Who do I think is an all-time grinder?
In pool, I like Karen Corr. She was always in the shadow of Allison Fisher, but she never backed down, and sometimes she worked her way into a big win.
In other sports, well, it's a long list, so we'll try to keep it down to a manageable field.
Don Meredith, QB for the Dallas Cowboys '60-'68. His last game, up in Cleveland, he came out of the hospital to play with a broken rib, a punctured lung, and pneumonia, and oh yeah, he had a broken nose. That's mental toughness.
Tom Rathman, FB for the 49ers, '86-'94. Never the fastest, strongest, biggest, but he worked so hard that he consistently broke the facemask on his helmet every week during PRACTICE. Rathman embodied commitment.
Chris Spielman, ILB for the Lions, '88-'98, again not the biggest, or strongest, or the fastest, but had a 'nose for the football.'
He captained the Lions' defense that was one of the best statistically in the NFL in the mid-1990s. Spielman is the franchise's all-time leader in career tackles with 1,020[2] (since the team began recording tackles statistically in 1973.) He also recorded 10 sacks, four interceptions, 30 pass defenses, 13 forced fumbles and 17 fumble recoveries during his Lions' career. He was the first Lion to lead the team in tackles seven consecutive seasons since 1973, including the team's highest single-season tally 195 tackles in 1994.[3]
Spielman represented the Lions in four Pro Bowls (1990–92, 1995) and was named the team's defensive MVP in 1993 and 1994. He played for the Buffalo Bills in 1996 and 1997. In 1996, he set a team and personal record with 206 tackles.
Btw, if you don't follow football, 206 tackles in a season is Hall of Fame, video game level. Not bad for a guy that was described in the '88 draft as, "not very athletic," and "not strong or fast enough," for the game.
How do you acquire 'mental toughness'?
I think it's a combination. I think it starts with the fact that some people are born tough. But I also believe that mental toughness is a trait that can be learned.
In pool, I like to think that I'm pretty resilient. There's always more than one player in the room that is, in my evaluation, better than I am.
But I've been in that situation my entire life.
When I tried out for football as a sophomore in high school, I was a whopping 5' 5" and 136 lbs. The coach took one look at me and said, "are you sure you're in the right place?" I failed to make the team that year, but I went to the coach after tryouts and asked him what I needed to do to make the team. He said, "you've got speed and quickness, but you're too small."
I talked my parents into buying a free weight set and biked to my friend's house 5 miles away every day six days a week to borrow his bench. I forced myself to eat 4,000-5,000 calories a day. I ran 100 uphill sprints every day. I studied game film three times a week. And so on. The following year I had grown a couple inches and put on 20 lbs. And shaved a tenth off my 40 time. I tried out and made the team by the skin of my teeth. I never was a starter, but I played punt return, cornerback in situational downs, and running back on passing downs (our starting RB wasn't a very good receiver).
I believe a primary tool to learning to improve one's mental hardiness is to force oneself to do the things that you don't want to do. The things that no one wants to do. Do them often. And learn to do them better than everyone else. If you're lucky, you learn to enjoy doing them.
So for myself, when I practice, I practice all the shots I don't like, such as cross banks, table length banks, force-follows, kick shots, certain safeties, caroms, combination shots, kick-combination shots. And so on. Then when these things appear in a game, I'm usually used to much harder shots from practice than what I see in a game. So I'm pretty relaxed. Which allows me to lock in my focus more quickly.
Which leads me to thinking, "just make the shot. And don't scratch. And maybe leave the cue over there somewhere." What I don't think at that point is, "what if I miss?" Or, "what will my opponent do if I miss this shot?" Missing isn't part of the equation at that point.
This isn't to say that I don't miss, because of course I do. A lot. But I've seen countless players miss a shot simply because they bailed on it at some point right before they shot it. They gave up on it before they'd settled behind the cue in some cases. I don't do that. when I put my bridge hand on the table, I'm fully committed to the shot, for good or ill, win or lose.
I guess what I'm saying is that IMO, the only way to acquire mental toughness, is to get up off your butt and force yourself to go get it. It's not just a life skill. It's a mind set or a philosophy. It should become who you are at a core level, or you don't really have it.
Now I've rambled on way too long, so I'm out.
Peace.
In pool, I like Karen Corr. She was always in the shadow of Allison Fisher, but she never backed down, and sometimes she worked her way into a big win.
In other sports, well, it's a long list, so we'll try to keep it down to a manageable field.
Don Meredith, QB for the Dallas Cowboys '60-'68. His last game, up in Cleveland, he came out of the hospital to play with a broken rib, a punctured lung, and pneumonia, and oh yeah, he had a broken nose. That's mental toughness.
Tom Rathman, FB for the 49ers, '86-'94. Never the fastest, strongest, biggest, but he worked so hard that he consistently broke the facemask on his helmet every week during PRACTICE. Rathman embodied commitment.
Chris Spielman, ILB for the Lions, '88-'98, again not the biggest, or strongest, or the fastest, but had a 'nose for the football.'
He captained the Lions' defense that was one of the best statistically in the NFL in the mid-1990s. Spielman is the franchise's all-time leader in career tackles with 1,020[2] (since the team began recording tackles statistically in 1973.) He also recorded 10 sacks, four interceptions, 30 pass defenses, 13 forced fumbles and 17 fumble recoveries during his Lions' career. He was the first Lion to lead the team in tackles seven consecutive seasons since 1973, including the team's highest single-season tally 195 tackles in 1994.[3]
Spielman represented the Lions in four Pro Bowls (1990–92, 1995) and was named the team's defensive MVP in 1993 and 1994. He played for the Buffalo Bills in 1996 and 1997. In 1996, he set a team and personal record with 206 tackles.
Btw, if you don't follow football, 206 tackles in a season is Hall of Fame, video game level. Not bad for a guy that was described in the '88 draft as, "not very athletic," and "not strong or fast enough," for the game.
How do you acquire 'mental toughness'?
I think it's a combination. I think it starts with the fact that some people are born tough. But I also believe that mental toughness is a trait that can be learned.
In pool, I like to think that I'm pretty resilient. There's always more than one player in the room that is, in my evaluation, better than I am.
But I've been in that situation my entire life.
When I tried out for football as a sophomore in high school, I was a whopping 5' 5" and 136 lbs. The coach took one look at me and said, "are you sure you're in the right place?" I failed to make the team that year, but I went to the coach after tryouts and asked him what I needed to do to make the team. He said, "you've got speed and quickness, but you're too small."
I talked my parents into buying a free weight set and biked to my friend's house 5 miles away every day six days a week to borrow his bench. I forced myself to eat 4,000-5,000 calories a day. I ran 100 uphill sprints every day. I studied game film three times a week. And so on. The following year I had grown a couple inches and put on 20 lbs. And shaved a tenth off my 40 time. I tried out and made the team by the skin of my teeth. I never was a starter, but I played punt return, cornerback in situational downs, and running back on passing downs (our starting RB wasn't a very good receiver).
I believe a primary tool to learning to improve one's mental hardiness is to force oneself to do the things that you don't want to do. The things that no one wants to do. Do them often. And learn to do them better than everyone else. If you're lucky, you learn to enjoy doing them.
So for myself, when I practice, I practice all the shots I don't like, such as cross banks, table length banks, force-follows, kick shots, certain safeties, caroms, combination shots, kick-combination shots. And so on. Then when these things appear in a game, I'm usually used to much harder shots from practice than what I see in a game. So I'm pretty relaxed. Which allows me to lock in my focus more quickly.
Which leads me to thinking, "just make the shot. And don't scratch. And maybe leave the cue over there somewhere." What I don't think at that point is, "what if I miss?" Or, "what will my opponent do if I miss this shot?" Missing isn't part of the equation at that point.
This isn't to say that I don't miss, because of course I do. A lot. But I've seen countless players miss a shot simply because they bailed on it at some point right before they shot it. They gave up on it before they'd settled behind the cue in some cases. I don't do that. when I put my bridge hand on the table, I'm fully committed to the shot, for good or ill, win or lose.
I guess what I'm saying is that IMO, the only way to acquire mental toughness, is to get up off your butt and force yourself to go get it. It's not just a life skill. It's a mind set or a philosophy. It should become who you are at a core level, or you don't really have it.
Now I've rambled on way too long, so I'm out.
Peace.
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