Mental Toughness controlling the ‘Mind Factor’
Ask any top sports coach what is the difference between the average sports person and the very top player in their sport is, and the chances are part of their answer will highlight mental toughness as the major differentiator that sets them apart.
Statements like ‘the game is 90% mental’ are meaningless unless we can measure and train this elusive skill. So what is ‘mental toughness’ and how do we measure and learn it?
At AxiaMetrics we are pleased to be working with one of the world’s leading Sports Mind coaches, Dr Karl Morris. Karl has been demystifying the mind factor for the past 20 years and his list of clients and their achievements tells you all you need to know about Karl and the effectiveness of his techniques; Lee Westwood, Greame McDowell, Charl Schwartzel, Michael Vaughn, Darren Clark and The English RFU are to name but a few.
In 2010 when he was introduced to the Axia Profile this is what Karl said:
‘ I have been searching for some time for a profiling tool that accurately diagnoses the issues that I work with my clients on. Many of my initial sessions with a client are spent trying to get to the route of the problem.’
‘ When I first saw my own Personal Performance Assessment report I realised here was a tool that was not subjective on the taker and that would provide me with an accurate diagnosis of my clients mental toughness strengths and developments, including identify the reasons why they were doing what they were doing’
We have since used Karl’s interventions in conjunction with the Axia Profile at London Wasps, the English RFU Elite Coaches workshops, the National Cricket Performance Centre, and with a number of Top European Tour Pros.
Michael Hoey is a member of the European Tour, Michael completed the profile in December 2010 as part of his personal development work with Karl. We are pleased to be able to congratulate Michael on winning the Madeira Islands Open in May 2011.
Using the Personal Performance Assessment report from AxiaMetrics is equally as effective in business as it is for top sports people. Click on any of the competencies in this diagram to see the mental toughness issues that this report diagnoses and see the competences and Karl’s interventions that can be used to improve your performance.
“…the modern professional rugby coach shares common challenges with the modern business leader e.g. identifying, selecting and developing people and teams with the potential to perform successfully in a highly pressured environment is common to both domains …..learning from Axia’s personal profiling process and Karl Morris’ world-class coaching skills has given coaches on our Elite Coach Development programme the game-changing learning that helps our best coaches get better. I would strongly recommend anyone wanting to strive for performance excellence to have a chat with them to see how they can help take your team to the next level….”
Kevin Bowring, Head of Elite Coach Development, Rugby Football Union: May 2011
