Exercises and Drills for Developing Mental Conditioning in Athletes

By David “Dirk” Smith, M.Sc, CSCS, SDL (He/Him)

The four pillars of athletic development that come into play are Technical, Tactical, Physical, and Mental Conditioning. The first two are unique to the demands of the specific sport whereas the last two are more generalized in the focus of athletics as a whole. To become an effective performer within your sport is to understand the development of your skills and capabilities first, as a human; second, as an athlete; third, as a player. That is, the skills and training you pursue in sport reflect upon your capabilities within all aspects of your life first and foremost. From there, you channel that into your capabilities as an athlete, which may cover a wide array of different athletic pursuits. Finally, you fine tune those skills and capabilities into your performance as a player, that is a specialist within your unique position in sport.

Athletes will hit the pitch, pool, or ice to train technics and tactics, hit the gym to train physical conditioning, but where do you train the mental conditioning? How do you train the mental conditioning? This is one of the most easily neglected components of athletic development, with athletes often told to develop it but left without the tools or knowledge in how to do it. There’s no “gym” for mental conditioning, there is only the resources you have on hand.

To develop mental conditioning is to develop skills such as mental focus, emotional regulation, resilience, confidence, grit, and visualization. All skills you channel into the physical, technical, and tactical aspects of your performance to express the best of who you are.

This is a worksheet consisting of various exercises to perform on a consistent basis as part of your normal sport training. It is important to complete these exercises across multiple sessions every week to build your mental conditioning as part of your overall athletic development.  

Recommendations regarding frequency and time will be noted on each exercise.

Action Cycle – Goal Setting (1x/week)

• Every training/competition week should begin here. Sit down with a piece of paper and consider the following questions/aspects of the action cycle.
• Reflect:
  • How did the previous week go?
    • What went well?
    • What can be improved upon?
  • Did you accomplish your goals last week?
• Reevaluate:
  • How can you adapt your plan and current state based on the outcome of the previous week?
• Repeat:
  • What is your current goal?
    • SMART Goals
    • Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, Timely
  • What is the current state of your environment?
  • What is the best action available to take.
• From here, then set out your plan and focus for the week and make it happen.
• You can also utilize the action cycle on various levels from the micro-level (seconds/minutes/hours), meso-level (days/weeks), macro-level (months/seasons/years).

Tapping Test (Before and After a training session)

• Measure of cognitive and neuromuscular fatigue.
• Use twice, once before and once after a training session to measure fatigue.
• https://smudge.io/cnstaptest/

Bust-A-Bubble (2-3x/week)

• Develop mental focus, quick decision making, and creativity under pressure.
• 2-10 rounds of the game, can change levels of intensity
• Download App- Apple (only, sorry).

Concentration Grid (Everyday)

• Designed to build mental focus.
• 3-4 rounds a session, ideally done in a high stimulus environment.
• Good to practice before training/competition while at the venue.
• Use https://concentrationgrids.com/ and create an account to track your progress or download the Schulte App (Google and Apple)

Slow Paced Breathing (2-3x/ week)

• Activates parasympathetic nervous system, releases stress, reduces anxiety, reduces overall arousal.
• 10-15 minutes per session
• Find a quiet space with minimal to no possibility for interruption. Silence phones and other possible stimuli.
• Lay on the floor, flat on your back or sit upright in a comfortable position.
• Start a metronome set between 40-60bpm, set a timer for 10 minutes.
• Laying on your back, find rhythm set to the metronome to inhale and exhale. 4×4, 5×5, 6×6, etc. Your choice.
  • Inhale fully on the rhythm, counting the beats in your mind, letting your lungs inflate and your belly pushed out.
  • Exhale fully on the rhythm, counting the beats in your mind, pushing from your belly to release all the air.
  • Repeat on rhythm until timer ends.

Cognitive Coordination and Training Drills (2-3x/week)

• The focus here is on training hand/foot/eye coordination which is useful in developing proprioceptive awareness, cognitive resilience, ability to multitask, and mental focus.
• You need a tennis ball and a floor you can bounce it on.
• Agility is optional, but not necessary.
• Two Step Forward/ One Step Back
• In and Out
• (More Coming Soon)

Visualization (Everyday)

• Practice these mental rehearsals to anticipate any number of scenarios and situations, and how you respond to them. This reenforces the physical training and helps build upon the mental resiliency of it.
• Best to do as your falling asleep or have a few moments rest.
• Visualize your performance by playing a sort of movie in your head.
• Set the scene, lay out the details as much as possible (sight, smell, taste, touch, hear).
• Play out you’re training and performance in real time, visualize it in two scenarios…
  • Everything going right, how do you want it to play out?
  • Things going wrong. What could go wrong and how will you respond?

Just like all other forms of training and practice, consistency and discipline are key for developing your mental conditioning. Practicing these skills regularly, you will note progress in your own capabilities as you utilize them in various aspect of your athletic career, but also in other aspects of your life.

What are some of your favorite strategies and exercises? Share them in the comments below!