How to maintain mental strength as an athlete

Athletes at any level, including high-level professionals, experience pressure. Elite athletes thrive under pressure by maintaining mental toughness in their game. Baylor College of Medicine experts explain how athletes stay mentally tough - behaviors anyone can adopt.

"It is critical to develop a healthy cognitive mindset so you can effectively manage your emotions through the successes and inevitable failures," said Dr. Eric Storch, professor and executive vice chair of psychology in the Menninger Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Baylor. "Being able to train yourself to pick yourself up when something doesn't go well and to move forward is a critical element to being a successful athlete."

The ability to eventually move forward comes naturally to athletes, which allows them to reevaluate their successes and failures in an adaptive, objective manner. But individuals may catastrophize, put themselves down or have a hopeless mindset when things do not go well. According to Storch, those who take care of themselves and surround themselves with supportive peers and coaches are able to keep performances in context, learn how to manage the highs and lows and feel supported when things don't go well. He emphasizes using outcomes as a manner of feedback to grow athletically as well as individually.

"If you give up a goal in soccer, for example, look at it and think if there is something you could've done differently, or was it just a great play by the opposing team. That's feedback for performance moving forward and gives you direction on what you may have to work on. This is what successful athletes can do well: not collapse in the face of adversity or a negative outcome but view it in that mentality of 'How do I move forward based on this analysis,'" Storch said.

The noise of social media and negative self-talk might affect an athlete's well-being and performance. Athletes should try to not compare themselves to others, no matter the public discourse.

"Comparison and distraction are certainly obstacles that anyone expected to perform at a high level are going to face. While it is tempting to seek community and comfort in social media, I think these outlets generally only build the tendency to compare and create unrealistic expectations," said Dr. Sarah-Anne Keyes, assistant professor in the Physician Assistant Program at Baylor. "Hearing our own inner voice of wisdom around what works for us and what we need is paramount, and the noise of the world is very loud."

Sleeping well, eating well and being around positive, supportive people is crucial not only for athletic performance, but for overall health. When feeling down, try to get in that cognitive mindset to approach the outcome of an important match or game. Talk to coaches or other players to keep everything in perspective in terms of the outcome or mistakes during the match and try to de-catastrophize those mistakes. Keyes recommends having structure around performance to stay motivated: a song or playlist that is motivating, a meal that fuels, talking to someone who provides mental clarity or rewarding oneself after a challenging session.

"When we have a modest level of arousal, that's best for maximizing performance. However, when not 'pumped up' or excessively anxious, that is often associated with more detrimental outcomes," Storch said.

Athletes should prioritize their physical and mental health for performance and to prepare for positive or negative outcomes in their sport.

"When anyone is expecting performance at a high level, a holistic viewpoint is necessary. Everything around the actual performance matters. That means recovery, rest, recharging and getting early and frequent support. This is not to say that everything is in service of performance, it just means that to maintain mental strength and stability, athletes, students or anyone training for something (whether mental or physical) needs to stay connected to the idea that they are human and have human needs," Keyes said.