is fundamental to cognitive control, as it is basically our own internal dialogue. Studies have shown that negative self-talk can lead to detrimental effects like performance decrements and even depression.” He suggests framing your thoughts to focus on what you want, instead of what you don’t."

"For example, say ‘stay calm’ instead of ‘don’t be nervous’ when you’re trying to reduce anxiety. Instead of saying ‘don’t mess up or drop the ball’, say ‘keep it tight.’ Positive thinking is a very simple and powerful way to help one perform up to one’s potential by harnessing the power of the mind. It’s one of the most-used but often under-optimised mental skills!"

Working with a Sport Psychologist or Mental Toughness Coach: There are mental coaching services available to everyone. We are happy to inform you, the reader, that SportPsych Consulting is Southeast Asia's first and largest sport & performance psychology consultancy, and also MTRI's Asia Pacific HQ to deliver mental toughness coaching to everyone who needs it... Find out more here!

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Picture source: www.elle.sg

For more about the article from the Elle Singapore Magazine in which this article is based, do read more here.