Mind Gym: An Athlete’s Guide To Inner Excellence

Mind Gym: An Athlete’s Guide To Inner Excellence

By Gary Mack and David Casstevens

Most athletes focus simply on the physical aspect of a sport. Of course, one should do everything they can in order to be in top condition; the secret to reaching a goal has more to do than just the body. Our minds have more power than expected, with more and more athletes realizing that it can make or break a performance.

Strengthening and training the mind will require a little extra time, but the results have proven to be outstanding. Many athletes already have a strong mentality to keep them motivated, but they are doing a few things wrong that ‘Mind Gym’ explains. For example, in one chapter Mack and Casstevens reveal the effect of positive repetition to oneself. Say that you can AND will do something in order to get the desired result instead of focusing on something that you should not do. Say to yourself “Do not hit this golf ball in the water” and your chances of that ball landing in the water have massively increased. We may be on the track to doing a few things correctly, but there are tricks to the madness that must be learned and practiced.

Throughout the book there are techniques and lessons on learning how to master the mind in sports. One instrumental practice said to be a huge help is meditation before competing. Meditate about your greatest moments, and picture yourself doing everything right once again in an upcoming event. “If you take twenty athletes of equal ability and give ten mental training they will outperform the ten who received no mental training every time. This is what we call the head edge.” There is no arguing the facts. It’s time to get ahead of the game by preparing mentally.

For the full understanding, ‘Mind Gym’ relates a myriad of experiences that prove just how successful a person with a robust mind can be. There are probably thousands of tremendously useful quotes throughout the book, including “A positive mental attitude is essential to becoming the hero that is within you” and “Fear of failure makes failure more likely.”

There exists TWO answers to improving a performance and it is time that people start focusing more on the incredible power of the mind and not just the body.

-Keep this book in mind for either your present or future self, a family or friend. Give them the advice they have been looking for.-

Blog post by 2014 Summer Intern Geena Franciosi.