Effective Mental Skills Training simply implies doing something consistently & continually that positively impacts your greatest weaknesses. Great clutch racers intuitively know what their weaknesses are & unconsciously work on them every time they train specifically.
Self confidence comes not from success, but from an intimate knowledge of your own ability & being able to access that ability whenever you choose to. By being aware of this in training & creating optimal mindsets for each type of workout, you habituate the contents of a great racing mind.
Each workout must involve not only consciously taking notes of what works, but an objective observance of how you, as the mind, is processing the workout. The better you are as an observer while you race (a skill learned in training & perfected in races), the less cognitive intervention you create, the more you allow the well-trained body to execute automatically – this is the most efficient way to use your body, & therefore the fastest! This is why great racers don’t even understand why some of us have mental issues. Racing is easy, fun & natural for them, as it is simply a question of doing the training, understanding the numbers (quantifying training) & then allowing their bodies to go out & do what it has been trained to do, while the mind goes along for the ride, with the occasional tactical input, or emotional support – like a supportive fan!
The training numbers (quantified results) must bear out that the psychological approach is working
Knowing that you are a good racer who performs to fitness & even beyond, ensures that every race, no matter the internal or external circumstances, is the best you could have done physically.
Each physical workout, especially the more intense workouts are as much mental training as they are physical. Physically placing yourself in a situation that simulates racing gives you the opportunity to:
1. Realize that there is no difference physiologically between the workout & a race
2. Consciously absorb the realization that if you handle training you can handle racing equally effectively
3. Fully focus, simulate & imagine racing through presence in the training environment