In part one of the post on Mental Toughness, I suggested that what coaches should really call it is simply 'TOUGHNESS TRAINING'.  Why?   Well one of the most common examples of what coaches call Mental Toughness training is simply to have their players go out and run two miles!  This has nothing to do with the mental and everything to do with toughness endurance. 

In part two I want to discuss the 'Mental' part of the word Mental Toughness.

When I use the work Mental I am specifically referring to clarity of thinking.  Mental toughness is tied directly to one's self-identity and self-direction. 

The majority of our data on high school athletes reveal mental toughness is a moderately strong score.  Now this would make sense because the less clear an athete is about their own identity in their sport as well as their future playing their sport, the less likely they will be to gut it out and endure any present roadblocks, hardships, pain, or difficulties.

So how can you improve MENTAL TOUGHNESS? 

The best place to begin is to get clear about your self-identity and your vision of how far you truly want to advance in your sport/career.  Once this becomes clear, it will be much easier to endure any present obstacle that gets in your way of who you want to be and what you want to achieve in your sport!