Sport
Psychology

Mental Toughness describes the mind-set that every person adopts in everything they do. It is closely related to qualities such as character, resilience, and grit. Mentally tough individuals possess characteristics that enable them to act in a tough manner — including an unshakeable self-belief, the ability to bounce back from setbacks, confidence in their abilities, a desire and motivation to succeed, the ability to remain fully focused on the task at hand, the ability to cope with anxiety and stress, and thriving under pressure.

As athletes reach the top level of their sport, physical ability, skill, technique and various physical attributes level out. Consequently, mental toughness becomes the vital element that separates top performers from the rest — and this is where Sport Psychology has its biggest impact.

BMT Sport Consulting's focus is on the development of mental skills using the MSI assessment tool, covering achievement motivation, concentration, confidence, goal setting, mental rehearsal, and arousal regulation.

BMT Sport Consulting uses the Mental Skills Inventory (MSI) as well as the MTQ48 as mental toughness assessment tools. The MSI was designed by a South African researcher (Wheaton, 1998) and identifies mental skills that relate to an individual's mental toughness such as goal setting, achievement motivation, confidence, and concentration.

The MTQ48 (Clough & Strycharczyk, 2012) enables us to assess mental toughness through the lens of 4 C's — Control, Challenge, Commitment and Confidence.

Mental Toughness is a major factor in: Performance (on and off the sporting field), positive behaviour, engagement and a "can do" attitude, better general wellbeing, stress management, ambition and drive, and the willingness to take and manage risk.

The answer is yes — we can. Sports psychologists and coaches would argue that they have been doing this for many years with significant evidence of success. Mental toughness is an ability and therefore it can be developed and trained just as with any physical skill.

The key question is whether we are changing someone's mental toughness or equipping them with tools and techniques that enable them to behave as a mentally tough person. The answer appears to be that where an individual wants to change or develop, it is possible to change one's mental toughness ability.

BMT's focus is to equip athletes with the tools and techniques of mental toughness so that they can behave in a mentally tough manner when it matters most.