The Mental Edge

​You are an athlete. You want to get the best possible performance from your talent and hard work. You have good physical skills and excellent fitness. But have you trained your mind? 
 
Have you ever wondered why one player performs better than the other? Often it’s not that one person has better skills than the other; it has more to do with how you prepare mentally for your game. During a practice session, two players can perform equally. But when it comes to performing in a game, one of the players regularly comes out on top.
 
Some of this is down to the baggage we carry with us leftover from a negative experience as a youth or a recent dip in form. It’s true that all athletes are fragile at best; some let little things beyond their control determine the outcome of their performance. 
 
You can learn to set effective goals, deal with wins and losses, be a leader, concentrate better, be more confident, stay composed under pressure, and enjoy your experiences in sport. Such skills are trainable and controllable, and when executed, they can significantly increase the likelihood that your performance will improve.

Your Ideal Performance State (IPS) is a unique psychological state that allows athletes to perform at or near potential. Commonly referred to as "the Zone," a state in which everything flows, you play as if on autopilot, and it feels great. 
 
Adequately prepared, both mentally and physically, for a game increases your ability to enter your IPS. The first step to obtaining IPS is tracking previous successes and failures to identity KEY FACTORS that enhanced your performance and detracted from your performance. We will then use this information to identify a preparation strategy to help you get into your IPS. You will go into each game feeling CONFIDENT, in CONTROL, COMPOSED and CONSISTENTLY perform at your BEST in all competitive situations.
 
After every game, you will be required to fill out the form located under the heading Ideal Performance State.  Together, we will work toward creating your pre-game preparation strategy that maximizes your performance.  This form is completely confidential, and your responses will not be shared with members of the coaching staff or team.
 
Please remember the following:-
It's your thoughts/feelings on your game, so there are no wrong answers. 
Do not discuss your performance with your teammates or friends until after you have submitted your IPS.
​

---

Ideal Performance State (IPS) is a unique psychological state that allows athletes to perform at or near their potential. 
Its general characteristics are as follows:

1. energized, but relaxed, no fear
2. higher self-confidence
3. better concentration - appropriately focused
4. unforced control
5. positive preoccupation with sport
6. determination and commitment

To perform at this level, we must learn to evoke their IPS consistently. To do so, you must:
Identify your IPS. 

1. Athletes must become aware of the experience of optimal performance, and they must reflect on the psychological state that allowed them to perform at that level.
2. Develop a pre-competition strategy to evoke and maintain IPS.
3. Develop a competition strategy to evoke and maintain your IPS.

What you need to do:

1. After every competition, rank your performance from high to poor.
2. Check the word that appropriately describes your Emotional Control, Mental Focus and Physical Feelings before you played.
3. Try to determine what you did to bring about these feelings

These are your thoughts and responses. 
You do not have to share this information with anyone other than the software that stores your information. 
Your responses are confidential.

Your challenge is to complete your IPS after every game you play for the next four weeks.
​You may be surprised by the results.

Enter your IPS

---