“You’ve got to ingrain and reinforce the new skills,” practice no longer makes perfect. In order to be excellent at your sport, more is required. Athletics are both physical and mental so it takes complete devotion to achieve mastery.

Practicing how you want to perform requires extra dedication in the following steps:

– Perform the skill repetitively – learn it from the coach and practice it multiple times
– Perform the skill exceptionally well repetitively – after feedback from other, practice the perfected skill multiple times
– Perform the skill very well and at speed to mimic game time conditions
– Perform the skill very well, at speed, and when fatigued
– Perform the skill very well, at speed, and under pressure
– Perform the skill very well, at speed, under pressure, and during competition

Most athletes usually stop at step 1 or step 2. In order to be ready for intense game conditions, skills and training must continue past step 6. While advancing through the steps, it is important to also train your mind to be able to repeat the same mental conditions you have trained your body to physically endure. You do this by separating your training brain and your competition brain. This differentiation is done at step 6 when you repeatedly subject your brain to the stress and conditions of competitive situations.