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R27 v Sydney | Sunday 26th April | 5:00pm

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Posted April 28, 2015 05:04 · last edited April 28, 2015 05:05

sthn.jeff wrote:

ConanTroutman wrote:

2ndBest wrote:

Every footballer missed a 10 yards pass. Is that mental toughness? Or just an ability to do it 100% of the time.

In open play when the ball is moving and players around your are moving is different to from a dead ball though. I don't know if "mental toughness" is the phrase I'd use, I'd say calmness/ability to perform basics under pressure is more what I mean. "Mental toughness" for me means staying determined in the face of adversity etc.

Most people are affected by pressure to some degree. But ultimately pressure is something you put on yourself - if you feel that 80,00 people in the stands puts pressure on you, it does. If you're one of those random freaks who just thinks that those 80,000 people don't actually make a difference to the task you have to perform then you don't feel pressure. 

"I don't feel pressure ... I don't give a toss about it. I spent the afternoon of Sunday, July 9, 2006 in Berlin sleeping and playing the PlayStation. In the evening, I went out and won the World Cup." - Andrea Pirlo

Sports psychologists try to make professionals perform their basic technical skills the same regardless of the situation. If we are having issues with missing penalties I'd say the problem is mental not technical.

FFS. .. it is easy to get nervous taking a pen at a local park. Plenty of players better than Burns Krishna Roly et al have missed. Have you ever taken one ?

Yes, I distinctly remember missing one in a game when I was 15, thank you very much ;)

You're actually agreeing with me though by saying it's easy to get nervous taking one at the park - that shows that the issue is largely mental.

I'm not saying that we should expect our players to feel no pressure at all, but that there are certain personality types that respond better in those situations. And, those psychological traits can be developed through things like breathing exercises, visualisation, etc

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ConanTroutman edited April 28, 2015 05:05
sthn.jeff wrote:
ConanTroutman wrote:
2ndBest wrote:

Every footballer missed a 10 yards pass. Is that mental toughness? Or just an ability to do it 100% of the time.

In open play when the ball is moving and players around your are moving is different to from a dead ball though. I don't know if "mental toughness" is the phrase I'd use, I'd say calmness/ability to perform basics under pressure is more what I mean. "Mental toughness" for me means staying determined in the face of adversity etc.

Most people are affected by pressure to some degree. But ultimately pressure is something you put on yourself - if you feel that 80,00 people in the stands puts pressure on you, it does. If you're one of those random freaks who just thinks that those 80,000 people don't actually make a difference to the task you have to perform then you don't feel pressure. 

"I don't feel pressure ... I don't give a toss about it. I spent the afternoon of Sunday, July 9, 2006 in Berlin sleeping and playing the PlayStation. In the evening, I went out and won the World Cup." - Andrea Pirlo

Sports psychologists try to make professionals perform their basic technical skills the same regardless of the situation. If we are having issues with missing penalties I'd say the problem is mental not technical.

FFS. .. it is easy to get nervous taking a pen at a local park. Plenty of players better than Burns Krishna Roly et al have missed. Have you ever taken one ?
Yes, I distinctly remember missing one in a game when I was 15, thank you very much. You're actually agreeing with me though by saying it's easy to get nervous taking one at the park - that shows that the issue is largely mental.

I'm not saying that we should expect our players to feel no pressure at all, but that there are certain personality types that respond better in those situations. And, those psychological traits can be developed through things like breathing exercises, visualisation, etc