The Link Between Mind and Body in Sports
The link between the mind and body in sports is an age-long one dating to 300 years ago, and the early 20th century. It is necessary connectivity that enhances the individual function of both entities; one helping the other to fully optimize its function in sport and life altogether.
The world of sports is dynamic and every second, an athlete has to be sound in both mind and body to deliver their best result.
Sports go beyond the physical, even though that is all the fans see. Something propels you to do what you do as an athlete. There is first a push, then a connection with your body to take the action you take.
This push is the psychological side of sports, which often doesn’t get discussed as much as the physical side.
In this article, the connectivity between the mind and body during sporting activities. In the same vein, the role it plays in helping you attain success as an athlete.
What is the role of the mind in sports?
The mind plays a vital role in athlete during sporting activities. It connects with and sends a message to the body, in preparation for the actions ahead. Everything an athlete achieves (or doesn’t achieve) comes from the mind. So if you’re going to be successful as an athlete, your mind is your biggest tool to achieving that. Now let’s discuss in detail, what role this powerful tool plays in the life of athletes during sporting events.
Mental toughness and resilience
Your mind is the engine that fuels the ‘can do’ spirit your body executes. See the mind as the engine behind every activity the body carries out. The mind is so powerful that it can determine how you’ll perform in a competition.
For example, if you are not confident that you’ll perform excellently in a tournament, and you didn’t work on this doubt, there’s a good chance you won’t perform excellently. The reason is you have pre-conditioned your mind to accept a below-average performance already.
The toughness and resilience you need as an athlete to succeed is heavily dependent on your mind.
Concentration and focus
Your mind has a huge role to play in helping you maintain focus during sporting activities. These activities could range anything from training, competition, or personal exercise. As long as you let your mind stay alert and be in charge, you’ll achieved your desired goal 80% of the time.
For example, in a sprint race, jaw tightened, eyes focused, mind alert, muscles primed, about to take off at the sound of the gun. Your mind keeps telling your body This is the moment, let’s get this! And as soon as the gun goes off, you take off. Yes, your body is the vessel that carries out the task, but your mind lends the biggest support behind the scenes.
Self confidence
Self confidence is key in sports. When you doubt yourself a lot, it affects your communication with family, friends and colleagues, and ultimately, your performance. Before anything else, you must first believe that you can do all things if you set your heart to it.
And get some strength from knowing that, your opponents are just as you; they don’t have it figured out too.
You’re likely to give your best performance when you believe in your skill and abilities. This is a core feature your mind is responsible for. It communicates this quality to your physical self which takes it from there to manifest it by being the best you can be on and off the field.
Mental imagery
As an athlete, it’ll be an added advantage if you picture yourself in tournaments giving your best performance. This will help you live up to that mental expectation in real time without any form of pressure.
Look at it this way, when you picture yourself giving excellent performance in games, it gives you a certain good feeling. That’s mental imagery. Now you love what you see. Your body tries to adjust to deliver on what you have imagined.
To your astonishment, you’ll end up performing just the way you imagined, or at least, close to. Either way, it’s a win for you. Studies have shown that athlete who visualize success often attain it in competition. That is the power of the mind. Use it to your advantage; your glory.
Emotion management
Emotions such as fear or anger can affect your performance as an athlete. And that’s where your mind comes in by regulating these emotions and putting you in an emotional check and balance. You will perform your best when you are emotionally balanced.
Top athletes have mastered emotion management techniques, so when they are faced with it, they know how to keep it in check. As an athlete, it’s important that you develop a mechanism to manage your emotions so everything else (including your sports career) would not take the fall for it.
What is More Important in Sports, the mind or body?
300 years ago, every system of medicine treated the and body as a whole. Then in the 17th century, when the Western World began to see the mind and body as two different entities that required different approaches to healing. The body was seen as a machine that depends on no other part of the body, including the mind, to function.
Until the 20th century when modern researchers began to find study the relationship of both entities. Scientifically, they proved there is a link between the mind and body in sports and in general known as bodymind.
Back to sports. Both the body and mind are equally important in sports. One cannot function successfully without the order. The mind is a strong vessel that sends messages to the body. The body reacts based on the signal the mind sends. If it’s a positive signal, it’ll manifest in that order, and if it’s negative, it’ll manifest accordingly.
In summary both body and mind play vital unique roles to helping you stay mentally and physically healthy in your sport career. Remember, only healthy athletes play in competitions.
To Wrap It Up
The mind is one of the most instrumental tools in sports as its role in determining how well—or poorly—you’ll perform cannot be overlooked.
It works hand in hand with your body to get the results you desire for your sports career. Therefore as you train your body regularly, endeavor to train your mind too.
For more in-person training sessions, visit Sportconn, sign up, and start connecting with sports coaches who can train and help you blend your mind body to perform your best in future tournaments.