Mental Toughness

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Re: Mental Toughness

No matter how good your technique, you will still have confidence problems; the two are not necessarily connected.

Giving you direct instructions will only work so far, this is too easy for you, you have to start thinking these things through for yourself or you will not work for them.

Liz Ward said:
...However, the state between awake and sleep is the best time to talk this sort of thing. When you let your strongest thoughts, and preconceptions, float to the back of your mind it becomes obvious what you must do.
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Big clue!
 
Re: Mental Toughness

Well, any psychological goal will be difficult to achieve on your own so set little ones.

You need to believe you are going to succeed. You need to change your mindset; you need to convince yourself that nothing is impossible and impossible is nothing!

Last thing at night, as you lay in your bed is the best time!

Turn it in to a SMART goal; take a few days to think about it if you like; you know you can do it.
 
Re: Mental Toughness

Liz Ward said:
But I wager his

BTW Tom, sleep should be one of the most important tools in your toolbox! :D However, the state between awake and sleep is the best time to talk this sort of thing. When you let your strongest thoughts, and preconceptions, float to the back of your mind it becomes obvious what you must do.
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You're right but sometimes it can be hard to switch off after a long day. I tend to find that in-between sleeping and waking period works for me - some of my best ideas have popped up then. Same, I never seem to have a pen and paper handy.
 
Re: Mental Toughness

I seem to have the mental toughness and confidence when I'm bowling, but not when I'm batting.
 
Re: Mental Toughness

belief is the key - back yourself in everything as often no one else will. confidence is a funny thing but most things can be retried if messed up and the things that yuo can't, well learn from them and use it next time to be a success.

i guess my motto is learn from the bad as well as the good experiences, all will help you in the furture
 
Re: Mental Toughness

I find visulising bowlers bowling then me hitting the ball gives me a lot of confidence before i go out to bat.
 
Re: Mental Toughness

Some really great replies here.

Almost_Austwick said:
I tend to find that in-between sleeping and waking period works for me - some of my best ideas have popped up then. Same, I never seem to have a pen and paper handy.
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:laugh: Isn't that always the way; many a million has gone unmade for the want of pen and paper :laugh:
 
Re: Mental Toughness

Sean said:
I seem to have the mental toughness and confidence when I'm bowling, but not when I'm batting.
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Batsman feel very much on their own, though playing in a team, this part of the match is very much an individual element. Everybody is watching the batsman!

The bowler is in a similar position but he has all his team mates around him, encouraging him. If he gets it wrong, he gets another chance. If the batsman gets it wrong, that's it for the match!
 
Re: Mental Toughness

KiHack said:
belief is the key - back yourself in everything as often no one else will. confidence is a funny thing but most things can be retried if messed up and the things that yuo can't, well learn from them and use it next time to be a success.

i guess my motto is learn from the bad as well as the good experiences, all will help you in the furture
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This is a fantastic attitude. Self Belief is an essential quality; if you believe in yourself, it does not matter what everybody else thinks!

Perspective is a great quality too; a cricket match is not a life or death situation. If you have a horrendous match, you live to play again and as you say, if you learn from the bad things, good things will surely come along.
 
Re: Mental Toughness

Matt said:
I find visulising bowlers bowling then me hitting the ball gives me a lot of confidence before i go out to bat.
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This is an excellent strategy. Watch the bowlers you will be batting against; analyse their peculiarities, especially watch for those who like to substitute their stock ball with another. Before you go in, visualise their deliveries and how you will play them.
 
Re: Mental Toughness

Thanks Liz.
I had been through bad experiences in my previous matches; which keeps coming back to my mind.
Especially during match day or in nets session.
Getting rid of the past demons was diffcult specially the mistakes were committed by me and team payed a heavy price.
 
Re: Mental Toughness

It is hard to put bad experiences out of your mind; especially if they impacted on others.

It is hard to accept but bad experiences are in fact good but only if you learn from them.

Accept that sometimes things do not go your way, learn from them, then forget them. The past is in the past and we live and play in the present; by keeping the bad experiences with you, you will be held down by them.

This actually works the other way too :D If you have a great experience, you cannot live by it; forget it, treat every day as a new experience and make it great!
 
Re: Mental Toughness

Ok, Liz, I'll be honest, I can't actually see me resolving this problem in the winter, purely for the fact I like/enjoy the prospect of batting in the winter. I can't 'fail' in the true sense of the word. In fact, trying think it all out is actually getting me very frustrated - to the point where I'm concluded the best way would be to concentrate on bowling, and then inevitably fall down the batting order - thus releasing pressure.
 
Re: Mental Toughness

KF, It is not really a case of whether I am impressed; I am certainly not surprised by your reply though a little disappointed, especially as A-A and so many of the members posted some great helpful suggestions for you to consider and the fact that I gave you a few days to think about it and you came back to me within one.

I struggle to get my head around your case; you obviously have some talent and judging by the syntax and semantics of your postings, are intelligent beyond your years!

If you wish to progress, you really do need to get out of the habit of receiving what you ask for instantly and start working for it.

Former Australian cricket captain, Allan Border said:

'Mental toughness is my big plus as a cricketer. Technique's important, ball skills... but sheer talent isn't the answer. There's a lot of people with talent to burn but they don't use it properly. It's your attitude more than anything. You use your skills as much as possible, recognise your limitations, and mentally you're tougher than the guy next to you.'

kallis fan said:
...I can't actually see me resolving this problem in the winter, purely for the fact I like/enjoy the prospect of batting in the winter.
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I do not see the connection between the two. Nobody has said that you should not practise your batting over the winter. On the contrary, you must practise your batting, how else will you be ready to bat when the season starts? It has just been suggested that you do not set yourself a batting goal until after Christmas.

All you have been asked to do is set yourself a psychological goal to work to. I was thinking more on the lines of confidence and, in fact, gave you all the information you needed but I think perhaps you need to change your mindset.

Just keep in mind that you can be great but talent is not enough, you must work towards its.

Now, how are you going to do this psychologically?
 
Re: Mental Toughness

Liz Ward said:
It is hard to put bad experiences out of your mind; especially if they impacted on others.

It is hard to accept but bad experiences are in fact good but only if you learn from them.

Accept that sometimes things do not go your way, learn from them, then forget them. The past is in the past and we live and play in the present; by keeping the bad experiences with you, you will be held down by them.

This actually works the other way too :D If you have a great experience, you cannot live by it; forget it, treat every day as a new experience and make it great!
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Thanks Liz,I required few words of wisdom; happy to get it from u.The article mentioned above is also terrific :)
 
Re: Mental Toughness

Ok Liz, thanks again for the response.

Firstly the self belief advice. Self belief stems from doing something in the past that means in your own mind you can succeed in the future. I personally don't think you can 'get' self belief - although I'll hold my hands up and say it is far more rewarding to draw upon successful past experiences, rather than dwelling on poor ones!!

With regards the visualisation of hitting the bowling, I just get the feeling that you can fall into the trap of pre-empting and pre-judging where the bowler is going to pitch the ball in order for everything in your mind to fall into place.

The problem is.....I've tried to be too clever. Trying to analyse everything and everything, and since everything of course does not fall into place, I've become slightly disillusioned with things. > See the blog.

I can appreciate what you're saying with regards everything being put on a plate. It's not necessarily something I can change though is it? It's going to require a change from people helping me to make me think, surely?

I think we've got our wires crossed slightly regarding the batting in winter. It's the context and the situation that sees me 'bottle it', in my opinion. And in the nets, although it is good to work on my game technically, I don't have the chance to experience the context and pressure of an actual game.

My psychological goal is to play with more freedom when I'm batting. Hopefully I'll stop the tentativeness and try to constantly remind myself to enjoy it, and that it's not a life or death moment.
 
Re: Mental Toughness

kallis fan said:
Firstly the self belief advice. Self belief stems from doing something in the past that means in your own mind you can succeed in the future. I personally don't think you can 'get' self belief - although I'll hold my hands up and say it is far more rewarding to draw upon successful past experiences, rather than dwelling on poor ones!!
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The Wright brothers knew they could fly across the Atlantic. The fact that they had not done it before [and neither had anybody else] did not stop them; they believed in their ability/knowhow!

kallis fan said:
With regards the visualisation of hitting the bowling, I just get the feeling that you can fall into the trap of pre-empting and pre-judging where the bowler is going to pitch the ball in order for everything in your mind to fall into place.
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So doing nothing is a better option? The idea is to visualise the delivery and all the possible variations so that you can make that instant decision even more instant. If its still the wrong one, so be it, it happens but it will happen less if you are prepared.

kallis fan said:
I can appreciate what you're saying with regards everything being put on a plate. It's not necessarily something I can change though is it? It's going to require a change from people helping me to make me think, surely?
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This is why, even though it would be so much easier for me; saving me so much time and effort, to give you your goal, I resist. If the people around you care about you enough they will be happy to give you the time and effort to let you grow.

Speak to your ex pro. If he knows you are willing to put the same amount of effort into your development, and more, he will be more than happy to help you.
 
Re: Mental Toughness

Liz,

I get your point to an extent - BUT, even though they had not done anything on the same scale, they must have done things in the past that helped to convince themselves it was possible?

Ok, point taken.

Yep, I can understand his point of view, and so I'd be foolish not to try it at the very least.

He seems to have disappeared!!!

Well by that I mean I sent him a mail about 2-3 weeks ago and he hasn't responded.......
 
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