Only respond to the "response question" in the "Comments" section of the blog! The other information included in the post (quotes, questions to think about) should help guide your answers. Included are things that stood out to me and questions that I think will help you in your process of developing a fearless mind.
RESPONSE QUESTION(S): Based on your reading, why is it important to focus on the mental aspect of sports? What are some reasons we might be reading this book before the season? How can developing a fearless mind help you accomplish your dreams?
Introduction
"Evaluating our own performance and trying to make it better feels good; it feels right. Our team went from a totally physical, almost mindless machine that would at times just go through the motions, to this highly alert, attuned to the reality of the moment group of individuals working toward individual perfection, united with a common purpose" (xiii).
"Playing the game at the highest levels of our ability comes down to how well we have learned to control our minds, to rid ourselves of any and all interference, and to stay focused on what needs to be done. If we allow interference into our psyche, it doesn't matter how much potential we have or how hard we train; we will not be able to make our dreams come true" (xiv).
QUESTIONS TO THINK ABOUT: How can controlling your mind help you become a better person and a better softball player?
The Dream
"No matter how impossible it all may seem... Never underestimate the power of a dream" (1).
"Our dreams need to remain exactly that-- ours. If we truly follow what we love and not what we like, what is safe and easy, or what someone else wants us to do, we will have more passion and energy; we will achieve higher levels of performance; and we will find greater joy" (2).
"Our actions define us. At the 'great end,' what do we want to look back on and remember-- a fearless life really lived, or a fearful life? When all is said and done, we are responsible for what we did with the time that was given to us" (2).
QUESTIONS TO THINK ABOUT: What "dreams" do you have for your own life? What "dreams" do you have for the upcoming season? What objectives can you set to help achieve these dreams?
It's important because your brain is a muscle, and needs to be exercised. That's why we're reading this now, so we can develop mental skills before season in order to have success.
ReplyDeleteIt's important because in order to have a successful season we need to be mentally ready as well as physically and emotionally. We can learn how to successfully achieve our dreams and how to not mentally put ourselves down
ReplyDeleteIn the book the author talks about seeing a greater win percentage during the second half of their tennis season compared the first half when they started to focus on the mental part of the game. We are reading this book now so we can be mentally prepared before the season starts and have time to apply them into our game. Having a fearless mind will help us think better about ourselves and have the confidence required to achieve our dreams.
ReplyDelete- It is important to focus on the mental side of sports because if you cant make good desicions in a moment of need causing you to make a mistake, then your physical abilities mean NOTHING.
ReplyDelete- We are reading this book before season because if we learn a key concept after when it was most needed then it is essentially useless. Therefore, we need to read the book before so we can be ready prior to when it is needed in a game.
- If we have a fearless mind then we are able to accomplish our dreams by setting small attainable goals that can be reached in a short time and continue to set goals to help you improve exponentially.
-You can't just rely on the physical stuff to help you succeed. As the author of the book said, the tennis team was well conditioned. They had all the skills down but where lacking mental toughness. But as soon as they applied mental toughness to there team the author said that they became a "machine"
ReplyDelete- I think we need to read this book for the upcoming season so that each of us can apply it to our own life and own game.
Being mentally tough in sports is just as important as being physically tough. You could be an amazing athlete, but if your mind is not in the right place, you will not succeed. The author talked specifically about that one athlete who was an amazing tennis player, but after she stopped being mentally tough, she struggled through every match and had a really hard time bouncing back after a loss. By reading this book, we will get a lot of good tips on how to stay mentally tough, and I think that's one thing our team as a whole needs to focus on. If you have a fearless mind, then you won't be afraid of failure. Most people hold back or refuse to perform certain tasks because of the fear of failure. But by having a fearless mind, we could accomplish so much.
ReplyDeleteBeing mentally tough is a huge aspect in sports and life. Like it says in the book you can be physically fit all you want, but if you don't have that mental toughness for those stressful situations you will never push through them and achieve the greatness that you want. I didn't realize how important being mentally tough was until i started playing high school sports. There is a different stress level about high school sports that really requires that mental toughness to play a roll. I loved what the coach did at BYU with his tennis players how he told them to go into every practice and match wanting to learn something from it, or get something out of it and report to him after. That idea is very similar to what we did last year with out papers that we did before and after the game, and I really felt that helped in more ways then just one. I think going into this up coming season mentally tough is going to be a huge advantage for us, and will help us so much to grow as a team.
ReplyDeleteMany people think that playing sports has everything to do with being physically tough. What people don't realize is that being mentally tough is just as important, if not more important when playing sports. I specially learned this past season that it is just as important to mentally prepare myself before/after practices or games then it is to just physically prepare myself. I believe that our team will have a great advantage this upcoming season if we all work on being mentally tough, just like Craig Manning's girls tennis team was able to accomplish.
ReplyDeletebeing mentally fit is a huge part of success. in the book it says that you can be physically fit all you want but you need the mentality. that to me is so important because confidence reall is key. if your mind is set on something you will accomplish it. I like how it says we are responsible for our success. we can't wait for someone to do it for us, we have to prepare ourselves mentally and physically to get our job done. the book also says " knowledge is action " I agree 100%. if we don't have a good mentality, all the physical stuff doesn't matter.
ReplyDeleteI think you have to be mentally tough because in sports has a lot to do with mental toughness if you're only physically fit then you can't beat someone who has a tougher mentality.I like in the book how I talked about how they saw a huge improvement in the second year when they were more focused on the mental side of the sport then in the first year when they were more focused on the physical side. I think that you need to have both mental and physical side for support. when you have a strong mentality then nothing can stop you.
ReplyDeleteBeing mentally strong in a sport is very important. For me I know that if before the game if I focused and had goals for myself I know that I'm going to try my hardest and accomplish those goals. There are so many people out there that think being physically fit is all that you need. To me you need all the mental strength to play the sport. If we all the that mental strength through out the season its going to help not only every single one of us but it is going to help the team.
ReplyDeleteI think that the mental part of a game is a huge part of the game. For me when I play I find that when I have a more of a positive, outgoing, confident, mindset I have a better game and I am able to focus. Also, it is easier to just do my best and easier to look at the positive state of the game, instead of the little negative things, which then brings more confidence and a positive spin on the game for everyone. I think that the mental part of the game is the first start to succeeding at the game.
ReplyDeleteWhen I first found out that we had to read this book, i didn't really know what to expect from it, i did know that it would teach me a lot. When I sat down and started reading it I then learned that from every sentence of this book it could teach you a life lesson. Then when I finished reading the first section I thought about a couple of things. The main thing that i thought about was that to do anything or to get anywhere in life, you must be mentally tough, especially in sports. Then i thought about it more. To play the game of softball, not just yourself, but your whole team needs to be mentally tough in order to win games. Yuu have to be mentally tough to be good.
ReplyDeleteIt's important to focus on the mental aspect of sports because, especially in softball, it's a huge part of the game. We constantly have to be thinking about what we're going to do next and what our job is. Some reasons we're reading the book is because it will help give us tips on how to be mentally fit for a game and throughout it. It will also give us inspiration before the season. Developing a fearless mind will not only help us with sports, but in life. With a fearless mind, we know we can do anything we set our minds to and that helps us win games and accomplish tasks.
ReplyDeleteYou know they always say the spores 90% mental and 10% physical so obviously if you want to become better the sport we need to work on the majority of what makes us become better so to become better we need to be aware of what we are thinking and what goes through ourmind as we are performing as in metacognition be aware of what you are thinking as you were performing because this will improve your results
ReplyDeleteMental toughness is an essential part of softball. If you don't believe that you can make the right play or hit well you'll never succeed.
ReplyDeleteThe mind is an incredible tool in striving to success. You need to have a strong head to accomplish any tough situation. The Fearless Mind book encourages me to continue to apply mental toughness not only in softball, but in my everyday life as well. Cats.
ReplyDeleteSo many people work their skills so hard and push their physical skills to the max, but they never reach the top because they fail in rough mental situations. If you don't have a trained fearless mind then your skills are nothing
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