Over the last 20 years, if there is something that has fascinated me while working with athletes, it’s been on peak performance.
As the game has evolved, so has my understanding, as I at MyMentalCoach keep interacting and working with hundreds of athletes from all over the world year on year.
Through this evolution process, I have come to the conclusion that Mindset is not the most important thing. It is of course, the central mechanism that is needed to achieve the ultimate need of any athlete. And this need which is the most important thing for an athlete who is working day in and day out to achieve success, the sports parent who is sacrificing so much for a dream that one day comes close and one day seems so far away and for a coach, who toils in their academy, dreaming of their athletes become great sporting gifts for the nation is only one, and that critical need is achieving Peak Performance, the peak of their potential.
But what exactly is Peak Performance? How can we define it? How can we quantify it? And how can we work towards it?
What is Peak Performance?
Let’s look at the word ‘Performance’. At the basic level, a player wants to perform well and to their optimum ability in matches that they participate in.
Performance is the ability to express yourself fully, about whatever you have learned, understood, and practiced about the game.
When that happens, the player feels joy, satisfaction, excitement, and a sense of happiness. Any rewards or outcomes will add to their joy but the primary objective is to ‘perform to their fullest ability’.
But, only Performance is not enough. Any athlete would want to perform to their ability on a daily basis. There is no point if the player plays to their optimum ability one day, only to see their performance dramatically change the next day.
But, this happens regularly. The biggest challenge that players face, sports parents scratch their heads in disbelief and coaches feel helpless, is when they see this happen to an athlete.
Why would this happen in the first place, is the question they ask.
It seems a very logical and straightforward question. If a player has played their game with a certain technical prowess, tactical smartness, physical endurance, and mental strength on one day, surely, they are expected to keep doing it the next day and the day after and keep doing that. There is no reason not to!
But, all this suddenly disappears to the horror of everyone, including that of the player. What the player did the first day, is exactly what the player did the next day in terms of their preparation, then what is the change that affected them?
Surely, the technical skills – the shots and other skills that they have practiced for years together can’t disappear, the physical strength and flexibility can’t reduce to that extent where their feet suddenly feel so heavy, their hands get tight, and the tactical smartness that has come over years of experience can’t just vanish.
But, it does vanish, seemingly into thin air.
And the reason why this happens is simple. If there is one thing that can surely change, that is abstract, that which cannot be understood or controlled fully and which is difficult to measure and that is Mindset.
Suddenly, when there was clarity of thought, control of emotions, feeling of good energy, attitude, and body language on that beautiful morning, disappears the very next day, and the same mindset which seemed clean and clear is now muddled with negative and distracting thoughts, overthinking, anxiety, pressure and confusion about even the simple things.
This change of Mindset – a combination of all these factors that leads to the player being in a different Mental State – is what leads to a change in Performance.
That’s where Athletes, Sports parents, and Coaches need to understand – controlling this state of Mind, each and every time is the only way to ensure that the player is and remains in a state of emotional balance and thought control that will help them be in the right mindset to ‘perform to their fullest potential’ during their game.
But it can’t happen on its own. Mind is so complex, within us, and subjective by nature that unless there is a proper process to work on it, it is almost impossible to keep it in our on a daily basis.
Just as a player needs a Process to train their technical skills and physique, the same is true for the mind. Every player will need to have a process to work on their mind and this won’t happen by counselling and talking motivation.
It can help one day but not every day. What is needed thus, is Mental Training. That’s why, I always say “Train the Mind, the way you train your body and skills”.
Read that again.
“Train the Mind, the way you train your body and skills”.
This has been my mantra for the last 20 years and is probably one of the reasons for the dramatic results I keep seeing in my athletes.
And, when a player has developed a process of Training their mind to maintain a certain level of performance, success percentages increase and that’s where we achieve the second need of the level, beyond just Performance.
And the Second need that gets fulfilled is ‘Performance Consistency’. It is performance consistency that helps players start getting out of the negative cycle of low growth, desperation, and pressure to to greater success, faster growth, more happiness, and a sense of clarity and control over their game, which leads to further success.
But, beyond Performance Consistency is the third need of the player, where a player will not perform consistently but start getting results greater than what they can imagine, get into a state of mind where it’s not just their game, but it’s their lifestyle that they transform, they can control each and every aspect of living, all towards the ultimate goal of continuous growth, self-improvement and competing with self-not others.
And when they achieve that, their performance suddenly seems to speed up and these players will suddenly shine, and go beyond what others seem impossible to understand or fathom.
This is the state where they are not just performing consistently, they are able to Perform beyond their optimum ability and keep going upward, despite of difficult situations on and off the field and some terrible losses in between.
And this third need is what differentiates between good players who can reach a certain limit due to ‘Performance Consistency’ and great athletes who can reach this state of ‘Peak Performance’. Names that come up immediately are “Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli, PV Sindhu, Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and the Williams sisters (Serena and Venus)”.
Are Athletes Born Unique or Can They be Trained?
The question is “Are these players born extraordinary?” “Are they unique?”
Over the years, I have seen great talent, players who show performance consistency for a period of time, slip out of their game when people around them bet that athlete would become big.
On the other hand, I have seen players who do not give any signals or show great talent, swag, or X factor go on to become great athletes leaving everyone around surprised.
And finally, I have seen athletes, who at the first meeting, it is clear there is something about them that just sets them apart. And it is not about their game but the way they function.
One such example that immediately comes up is India’s current cricket sensation and dashing left-handed batsman Yashasvi Jaiswal. I had the opportunity to interact and work with him up close when he was part of the Emerging Players Camp at the National Cricket Academy in 2021.
The briefest interaction was enough to tell me that this kid is made for big things. His manner of speaking, attitude, and clarity about his game, all of which were reflected in the way he conducted himself, spoke, and played his game, gave something up.
But the larger question is, Is it due to genetics? Is it natural or God-given? Is it upbringing? Is it Mindset or is it a perfect combination of everything above with a wonderful garnishing of some X factor that can’t be quantified?
I however, have asked a rather more important question for many years and pursued that path with so many of my athletes. The question is: Can this be replicated? Can Peak Performance be developed in any player?
And after working with hundreds of such elite athletes, I am convinced that it can!
‘Peak Performance is absolutely possible and can be taught with the right process’
Dr. Swaroop Savanur
I look at Peak Performance as a process where each and every aspect of the game and their life is segregated into smaller bits of specific information and then each of them is improved on with a specific plan in place based on the player’s Off and On Season’s to reach this state of Peak Performance.
Check out this article titled, “How can Mental Training Help you Reach Peak Performance” to get a perfect and step-by-step understanding of reaching peak performance with the help of mental training.
Finally, Peak Performance is not a destination, I look at it as a path that the players get in, for a specific period in their life to achieve a desired but very challenging objective that allows their mind, body, and soul to function most optimally, each and every day, where they see the highs of successes and are able to quickly resolve the lows of their game and life and bounce back to even greater success.
And, as I practice this science of Peak Performance with my elite athletes on a daily basis, I get more and more convinced that this is the only path that is needed to achieve their greatest dream – to keep playing to the best of their ability, each and every day while going beyond the realm of the possibility in the most challenging of circumstances.
More significantly, there is a greater realisation for me. I have understood that this path can be slowly developed right from the teen athlete stage and when these building blocks of Mindset Mastery are in place, when the player’s technical skills and physical maturity come together, the Peak Performance mindset will suddenly take the player to a different level that moment in time, which gives them the competitive edge over others and gives them the perfect kickstart to their developing career as the new sporting star on the horizon.
It is with this conviction, that I, on behalf of MyMentalCoach team welcome all of you to develop Peak Performance and Mindset Mastery – the epitome of happiness, joy, and satisfaction of reaching and exploring your highest potential in the love you love so much. If you want to personally get in touch with me or my team, I am just a Whatsapp call away. Feel free to contact me at +91 9823791323 and/or email support@mymentalcoach.com for anything you require to help you on your Mental Training and Peak Performance Journey!
Yours truly,
Dr Swaroop Savanur
Mental Conditioning and Peak Performance Coach.
Founder and CEO, MyMentalCoach
