MASTERING THE MENTAL GAME

When it comes to asking for help, most of us wait until the last possible moment to reach out. As the saying goes, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!” But the truth is, in almost every area of life, proactive effort consistently defeats defensive maneuvers. That’s why offseason mindset development is essential to athletes’ long-term performance—during and after the competition.

Remember, when you’re facing a fierce opponent or fighting fatigue, half the battle happens in your brain. Your muscle memory may carry out your best skills, but it’s your brain that pulls the strings. As you sharpen your brain, you strengthen your competitive advantage.

Why focus on mental skills training during your offseason? Because new skills are best developed in a stress-free environment, not when you’re trying to snap a losing streak or exhausted from a grueling travel schedule.

As our stress levels increase, we enter what I call the psychological Red Zone. In the Red Zone, we tend to focus on the negative, feel emotionally overwhelmed, and struggle to problem solve. When athletes are in the Red Zone, they often feel anxious and worried about their mistakes. The more they overthink every mistake, the worse their performance becomes.

Consider this example of how the Red Zone can be your toughest competitor. Imagine you’re a tennis player facing match point in a Grand Slam. You step up to the service line, toss the ball in the air to deliver a winning serve, and whoosh, you miss. Twice. As your stress levels increase and your coordination falters, that double fault just cost you the point—and the momentum is now in your opponent’s court. All because the stress of the moment, the Red Zone, blocked your ability to perform at your best.

When you’re stressed, your most valuable mental energy flows away from the creative and memory-storing parts of your brain—your Green Zone—towards the part that runs your basic instincts. The Red Zone causes us to go into survival mode—not growth mode. Don’t get me wrong, mid-season mindset training is still effective! But building your skills pre-season gives you the opportunity to take advantage of your prime learning brain.

In the Green Zone, when you’re experiencing lower levels of stress, your brain is primed to learn. Not only are we better able to handle problems, mistakes, and challenges while we’re in the Green Zone, our frontal lobe is firing on all cylinders. That’s the part of the brain where clear and creative thinking happens.

But imagine learning how to drive in the left lane of a high-speed highway. No time to think. Cars weaving in and out. Dangerous speeds. It’s much harder to learn valuable skills when the world is flying towards you at 75mph.

When you’re safely in the Green Zone, you have the time and space you need to develop foundational sports psychology skills—and repeatedly practice those skills—without the constant pressure that comes with on-season. Once competition starts, the skills you learned in the parking lot are so ingrained in your memory, peak performance comes naturally.

After all, your mindset is as critical to the outcome of the game as your athletes’ performance. Why wait to build the skills you need for the full season to come?

Here’s the bottom line: Overwhelming and uncontrolled stress blocks peak performance—both in season and after the final competition. But with the right sports psychology training, you can channel stress into success, stay in the Green Zone, and function at your best.

At EleVive, we use Neuro-Regenerative Training (NRT) to help athletes, students, and sports organizations strengthen their winning mindset and their competitive edge. The result? Unbeatable performance—in the game and in the real world.

Visit EleVive.com to learn more about how our neuroscientific principles and coaching can give you an unbeatable mental edge.

To learn more about Dr. Lombardo and EleVive visit EleVive.com.