What is mental training, and how do you know if your daughter is ready for it?

Today, we start by breaking down what the term mental training means. Then, we’re giving you three key signs that can help you determine if mental training is something your athlete daughter might benefit from. 

So, what does it mean to train an athlete’s mind? In short, it means that athletes can use their mind to leverage their performance. 

There are three buckets to your daughter’s overall mental game:

1. Physical Training: The training that goes into her games 
2. Knowledge of the Sport: The tactics, her understanding of the sport, visual feedback like watching film, etc. 
3. Mental Training: This is where her confidence goes. How she responds to pressure, comes back from mistakes, manages nerves, etc.

All three of these buckets enhance the others. For example, when her physical training improves, and she gets better at her sport, we also see her knowledge of the game and mentality improve because she is more confident in her understanding of the sport.

But if any of these buckets are empty, then the other buckets are empty, too. And at that point, she can’t reach her full potential.

If your athlete daughter doesn’t have confidence in herself, then at best, she might be pretty good at her sport. But at worst, she might end up walking away from the sport that she loves.

This is why mental training is so important. It can be empowering to your daughter for her to realize that she’s in control of her reactions and thoughts. 

Here are the three key signs that she’s ready to start training her mind like she’s training her body: 

1. She’s entering into the prime age of 11-18 for mental training.
   • At this age, they start to compete at higher levels
   • This is also when female athletes experience changes to their body.
2. She’s starting to experience the “normal” parts of athletics, such as nerves, pressure, comparison, and mistakes.
   • These are the normal parts of being an athlete that often aren’t talked about. And when athletes don’t talk about these things, they can start to believe that they’re the only ones experiencing them.
   • If she can only focus on the negatives, she spirals after a mistake, she plays better in practice than she plays in the game, these could be signs that her mental game needs some work.
3. She has goals for herself.
   • If your daughter has goals for herself, this is a sign that she wants to play at the next level.
   • If she has talked about goals such as making the next team, becoming a great player, or being able to enjoy the game more, then she also needs to be training her mind.
   • When she gets to this next level, more will be required from her. The pressure will be higher, so we want to help prepare her for those situations now.

We want to help her feel confident going into any situation knowing that she has skills to be able to navigate those things. And you can help her do this!

Curious on how to get started with mental training? 

Free Training for Sports Moms is happening now! Learn exactly how to get started with mental training for your athlete daughter! We’ll be going over our proven Unstoppable Athlete Method to teach you the first steps to strengthening her mental game so she believes in herself as much as you do! 

Register at: www.trainhergame.com

Helpful Links:

• Visit our podcast website for more on this episode.
• Join our FREE Training for Sports Moms – How to Strengthen Your Athlete Daughter’s Mental Game so She Believes in Herself as Much as You Do