Gaining an Edge: Training the Mental Side of Your Game

Ready to gain an edge on your competition and completely expand your game?! With fall league play and high school soccer season starting soon, who could say no?

But before we dive into HOW to gain this edge, I have an important question to ask all you Socceristas. In your experience, how much of soccer is MENTAL? How much of the game revolves around mindset and mentality? 75%? 90% Whatever your answer, it’s probably safe to say that you chose a large number.

Now, let me ask you another question. What are you currently doing to train this part of your game? Of course, you spend week after week practicing with your team and individually training to improve your game’s technical, tactical, and fitness elements, but what are you doing for your mental game?

The most common answer to that question is “uggghh……” or “nothing.” This is why Girls Soccer Network is bringing you this series: to empower all you socceristas out there to own your growth and maximize your potential by expanding your mental performance skills, reframing limiting beliefs, and uncovering authentic drive and passion. BECAUSE YOU DESERVE TO EXPERIENCE YOUR OWN GREATNESS. You deserve to play the best soccer of your life and enjoy every minute, free from the pressure, expectations, and self-defeating mentalities that often take over.

Mental toughness is your edge

Training your mental skills can help you gain an edge on your competition. How so? Well, if you were a player with stable confidence and a strong belief in yourself and your abilities no matter what was happening on the field, would that make you a better player? If you learned to let go of perfectionism and overcome the fear of failure, would that make you a better player? What if you learned to play with more focus and composure and could handle any high-pressure game situation? Would that make you better?

Yes, yes, and yes!

To train your mental skills, you first need a foundation of self-awareness and growth-mindedness. You must invest in your development and be willing to put in the work. Mental skills work can be uncomfortable and challenging. But that is also why they are so impactful and have the power to transform your game completely.

Working on the mental part of soccer helps you grow mental toughness, which is where the edge comes from. You grow your mental toughness and resiliency skills when you put yourself into new, challenging situations and practice working your way out of them. You grow your edge.

So I want you to ask yourself, are you ready to take on this challenge of expanding your mental game? Are you ready to get real with yourself? Are you ready to try new things, try HARD things?

The tools for gaining an edge

Growing the mental part of your game requires you to try new things and engage with the game on different levels than before. For example, starting a habit of self-reflection (after games, at the end of the week, etc.) is an excellent way to gain self-awareness. Also, pay attention to your thoughts and your self-talk. Being more intentional with your self-talk and using it in ways that are positive and constructive and NOT in self-defeating ways is a game-changer.

Changing the way you set goals is also extremely important. To gain stable confidence and deep belief in yourself, you need to move away from results-based expectations (winning, scoring, playing to not make mistakes). Move toward goals that are completely controllable every time you step foot on that pitch.

Mindfulness practices also come into play A LOT. Mindfulness practices (such as meditation and breath work) help you stay in the present moment and focus on the game in front of you. For example, if your head is in the past, replaying a mistake or in the future worrying about that goal you ‘need’ to score, you are not operating in the present moment, and you cannot play your best soccer.

We will be diving into all of these mental skills tools, plus more, throughout this series. This work is so important for socceristas because THIS is where you gain an edge on your competition. When you focus on training your mental skills, all the game elements start to come together. Things begin to flow on the field. So, I am so excited for you to be here with us on this journey, working to harness your power and level up your game!

This ‘Gaining an Edge’ mental skills series will help socceristas:

• understand that many of the things that plague you on the field are shared experiences (you are not alone)
• normalize the conversation around the difficult topics of mental health, self-worth, and unhealthy perfectionism in soccer
• reframe limiting beliefs and transform your soccer mindset into a healthy striving mentality
• offer new viewpoints and alternative ways of looking at repeat issues that are holding you back on the field

Up next: tackling performance pressure

Follow Girls Soccer Network so you don’t miss the next edition of Gaining an Edge. The second edition will look at performance pressure: where it comes from, what it does to your game, and how you can move past it. 

Till next time,

Jenn Ireland, Mental Skills Coach + Founder of Expand Your Game

‘Gaining an Edge’ is a 10-part series from Expand Your Game’s Mindset Mastery Academy, a transformative 1-on-1 mental skills mentorship experience for female soccer players.