The Right Football Mindset Can Transform You Life and Put Money in Your Pocket
A football mindset requires six critical characteristics. A football mindset is one this confident, has a growth mindset, coachable, prepares to have a willingness to work hard over a long period, has a team focus, and lastly can break through the mental blocks that derail many a career.
Football is about a team, while physical measurable is, essential especially at the professional level; athletes must have the five components of what I define as a football mindset. Football requires 24 athletes to work together to accomplish a goal because of this team aspect; other character traits are needed to foster championship organizations and winning teams.
Confidence = Swagger
Confidence is a necessary component to reach and succeed at elite level sports. Football athletes must always believe in their physical abilities, football IQ, football-specific skills. Football is a sport that challenges the athlete physically as well as mentally on every play. Your body is being challenged in a way that can easily cause you to question your physical abilities.
Experiencing a deep bruise or minor injury from a tackle or being the tackle can cause even the strongest mindset to question himself. Football is physical just as much mental do to the constant contact you have on each play. So confidence is a prerequisite of success in football. You must be willing to overcome adversity and criticism.
Growth Mindset = Good Decision Making
A positive growth mindset is continually growing, learning, finding solutions, solving problems, and making the right decisions. Football is a game of inches; it is a game of plays. 2 – 4 matches during a game can be the difference in winning or losing. 2 – 4 matches can be the difference in 4 touchdowns or four turnovers.
The football mindset is Decision making comes from your ability to adapt and learn the game while playing, making decisions on the fly because your mind is one that is knowledgeable about the playbook while also being able to grow on the fly, adapt and make decisions. Football mindset is a high football IQ that is undergirded by ethical decision making while on the field.
Coachable
An athlete with a football mindset must be coachable. Being coachable is a football player who is capable of being easily taught and trained to become a better athlete and football player. A coachable athlete is an athlete that will listen to instruction, take that instruction to apply to game day performance. NOTE:
This term has often used a way to say something negative about a player. By saying he is not coachable, yet the player may have started for significant periods a season or two. This has nothing to do with personality. This is about performance and how players can repeat and transfer mental coaching to the game-day performance by following the system. Not deviating from the football defensive or offensive system but rather doing what is asked so the pieces of the puzzle (Teammates) work in unison on the field.
Preparation
An athlete with a football mindset must be willing to prepare. A college season can quickly get to 13 -15 games that are now comparable to an NFL season. Football players are facing different defenses and offenses every week, which can be drastically different. Offensive coordinators attempt to strategize ways to exploit weaknesses and utilizes the strengths of there offensive players.
Defense coaches do the same in attempting to exploit offensive deficiencies and play on the strength of their defense, such as having a strong defensive backfield. This may inspire the defensive coordinator to blitz often to pressure the quarterback with the understanding that his athletic cornerbacks can handle any type of 1 on 1 matchup. To be a successful football athlete, you must have a mindset to want to prepare by watching the film, studying tendencies, and how other teams were victorious.
Team Focus
Success in football requires a team focus. You must be willing to do your job when sometimes you may not be the one that is celebrated by the media or given credit. Often we hear about the number of yards that quarterback passed for or the number of touchdowns the runningback ran for.
But we rarely hear about the offensive lineman that did not give up a sack in 3 games or the defensive lineman that has not allowed a single rushing yard through his gap. In football, it is often the people that do not get the credit that is the foundation of the team. For example, a group that blitz all the team ad leads the league in sacks can do that because cornerbacks and nickel backs play man to man coverage with much fan affair. The only time they get noticed is during a rare interception or when they make a mistake and give up a touchdown.
REMOVING MIND BLOCKS CAN HELP YOU MAKE BETTER DECISIONS
As a football player, when you learn how to get over your mental blocks, you will quickly realize how your mindset has everything to do with what you have experienced in life. This is not to say we may not experience horrible situations that are out of control, but that our control lies with how we respond to our circumstances.
But with that being said, when you remove the mental blocks you will quickly see how you have gotten in the way of your own football success. Removing the psychological blocks in your mind will directly improve your mental toughness, which is your ability to deal with the non-ideal situation and improve game-day performance.
Eliminating your mental blocks will boost focus and heighten clarity. When this happens, you improve your ability to make decisions.
We call this mental discernment! When you increase focus and clarity, you will improve football performance and efficiency in other areas of life. Here at Souletics, we want you to be successful in all areas of in addition to the sport.
You are now able to deal with non-ideal situations, identify where you should focus your mental, physical, and spiritual energy, and identify possible challenges and outcomes before they happen. This is what removing mental blocks can do for you!
When you have mental toughness, mental focus, mental clarity, and spiritual discernment, you have now removed all the internal and external influences that break concentration, cloud your vision, and zap your mental energy.
Removing the mental blocks allows you to separate yourself from the pack.
When you remove mental blocks, you will be on your way to the next to see an increase in your performance level, while others are still stuck in the mud, distracted by their thoughts and external influences that hold the majority of the population down.
This is not a slight, but a reality. The world is getting more toxic, with more noise and information to distract and contaminate the mind. This is why mindset fitness programs are critical to keeping the mind sharp.
Football Mindset and Learning From Richard Sherman Controversy
Everyone remembers the “The famous Richard Sherman postgame interview.’
Many of Richard Sherman’s critics would say that he demonstrated a “lack of class” with his emotional statement…
Richard Sherman was considered to be a late-round choice based on Sherman’s own assessment of what he believed were negative comments made by Jim Harbaugh during the evaluation scouting process.
But it goes even deeper!
You have an athlete like Sherman, who comes from Compton and environment, culture, and life that shows the consequences of bad choices. Death, prison, social exile, and street life happen to the most talented guys. More often, because of a system that is built on a prison-industrial pipeline that often lacks fairness and grace afforded to those in wealthier neighborhoods. But despite that, he, maintains a 4.2 high school GPA, works hard, and excels at sports.
Not only is he talented, but he does it right in all areas. Yet his college coach ignores are misunderstands who he is. I have seen this often, especially with black athletes.
Often college coaches feel more comfortable around black athletes that they can save rather then those who know what they want, work hard, go to class and try to do right. This has been a historical issue in many people having a problem with black excellence. But athlete development procedures are changing for the better, and institutions are bringing in organizations like us to help train and build championship organizations.
Football Mindset Understands the Rode Rarely Traveled
See many people can’t relate to this because most often they have settled for mediocrity, which does not require the level of discipline that greatness requires. When Sherman looks at what he has to go back to if he doesn’t make it, that infuriates him, and it should.
Most don’t realize that not every player who makes it to the NFL was the most talented, hard-working, or even the best. Many times the guys that do all the right things along with talent still don’t make it. So Sherman has some deep feelings towards Harbaugh and those that support him (Crabtree) because he knows he was that close to not getting the opportunity.
Football Athletes Must Seize Opportunity
Some would say, “well, he graduated from Stanford, he should be ok.” But I know several black men with degrees from Harvard Business School and it seems to not pay off $$$ in the same way it does for other brethren.
My point: Richard Sherman is more intelligent, more hard-working, and talented than most. Due to bias and social ignorance, some will only see what scares them in addition to feeds already preconceived beliefs they have.
What’s class? Apartheid was instituted under the supervision of so-called “socially classy” people. So the appearance of “class” is not a true characteristic of the class. Class is what “the judge” uses to control people!
That’s a very serious comparison, my point is people’s opinions, and assumptions are usually drastically diverse; as a football player, you must have thick skin. You must not be a person that is continuously swayed my social media and allowing that to impact your thinking and behavior.
You must know that you know yourself, your abilities, and your character, which should ultimately be rooted in an ability to persevere through criticism and obstacles.
Second of all, why does his behavior even bother you?
What I truly believe is that most people place tremendous scrutiny on black athletes because if in some way they make a mistake, then their greatness can be dismissed. It furthermore gives the person a reason to remain comfortable in biased beliefs about the person.
Richard Sherman Controversy – How does it compare to other Sports?
Hockey is an excellent example of athletes that get to curse, hit, spit and even have a punch-out drag out; all the while, football players get penalized for spiking the ball wrong, and NBA players get punished for how they dress and technicals for hanging on the rim too long. Why is that?
Well, you probably already know why. It’s just hard for you to admit… It’s a question of your consciousness.
On the birthday of MLK, I leave it with this:
“Shallow understanding from people of goodwill is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will.”
― Martin Luther King Jr.
I must say this morning that racial injustice is still the black man’s burden and the white man’s shame.
― Martin Luther King Jr.
To be straight, Richard Sherman is a person that exemplifies the football mindset. He prepares on and off the field. He is certainly not perfect but we can learn from his professional approach to the game and even his ability to represent himself during free agency.
Based on the above-aforementioned stats, Richard Sherman is a person with a football mindset. He is a person that is dedicated based on his commitment to excellence in all areas, including the classroom. He is confident in himself; even when he wasn’t drafted early, he was told he wasn’t good enough, and a credible coach didn’t believe in him. This could have ruined many players.
Football Mindset Websites
Football Mindset FAQ
What percentage of football is mental?
Football is 100 percent mental and 100 percent physical. You must have the physical ability to undergird your football IQ.
How can I get better at football mentally?
1. Prepare physically 2. Get a mindset coach 3. Understand the football defensive and offensive strategy 4. Be coachable 5. Understanding your position responsibilities 6. Be able to perform in high-pressure situations 7. Get support from family and friends
How do you prepare for a football game?
1. Know your position responsibilities 2. Show up for practice 3. Improve football-specific techniques 4. Study opposing teams tendencies 5. Get proper rest
What is the hardest mental sport?
Motocross, Extreme Mountain Biking and Rock Climbing. These three sports require elite levels of fitness while also requiring a mental focus that cannot make a mistake. A break in mental focus can be detrimental. Other sports require focus but the consequences for lack of focus are not as high.
What should you eat before a football game?
Foods that are power-packed in nutrients but light on the stomach. Anything too heavy can literally slow you down. Energy packed foods that are light.
What is the most stressful sport?
Boxing and MMA! These two contact sports require an athlete to be focused at all times or be injured. A broken rib, eye socket or hand injury is common occurrence. Often these fighters have these injuries while in the ring, knowing that another blow could cause serious damage. They must remain calm and focused while being under constant pressure. Say stressful! Try getting in the ring with Stipe, Mayweather, Mcgregor or Jones for 3 minutes. You will be stressed!