The Importance of Mental Training For the Tactical Athlete

For years, athletes have used a variety of training methods to harness the full potential of their capabilities, ranging from variations in load and intensity to effective use of diet and supplementation to complex periodization strategies. Much of the focus has been on the body and how to train it effectively. More recently, especially beginning in the 1970′s and 1980′s, athletes began to discover the value of mental training, and coaches, psychologists, and peak performance trainers emerged on the scene touting the value of visualization skills, mind control, ritual development, and much more. Very little science existed at the time to validate or support what worked and how.

For tactical athletes, as with collegiate and professional athletes from a variety of sports, many of these methods remained personal tradecraft used in private and with little or no outside instruction or support. It’s no surprise that athletes might find the idea of ‘mental training’ to be strange, arcane, or inaccessible. The lack of clear scientific evidence combined with a ‘show me’ perspective – often held by athletes and tactical athletes alike – has made for a slow percolation of such training into these communities.

Until very recently it was thought that once the brain was fully formed there was very little changes that would occur to the brain. Now evidence has shown that the thought patterns emotions and feelings one has can change the functionality of the brain. Over the last 20 years it has proven quite incredible that evidence now points to a changeable brain. One could even go so far as to say that proper mental training can have a marked effect on the potential for physical strength.

Tactical athletes will benefit from taking their internal training process seriously; make it a valued part of your overall training regimen. Both elite athletes and special operators have known this for years and used a variety of approaches to preparing the body and nervous system for highest function. The bottom line is this: by training your brain, you will affect both your internal function and your performance.

Mental training should be a focus on anyone who is looking for performance optimization but, should be mandatory for the tactical athlete and the professional athlete alike. Covert modeling, visualization and mental rehearsal have been spoken about in various forms. With guidance mental training skills could be a corner stone of any training regimen.

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