Soccer is a game of mindset. To me, there is no doubt about that and my book, Soccer Tough, presents a number of compelling reasons why, as well as a variety of simple tools and techniques to help players forge a strong mental game.

One of the little-talked about mental skills that mediates performance on the pitch is intensity. Let me borrow a passage from Soccer Tough to explain what I mean by intensity:

My definition of intensity of performance relates to both the physical and mental components of the game. To me intensity is your physical activity and mental alertness. Essentially the mental side is a form of focus - how mentally lively you are during performance. In the language of soccer it’s being ‘up for it’. The physical side relates to how much ground you cover and how you use your body.

So, in football terms, your work rate, energy, and strength on and off the ball. Soccer is a physical game. It’s a game of speed, strength, stamina and power. A soccer player must be alert, alive, lively and aware – switched on at all times. He must work hard, keep up with play and complete a succession of sprints to close the opposition down or win the ball. He must be strong in a challenge on the ground and in the air. He must be loud with his vocals and show a commanding presence as he competes. Intensity in soccer must be high enough to deliver this show of physicality. However, the footballer must also be intelligent. He must be a problem solver knowing what plays to make and knowing how to deal effectively with the opposition. He must execute tactics that have been set before the game by his coach. He must have fire in his belly but he must also have ice in his mind. There must be thought behind the movement and the runs he makes and there must be a plan. So a soccer player’s performance intensity can’t be so high that he simply runs around like a headless chicken.

Intensity is essentially your "level of arousal" but I try to avoid psychological terms – they can confuse. Just take a little time now to think about the intensity of performance from your players. Are they all hitting that intensity sweet spot? Or do some struggle to maintain the correct level?

There are a number of reasons why intensity may drop off during a game – a drop in confidence, distraction, being emotionally engulfed are just a few reasons why.

This chapter in Soccer Tough introduces the reader to my client, Anthony Stokes. Anthony was a childhood phenomenon in Ireland but lost his way in the early part of his career in England. I was called in to help him find his feet again – specifically his goal scoring touch. He was a striker who had only scored 4 goals in a season and a half for his then club, Hibernian, a Scottish based team. During our first session it soon became clear what his challenge was:

My diagnosis of Anthony Stokes targeted his intensity of performance. To my mind he didn’t play with enough mental or physical intensity. He was too much the artist and not enough of a warrior. He was too relaxed as he played and his work rate was low. I explained to him that he had to learn how to get himself ‘psyched up for the match’ and learn how to stay at the right intensity for the whole game.

On the pitch he had great vision, awareness and speed of thought and could weight a pass perfectly. However, at times during the game, he displayed a serious lack of intensity. I strongly believed he could become a better team mate as well as score more goals with a greater feeling of intensity. He had to become more of a warrior. But he had to do this without sacrificing the artist within him.

To help Anthony become more warrior-like, we worked on a simple picture metaphor. I asked Anthony to tell me what working harder on the pitch and for the team looked like. He told me he’d be defending from the front, pulling the opposition out wide and brining them in deep. He’d be constantly moving and constantly looking for space to move into. He'd be on his toes, alert, alive and lively. Once he had these pictures in his mind, I asked him if there was an animal that came into his thoughts when thinking of playing in that very intense style. He said greyhound – so from then on Stokes’s goal on the pitch was to play like a greyhound. In the warm up he thought "greyhound." As the match kicked off he thought "greyhound." If he ever got distracted he came back to "greyhound." His sole objective was to play like a greyhound.

This very simple picture metaphor helped Anthony to score six goals in the month we started working together, including the fastest goal in Scottish Premier League history. He went onto score another 20 that season and won a dream million-pound move to his boyhood idols Celtic.

Creating new or different pictures in a players mind can help them develop quicker, perform more consistently, and can bring them out of slumps. It’s a great technique. Try it!

Dan Abrahams is a sport psychology consultant who specializes in soccer. Abrahams joins the National Soccer Coaches Association of America to share his insights into soccer psychology. All thoughts and opinions in this regular feature are that of Dan Abrahams and not necessarily reflective of the NSCAA. You can find out more about his new book "Soccer Tough" at danabrahams.com.

Related Articles

An Infestation of ANTs: Automatic Negative Thoughts

Developing a Match Script

A Player's Ability to Focus and Adjust

The Messi Mindset: Teaching Players to see their Challenges in a Helpful Manner

Imagery as a crucial determinant of self-belief

NSCAA members log in to comment. Not a member? Learn more today.