Consistency: Mentally Tough or Mentally Moronic?

Weathering the highs and lows of sports is a serious challenge, even for the most experienced athletes.  Unfortunately, some athletes never seem capable of escaping the roller coaster of mental performance -- playing like champions one day and mental morons the next!

 Ndamukong Suh stomps on the body of Evan Dietrich-Smith

Here is a simple team-building activity designed to facilitate discussion with an individual athlete or your whole team that is working toward improving their mental toughness.

Directions:
Have athletes think of moments in their sport when they were frustrated, mad, discouraged or disappointed.  Then have them come up with a mentally moronic response to each moment.  Finally, have athletes develop a mentally tough response for each moment.  Athletes should record all their responses in a worksheet they can save for future reference.


Discussion:
Have athletes share their situations with the team.
Which are most realistic?  
Which do your athletes struggle with most?
What is the typical outcome of their negative response?
How can the athlete work with his/ her teammates to develop consistent mentally tough habits?