Mental coaching involves providing gamers with a series of psychological strategies for improving their ability to confront training and competition with greater guarantees of success. Therefore, it is a specific task aimed at increasing the performance and wellbeing of gamers or anyone involved in the game’s context. The principal idea of mental training, as with physical preparation, is that a determined number of hours are needed to acquire psychological strategies. The aim is for gamers to become mental control specialists (just as they are specialists in the game they play).
However, a lot of players commit some crucial mistakes on their way to mental peak performance, leading to a waste of resources, time, and unfortunate experience. Here we will discuss some of those mistakes and how to avoid them.
1. They don’t give themselves a chance
Perhaps this is the most common mistake players admit when they start working with a mental coach. Some of the things discussed/agreed to practice are left behind at the very beginning simply because players don’t believe they are capable to do implementing change successfully.
Resolution: Even if you are right, you can’t know it for sure unless you try. So give it a chance, try to be consistent, and see what would happen.
2. They drop mental coaching if they don’t see immediate improvement
Sometimes players tend to be impatient with the process. It’s perfectly understandable that most people would expect immediate resolution of their struggles. However, they often forget that quality change takes time. While it’s true that not all improvement needs a lot of time, the ultimate goal of mental coaching is to provide quality change that would remain over time.
Resolution: Consistency and feedback are key. If you don’t receive the result wanted, give your mental coach immediate feedback. Not all techniques/approaches are effective in the same way with all players. Try to readjust what you are doing until you get your result.
3. They drop mental coaching after immediate improvement
In my opinion, this is the worst mistake. Players would sometimes receive immediate improvement and they would drop mental coaching or the exercises/practices that got them where they are. This would inevitably lead them back to their initial state of mind/being and would potentially lead to returning to the old ways of thinking/behaving.
Resolution: While you should definitely celebrate success, don’t be satisfied with small improvements. Always keep in mind that mental coaching is ideally meant to help you in the long term and help you function better as an esports player.
If you want to achieve your mental peak performance – message me at contact@goendgame.com and receive your first session for FREE.
