What Can You Do To Be Your BEST? Dan Abrahams on Shaping your Soccer Attitude
SoccerToday’s columnist Dan Abrahams shares his insights and advice for success on the soccer field for players of all ages. A global sports psychologist and author specializing in soccer, Abrahams is based in England and works with professional soccer players in the English Premier League (EPL). Abrahams has helped hundreds of soccer players – many of them who play in the English Premier League (EPL) and others who play across Europe.
You’ve probably heard your coach say it a few times:
“All I insist on is attitude.”
“Whether we win or lose I want to see everyone displaying a great attitude. That’s what counts”.
Coaches who deliver this kind of message are great coaches.
They are trying to help you focus on what you can control. Rather than over-emphasizing winning … something that a player or team can’t control, they’re underlining the importance of displaying a great attitude – which, at first glance, appears to be something you can control.
But this isn’t necessarily true.
In my opinion, you actually can’t control your attitude all the time. As a human being that’s simply not possible. Let me explain.
We’re not robots. We can’t simply turn up and switch on a great attitude all the time. It just doesn’t work that way. Our biology is powerful. Some days it’s really hard to shift a mood. Some days our personality gets in the way. Some days negativity overwhelms us. Some days we’re a little closed minded. Some days we lack a bit of spark and energy. Some days we’re overly tough on ourselves. Some days we get really nervous before we compete for no apparent reason at all.
You’re a human being … and human beings are inconsistent.
Now let me be clear, I’m not saying that your coach’s message about attitude is wrong. It isn’t wrong. What I am saying is that it’s really challenging to display a great attitude in every training session and on every match day.
So what can help us be more consistent? Mental skills!
Mental skills will help you to manage your attitude.
The ability to use all of the techniques I’ve written about on Soccer Today. The ability to use all of the techniques I’ve written about in my books Soccer Tough, Soccer Tough II and Soccer Brain. The ability to use all of the techniques I talk about in the Dan Abrahams Soccer Academy.
Mental skills will help you to manage your attitude.
It helps you to stand out!.
One of those techniques is self-talk. In short, self-talk is talking to yourself. It’s a much-underused technique in soccer.
You can use self-talk to pick up your attitude when you’re feeling deflated:
“Come on, let’s get up for this, let’s get on my toes and start working hard.”
You can use your self-talk to sustain you through some tough times during a game “I’m disappointed I made that mistake but I have to focus on the next play … keep working, keep moving, keep going!”
You can use your self-talk to instruct yourself:
“Just keep taking her on…she’s won a few tackles but if I show inside next time I’m confident I can get around her”
Dan Abrahams: You’re a human being … and Mental Skills can help you.
You see when used regularly and with energy, self-talk is a powerful tool to help you determine the attitude you display on the pitch. It can help you adjust in the moment. It can help you encapsulate the precise attitude your coach wants to see. It helps you to stand out!
Dan Abrahams: Practice your mental skills and see how they can help you.
Dan Abrahams is a global sport psychologist specializing in soccer. He is based in England and has some of the leading turn-around stories and case studies in English Premier League history.
Abrahams is sought after by players, coaches and managers across Europe and his 2 soccer psychology books are international bestsellers. He is formerly a professional golfer, is Lead Psychologist for England Golf and he holds a degree in psychology and masters degree in sport psychology.
