Mindset Mondays - Coleman Griffith: Training the Mental Mind

Coleman Griffith is widely considered the father of sport psychology in the United States because he applied psychology to athletics decades before it was common or accepted.

In his book, “Psychology of Coaching,” Coleman wrote: “Athletic ability is not alone sufficient for success in athletics; there must be present also the qualities of courage, determination, and confidence.”

To perform your best, you have to have a combination of skill and mindset. Great performance is learned, trained, and reinforced — not just talented into existence.

Instead of thinking confidence, focus, and toughness are things you either have or don’t have, Griffith believed mental habits are trained, just like shooting, tackling, or footwork.

Griffith believed coaches were teachers first. Coaching isn’t yelling effort into people — it is designing environments where mental skills like confidence, focus, and habits are taught, training, and built daily.

If you don’t intentionally train the mental side, you’re leaving performance to chance.

Griffith believed confidence comes from knowing what to do and why, and athletes perform better when instruction is clear, specific, and repeated. Confusion creates anxiety and clarity builds confidence.

Griffith emphasized learning through practice that resembles performance — practice like you play. Mental skills are built when athletes repeatedly face realistic demands. Focus and decision-making improve when pressure is practiced, not avoided. If practice is easier than the game, pressure will feel unfamiliar.

Griffith also believed feedback should help athletes learn, not just feel judged. Feedback builds growth. Corrective feedback should explain how to improve, so we should seek it if we want to continue getting better. And challenges should stretch you, not crush you. Small wins stacked over time build resilience.

Griffith believed confidence, focus, and toughness aren’t personality traits. They’re skills trained through daily habits, practice design, and leadership behavior.

Something to Think About: What mental habit do you think matters most — and how are you training them?