Psyche
In today's colloquial understanding, the word psyche refers to the "inner life" of a person, the "mind" - with the main components of thinking and feeling. The term physique, on the other hand, refers to everything physical or body-related. In sporting performance, physical processes are inextricably linked to thought processes or emotional processes.
The components "physical and mental energy" and "physical and mental control" described in the performance model of the Y+S core teaching material are jointly responsible for the achievement of a sporting performance. Mental skills can be moulded and trained to the same extent that physical skills can be improved. This basic assumption stands at the beginning of any training of the psyche. Just as no athlete is born a world champion and talent alone is not enough, but development and training are always part of it, no one is born mentally strong, so the athlete must also develop in this respect.
Training the mind involves the systematic and controlled improvement of normal mental processes. This includes perception and thought processes or the regulation of feelings and emotions. Practising how to calculate can also train and improve how we deal with pressure or difficult situations. The brain works like a muscle: what is practised is consolidated. Conversely, vicious circles can be broken: Stress leads to muscle tension, the perception of muscle tension increases negative thinking, negative thinking increases anxiety, the perception of anxiety leads to stress and so on.
Emotional substance and mental-tactical competence
In the Y+S core teaching material, psychological energy is referred to as "emotional substance". This refers to the sources or means that are needed to trigger actions and keep them going. These are strongly linked to motivation, self-confidence and the way in which success or failure is explained. Such processes are closely related to personality traits.
Mental-tactical competence" refers to skills that serve to regulate all aspects relevant to performance in order to achieve the best possible performance at a given time. These skills can be applied in different situations and are relatively stable over time. Nevertheless, it goes without saying that it will not always be possible to realise your athletic potential in every situation; nobody is perfect. However, training the mind significantly increases the likelihood of success.