Mental Toughness is a term that is commonly used in sports to describe great players. Great players are able to rise above their limitations to succeed. I think it is safe to say that every professional player has some mental toughness but some players are tougher than others.Becky Hammon is mentally tough. The undrafted guard out of Colorado State has constantly over achieved.Her latest snub came at the hands of the United States Women's Basketball Team. Hammon took out her frustrations on the Sparks and their 3 Olympians. Her performance was the epitome of Mental Toughness. What is Mental Toughness:
What is Mental Toughness and how to Develop It?
David Yukelson, Ph.D., Coordinator of Sport Psychology Services
Morgan Academic Support Center for Student-Athletes, Penn State University
Mental toughness is having the natural or developed psychological edge that enables you to: Generally cope better than your opponents with the many demands (e.g., competition, training, lifestyle) that are placed on you as a performer
Specifically, to be more consistent and better than your opponents in remaining determined, focused, confident, resilient, and in control under pressure (Jones et al, 2002)
I have yet to see a baby with a natural psychological edge. Now I agree that some children are born with gifts and special abilities just as some children are mentally stagnated due to certain circumstances but NO CHILD is born ready to meet the demands that is placed on an elite performer. The study continues:
Key psychological characteristics associated with mentally tough elite athletes Jones et al (2002):
Self-Belief:
• Having an unshakable belief in your ability to achieve competition goals
• Unique qualities that make you better than your opponents.
• Motivation:
• Having an insatiable desire and internalized motivation to succeed (you really got to want it)
• Ability to bounce back from performance setbacks with increased determination to succeed.
Focus:
• Remain fully focused on the task at hand in the face of competition-specific distractions
• Able to switch focus on and off as required
• Not being adversely affected by others performance or your own internal distractions (worry, negative mind chatter)
Composure/Handling Pressure:
• Able to regain psychological control following unexpected events or distractions
• Thriving on the pressure of competition (embracing pressure, stepping into the moment)
• Accept that anxiety is inevitable in competition and know you can cope with it
Key component of mental toughness is learning how to condition your mind to think confidently and be able to overcome frustration/self-critical negativity (reframe self-talk into what it is you want to occur)
Self Belief, Focus and Composure are learned through experiences. Just as shooting, dribbling, running and jumping are skills, so is being mentally tough. Some examples of mentally tough players are:
Tiger Woods- Groomed for greatness since birth. Woods's father was very demanding and taught his son "Mental Toughness" through subliminal messages, motivational videos and hypnotic elements from a psychologist as a child.
Michael Jordan- There have been numerous basketball players that have been bigger, stronger and faster than Jordan but none have accomplished what he has. Jordan's supreme belief in his ability came across as cocky and selfish to some. Jordan is quoted as saying, "When I'm on my game there is no one who can stop me... It is like I can play them like a puppet"
Hank Aaron- The true Home Run King played the game for 23 years without the use of performance enhancing drugs. Aaron broke Babe Ruth's home run record under the threat of death. Aaron had to hire personal body guards and place his kids in private school because of assasination plots against him during the home run chase. Through it all, he delivered.
I am not comparing Becky Hammon to Woods, Jordan or Aaron but I am saying that her mental strength is as good as anybody in basketball today. Hammon's performance in the Western Conference Finals was legendary. She refused to let the Silver Stars lose. She bullied the smaller Sparks guards, out-quicked their forwards and penetrated right at their ALL-NBA frontline. I feel Lisa Leslie is the greatest basketball player in WNBA history. If I was a GM of a WNBA franchise and could pick any player in the league while in their prime, I would not hesitate to choose Candace Parker. Parker will change the game of women's basketball. But, if I had to bet all that I owned on one player making one shot on Sunday, I would have put my money on Hammon. I have seen that killer stare before and it was owned by Larry Bird(Bird reportedly walked into the 1988 All-Star 3 point contest and said" I'm just looking around to see who's going to finish second"). I have seen that get-out-of-my-way push off before and Byron Russell was the victim the last time I saw it. Magic Johnson taught me that "Show Time" was a great team but the clutch belonged to him. For all the great team talk surrounding the Silver Stars, the clutch belonged to Hammon. She shot 10 for 18 and scored 35 out of the Stars 75 points. Hammon even out rebounded Lisa Leslie 7-5. Simply put, Hammon is the Truth and any real basketball lover can recognize that.
