Mental intent – Are you serious?

Develop a mental intent model – this helps players choose where they want to position themselves in terms of performance.

None of this is necessary to be seen by the coach

Part 1

Review the following questions and answer them honestly.

How good do you intend to be?

<40%-50%:Is this something you want to do?
If your intent is here you need to think if this is the sport for you, do you want this, and if so some change is required both intentionally and habitually.
60 – 69%: Are you just turning up?
Bottom of the group, just turning up, easily found out, poor mental habits, poor effort, no determination,a pushover.
70%: Are you training to train?
One of the many, content with just being there, a sometimes performer who lacks discipline and commitment, and thinks they want to be a player but current habits do not match the intent to move up the levels.
80%: Are you training to compete?
Intending to be one of the best in our domain, disciplined and committed, perform most of the time, and see myself as the best of the rest.
>90% Are you training to win?
Want to be the best in our domain, resilient and adaptable, second best is not enough, driven to get to the top of the game.
100%: Are you training to dominate?
Being the best a few times is not enough, I want to create a legacy and and have a hunger that cannot be quenched. I want to be the best player at my age and level.

Part 2:

Scale of Mental Impact

Now get the players to use the scale of impact to provide an honest answer about their actual performance – to discover where they sit in terms of impact.

Why:

There is often a gap between where the player thinks they are and where they currently sit. This is known as the performance gap. The player needs to bridge the gap between intent and impact.


Scale	Meaning	Looks Like	Actions	Current Level
100%	Legend Master	Top three performer - They influence everything and affect the whole situation and environment	Inspiring Higher Level
90%	World Class Outstanding	Top three player in the country, consistently dominates and inspires others	Always Raises Levels
80%	Great Benchmark	Reputation for turning up in pressured situations, constantly standing out	Motivates and Wants to Win
70%	Strong Secure	Leads under pressure, contributes without being told, always willing to have a go and move forward	Shows Lots of Intent
60%	Solid Steady	Reliable under pressure, often needs to be prompted, sometimes helpful to others	Shows Potential to be Strong
50%	Entry Level Average	Shows energy and enthusiasm but makes rash choices under pressure, often uncertain in their actions	Up & Down - Means well
40%	Unreliable, Misses the Level	Consistently poor in one area, Energy, understanding or execution of key skills/tactics	A burden and carried by the team
30%	Avoidant, Hides	Consistently poor in two (of the 3) areas, energy, understanding or execution of key skills/tactics	Goes missing - a weak link
20%	Too Disengaged	Consistently poor in 3 (of the 3) areas, energy, understanding or execution of key skills/tactics Makes excuses and blames others	Negative Pretender
10%	Sabotages Everything	Is a hindrance to self and others via constant negativity, engages in conflict and interference	Constant Conflict

Download this table

Part 3:

Develop a Mental Blueprint

The following example relates to a player who does not react well when possession is lost. So this is an out-of-possession blueprint.

Mindset:
The player needs to develop the right attitude towards the impact they want to make. Example ‘Intensity is my identity’. Mindset is about how the player needs to feel.
System:
What is the plan when a loss of possession comes up? Example ‘Regain the ball or Regroup with my team’. The system relates to seeing the problem and thinking about the action required.
Skillset:
This refers to the doing element. The action that the player must take to be successful. Example ‘ Reaction to sprint close down and take the ball or the reaction to make a recovery run to get behind the ball.

Actions

Develop a series of game elements eg – loss of possession/transition to defence

Then ask this question in relation to that context:

‘I would like to be a better performer but it’s an inconvenient fact that……………

This then enables you to identify the content for a player’s mental blueprint.

This will help you to discover the aspects of the game your players need help with – having got this then you can develop the mindset, system, and skillset blueprints.

This article was designed and adapted from “Just Coach MD” – and the book ‘Perform under Pressure’, by Evans C. (2019).

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