By Amanda Anderson
(July 14, 2022)

Mental toughness is defined as the ability to stay strong in the face of adversity; to keep focus and determination despite the difficulties one encounters (Strycharczyk, 2015). Mental toughness is one of the most crucial aspects of being a successful athlete. It is what can separate the “good” from the “greats” of athletics. In order to truly understand mental toughness, you must fully understand each of the 4C’s (control, challenge, commitment, confidence) their role in coaching, and how to develop them.

The 4 C’s of Mental Toughness

Control is the ability to handle lots of things at once and remain influential rather than controlled (Clough et al., 2002). In sport, an athlete with control keeps their emotions and arousal in check. They are able to block out distractors. An athlete with control does not let any outside influence affect their playing. A coach can train an athlete to have control by practicing in the presence of distractors. An example of this in shotput practice would be having someone stand behind the ring. Standing behind the ring while an individual is throwing is often considered to be improper because it adds movement into the thrower’s line of vision and can distract them from the throw and their form. However, it still happens and an athlete needs to learn how to deal with this distractor and block it out without allowing it to affect them. So, at practice, the throws coach can stand behind the ring to get the thrower accustomed to this and help them learn to just block out the distraction.

Challenge is being able to perceive potential threats as opportunities for personal growth and thriving in constantly changing environments (Clough et al., 2002). Challenges may include a very strong competitor, unfavorable environmental conditions, changes in training, or even the athlete’s own mental state. Regardless of the sport, challenges are bound to be present. It is what makes sports so exciting. Coaches can teach athletes to embrace the challenges that sport brings by increasing their familiarity with change (Clough, Earle, & Sewell, 2002). This may include switching up training. In the case of the shot-putter mentioned earlier, a challenge in their training may be throwing a heavier shotput, a lighter shotput, confining the space they can throw in, or changing the starting point of the throw. All these modifications will cause the athlete to change their throw which they must adjust and adapt to. As a coach when making modifications to challenge your athlete it is important to keep in mind the skill and strength level of your athlete to ensure they are capable of safely taking on these challenges.

Commitment involves pursuing goals and striving to achieve them despite difficulties (Clough et al., 2002). Commitment is what makes athletes stay in athletics and continue to compete and pursue their dreams. Without commitment, there would be no athletes. Every athlete needs some degree of commitment to go to practice every day, train, compete, and continue to sign up for athletics year after year. Sometimes being an athlete is not fun and commitment is what makes athletes stick with it even when it is not fun. A coach can foster commitment in his or her athletes by teaching them about goal setting and helping them reach goal achievements (Clough et al., 2002).

Confidence is the ability to maintain self-belief in spite of setbacks, and not to be intimidated by opponents (Clough et al., 2002). Confidence in sport is believing you can accomplish something such as a goal, win a game, or perform to a certain capacity. Blocking out any negative thoughts about being unable to accomplish something is a strength of a confident athlete. A coach can help develop athletes’ confidence by having them imagine facing and coming through difficult situations. If they can believe it in their mind, they are much more likely to make it a reality. In the shotput example, one can practice confidence by imagining themselves in a meet where they fouled on the first two throws, and they must get a good throw in order to make the finals. Imagining this scenario and practicing it in their brain can help the athlete if this situation would ever come to fruition, which is quite likely.

Control, challenge, commitment, and confidence are all pieces of mental toughness and can be developed through different training and practices. Coaches can use these 4 C’s as a guide in their coaching to ensure they are developing their athlete’s mental toughness. When programming training, preparing a speech for their athletes, or before practice, it may be helpful for coaches to look back at the 4 C’s for inspiration. 

References

Clough, P. J., Earle, K., & Sewell, D. (2002). Mental toughness: The concept and its measurement. In I. Cockerill (Ed.), Solutions in Sport Psychology (pp. 32–43). Thomson, London, UK.

Clough P. J., Newton S., Bruen P., Earle K., Earle F., Benuzzi F., . . . Venneri A. (2010, June). Mental toughness and brain structure. Poster presented at the 16th Annual meeting of the Organisation for Human Brain Mapping, Barcelona, Spain.

Strycharczyk, D., & Clough, P. (2015). Developing mental toughness: Coaching strategies to improve performance, resilience and wellbeing. (2 ed.) Kogan Page Ltd.