MIND TRAINING TECHNIQUES AND SPORTS PSYCHOLOGY: AN INTEGRATED APPROACH TO MENTAL SKILLS FOR ACHIEVING OPTIMUM PERFORMANCE.

"I always felt that my greatest asset was not my physical ability, it was my mental ability." - Bruce Jenner (Track and Field Athlete, Motivational Speaker) Mind Training Technique is the segment of sports psychology that concentrates specifically on helping athletes break through the mental barriers that are keeping them from performing up to their peak potential. By focusing on the mental skills needed to be successful in any sporting competition, mind training technique seeks to achieve the overall goal of performance improvement. Some athletes find themselves fully prepared physically to get back into competition and practice, but mentally some scars remain. Injury can hurt confidence, generate doubt during competition, and cause a lack of focus. Mind Training Technique is to identify and enter the "mental zone" of a sportsperson. The overall aim of these techniques is to help athletes by developing foundational mental skills that can help to achieve optimum sport performance. All great coaches employ game plans, race strategies, and course management skills to help athletes mentally prepare for individual and team sports competition. This is an area beyond developing basic mental skills in which a mental coach helps athletes and teams.