ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the term mental toughness and recognizes the components of this concept in athlete populations. The concepts of goal setting, motivation, energy and arousal management, concentration, self-talk and confidence development are all elements of sport psychology training that every athlete can use to better not only their performance, but their experience of that performance as well. Achievement motivation refers to a person's orientation to strive for task success, persist in the face of failure and experience pride in accomplishments. The chapter discusses that the strength and conditioning coach cannot directly motivate athletes. It describes that the weight room is an appropriate place for athletes to set goals. Effective goal setting produces a number of beneficial behavioral changes including more productive training and practice sessions, which generally result in more focused competition behavior. The chapter explains that the athletes control their arousal levels and what some differences may be between a confident athlete and an athlete who is not.
