As the football season ends, and most players are in an off season. We enter our penultimate episode for the season and as we are a step closer to the end of the mental toughness programme,  the concept of control is introduced. This is followed by an exercise (5.00) that can help expand your perception of control in challenging circumstances.

This week we return with the second edition of the mental toughness programme, and today's topic is commitment. 

I introduce the need for a philosophy (3.30), then I speak to Henry Burnett (11.00) who shares his experience at u23 level, which demands a great level of commitment.

This episode is the start of our mental toughness programme. The first component that we will cover is maintaining 'Confidence' while handling long term injury. To start off, we explore the nature of injuries and emotional stages that injuries bring (05.00). This is followed by progressive strategies to improve your confidence in the rehab process, and your ability to return to pre-injury levels (08.30). I speak to versatile player Romain Vincelot, who shares his experience in handling an injury no other professional player has yet to return from (18.00), incredible story!

This episode is a preparation episode for the upcoming mental toughness series. The components that will be discussed are: commitment, confidence, challenges, control. In this episode, there is a mini overview on each one and the prerequisites needed to build on mental toughness.  

In this episode, we explore the concept of reviewing your own performance, with steps to apply this mental skill into your game. First off, we address where players have it wrong when reviewing their game and we identify an important prerequisite to be applied before reviewing your game (1.35). We explore the steps to apply this mental skill, which is an important one for a player to develop his/her game (3.55).

We then speak to football analyst Maurice de Vaan, who describes the process in analyzing your game (8.55). We then speak to Portsmouth winger Marcus Harness who shares his perspective on reviewing his performance (14.10).

This episode is more informative and we hope motivating, rather than a focus on mental skills like previous episodes. We explore the concept of 'dropping' down a tier, and the four cornerstones that should be considered during that process (1.34). We speak to agent, Phil Korklin (3.40) to get his perspective on handling the process with a client. We speak to Barnsley forward Jacob Brown (9.50) on his incredible journey from being released, playing non-league football to now playing in the second highest division in England (Championship). 

This episode is a focus on a mindset to empower players that are battling with regular game time. We outline the defnition of 'SUBMAX' (0.30). We discuss the concept of limited game time followed by 3 strategies to being a 'submaxer' (3.00).  We are joined by Dynamo Kiev striker Fran Sol (8.00) as he shares his experiences in breaking into the team in Spain, Holland and now Ukraine.

In this episode, Sanchez is joined by Goalkeeper Chris Haigh as we explore 6 steps for you to best return to football in the best shape possible - mentally and physically. Step 1 - Identifying your Season Highlight (1.00); Step 2 - 'Repeat, Rehearse, Regurgitate' (3.20), Step 3&4 - Self Assessments (5.00), Step 5 - Practical Application (7.45), Step 6 - Mental Stimulation (11.29). Conversation with Chris Haigh begins at 13.45.

This podcast brings to you the latest sporting incidents and converts those into lessons from either a psychological, physical or analytical perspective. To give football player's the right tools to start their week!  

We want this to be as interactive as possible so do stay in touch:  Host - Sanchez Bailey: @sanchezkbailey_ FFF - @fuelforfootball