How to Play Instinctively
Do you (or your athletes) focus too much on the details of playing the game? Do you over think what play you should run or become indecisive? That means you are not trusting in your skills. So, how do you play athletically on the football field?
You must embrace two different mindsets to reach your full potential as a football player. These are: (1) The practice mindset and (2) the game-time or trust mindset.
The practice mindset helps you improve your skills for future games. In a practice mindset, you work to get better and improve your skills and game strategies. During practice, you work on your game to perform your best in the next game.
Alternatively, the game-time mindset helps you perform your best in games. Here, you rely on motor memory or what you have learned from practice.
The objective is to perform freely and intuitively by relying on your football instincts. During games, you don’t want to overthink or self-coach, such as, “use correct footwork, square up, keep my head up, follow through, etc.”
In Video 4 of my series for football, I discuss 3 tips on how to trust your football skills when you get to the football field.
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Related Sports Psychology Articles
- Performing Your Best Coming off the Bench
- Mental Toughness Test in Football
- Mental Preparation for Football Players
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The Mental Edge for Football
Are you (or your athletes) performing inconsistently in games with less confidence in games than in practice? Do you lose confidence easily after a couple of blown plays? Do you become so frustrated with your game that you can’t focus on the next play? If you answered yes to these questions, it’s a good bet that your mental game might prevent you from consistent performance in games.
“The Mental Edge For Football” is a complete brain dump of the TOP eight mental training sessions we teach our football players to help them boost their mental game and improve consistency – from how to mentally prepare for games to performing under pressure to building unstoppable confidence.