01-12-10 MENTAL TOUGHNESS BY DR. KEITH WILSON
“Mental Toughness”
Dr. Keith Wilson, January 12, 2009
Mental Toughness can be executed in different types of situations. For the Louisville Lightning, they had the performance problem of two different challenges on two different days last week. They played The Ohio Vortex which was a blowout and The Cincinnati 1790 Express which was a very intense game even as the game ended in overtime. Each game required mental toughness in different ways.
Mental Toughness is the ability to play within yourself and know what is needed in the context of the game. I believe the Lightning did a great job in both games to utilize mental toughness to stay in focus in each game.
The challenge of the Vortex game was several fold; 1) Keep intensity in a blowout 2) Remember the goals of the Lightning in this type of game and 3) Not get connected to the opponents’ frustration. From a performance point of view they did this well. They were able to execute and the Vortex never lost control of their emotions. Rather they were defeated mentally and felt they did not have a chance to compete in this game.
The mental toughness challenge against Cincinnati was very different; 1) Knowing Cincinnati was undefeated at home over the past two years ,2) Not losing focus when being down 4-1 after one period and 3) Staying at optimal performance intensity to play at their best without losing their cool. It was vital to stay confident when down 4-1. It was vital to believe the Lightning could come back. It was vital the Lightning could raise their level of intensity to create their best performance in order to change the dynamics of the game. The Lightning did this well but not perfectly.
The results of the excellent mental toughness were evident. They scored 7 goals over the final 3 periods to force overtime. The intensity level was great. This high level of mental toughness produced the opportunity to take the game to overtime.
The challenge for any good soccer team including the Lightning is to recognize when players are playing dangerously on the edge of an intensity disaster which could harm the team effort. It is important for all players to create a personal strategy when they feel they are about to lose focus of the game. The skill of mental toughness is to bring high intensity to the field of play without losing game awareness. This skill is critical to high level performance.
If a player loses game awareness, they may escalate with an opposing player and become more focused about intimidating the player instead of staying focused on game necessities. Second, a player can be distracted by the fans as was illustrated by one of the Cincinnati players who became very focused on the Lightning cheering section to the detriment of his soccer game. Third, it might be letting the referee get inside your head. Referees are not perfect but you can let a bad call harm your team when you are more interested in yelling at the ref instead of remembering to focus on “what is important right now” in the game.
The Lightning did a great job with mental toughness in the tough game against Cincinnati. They illustrated that the more players stay focused with game awareness and intensity, the more good things will happen on the field of play.
