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Mental Skills Toolkit:

10 (Really Good) Reasons Why Every Soccer Player Should Read The Mindful Athlete

Published: January 15, 2022
Updated: February 20, 2023
By: Jenn Ireland

Category: Book Reviews, Growth-Mindset, Performing under Pressure, Resilience

George Mumford’s book The Mindful Athlete: Secrets to Pure Performance is a phenomenal book – it is a must read for soccer players, coaches and really, anyone involved in sports or athletics.

I’m a big Phil Jackson fan, and after finding out that George was the mindfulness coach that Jackson had working with Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant, I added Mumford’s book to my to-read list. I knew before even reading it that I would like this book (I mean, I love everything dealing with mental performance & mindset), but I did not imagine how MUCH I would like it.

The Mindful Athlete is extremely well-written, personable and relatable. Mumford talks a lot about his personal journey with mindfulness and how he has translated what he has learned, over to help athletes. This is a book about the “inner game”, getting into the Zone and being fully present in everything that you do. The main idea of the book is that athletes can use mindfulness to better understand themselves, elevate their game and elevate their life.

An important thing for soccer players to understand before diving into this book, is that you can’t solve problems with the same mindset that created them. Meaning that you MUST have the self-awareness to be able to reflect and look at yourself and your game through an objective lens – while knowing that you are probably going to have to confront some hard things along the way.

This book is jam packed with one-liners and motivational sayings worthy of being plastered all over the walls – I tried to include enough of them to get you excited about diving in and learning more from George Mumford on this all-important topic of mindfulness in sports.

Without further ado, here are my 10 biggest takeaways from The Mindful Athlete. These are the reasons that every soccer player should own (and cherish) this gem of a book.

Reason #1: This book teaches you the importance of being present

If you want to be a great soccer player, being able to be fully PRESENT, on command, is a must-have skill. It is a necessity if you want to play really good soccer. And the truth in the matter is, if you DON’T learn this skill of being present and in-the-moment, you won’t be able to reach your top potential as an athlete. And The Mindful Athlete does a great job of explaining why:

"The mind can free us up or trip us up. If your mind is filled with thoughts or emotions, you step out of flow. Whether you're playing football or a piano concert, if you start thinking about a fight you had with a friend earlier in the day, or you worry about who's sitting in the audience watching you, you'll probably miss a beat or lose your groove. If someone is talking to you but you're hearing without listening, you'll miss the communication and lose your connection."

George Mumford, The Mindful Athlete

In the book, Mumford makes the point that “The minute your mind is elsewhere, the present moment is gone.” This is where developing mindfulness skills, such as meditation, visualization and deep-breathing, come into play. These are the skills that will help you keep your mind fully focused on the present. These are the skills that fill help you focus in soccer games.

Being fully present is HARD. Which is why learning mindfulness skills need to be a high priority for soccer players. This book teaches the basics of those skills, but more importantly, The Mindful Athlete also gives you purpose behind exactly WHY you need to learn them, which makes taking on the project much easier.

Reason #2: This book shows you how to get into the 'zone'

All athletes know of the ‘Zone.’ They’ve either heard someone talk about it or they’ve had the experience themselves. The ‘Zone’ is a very desirable place to be because in the zone YOU PLAY YOUR BEST SOCCER. In the zone you are passionate, focused, energetic, intense and smart. In the zone, you are on fire.

The ‘Zone’, a state of flow, being on fire – THEY ARE ALL THE SAME THING. They are all your ability to stay intensely present and focused what is going on in this exact moment.

"We're all interested in the secrets of the Zone experience because it's the ultimate experience of optimal performance in sports. It's also, by the way, a key to eureka moments and breakthroughs in the arts and sciences. And it's a pathway to happiness and a glimpse into something much bigger and far more expansive than ourselves."

George Mumford, The Mindful Athlete

Strength and skill help you achieve high performance yes, but Mumford says that “the real key to high performance and tapping into flow is the ability to direct and channel these strengths and skills fully in the present moment – and it starts in your mind.”

If you don’t work to cultivate a state of constant presence, your mind will do its own thing and you’ll be held hostage by negative self-talk and self-defeating mindsets. These thoughts will take hold, rip you out of the present moment, and completely derail your performance.

Reason #3: This book talks about how to stay composed under pressure

When you are focused on things outside of your control, you just don’t perform as well. Ever.

When your mind is distracted, when hard things come up, when pressure mounts, when performance anxiety takes hold – soccer players need to be able to stay calm, composed and EXECUTE. They need to be able to respond and not react. They need to be able to control their emotions and their actions and play well, under any circumstances.

"We get so swept up in what's happening around us, notably all the reactive chatter in our minds, in our emotions, and in our bodies that we lose touch with the present moment and disconnect from that quiet place within. When we lose touch with that center space, we open ourselves up to every possible form of stress and tension. Think about a hurricane: If you stay in the center, you're fine. The skies are blue. You can think straight, make clear decisions, and respond intelligently and effectively. The minute you step away from that center....."

George Mumford, The Mindful Athlete

One thing that helps with performance anxiety is a meditation practice. In The Mindful Athlete, Mumford talks about how practicing for just a few minutes a day “will make it easier to slow down time and respond better to whatever actions or challenges are happening around you.” Another point in favor of starting a meditation habit for soccer players,

Reason #4: This book explains how your mind-body connection affects your self-confidence

The mind-body connection is of upmost importance to a soccer player. When you learn to operate your mind and body as one, you are playing the “inner game.” The term “inner game” comes from Tim Gallwey’s book The Inner Game of Tennis. Mumford praises Gallwey’s book as a “hugely successful book that explored the mind-body connection in traditional sport and officially put the term “inner game” in our vocabulary.”

"The player of the inner game comes to value the art of related concentration above all other skills; he discovers a true basis for self-confidence; and he learns that the secret to winning any game lies in not trying too hard."

Tim Gallwey, The Inner Game of Tennis

Learning the “inner game” will make you a more confident soccer player. Why? Because when you feel the mind and body align on the field, and know that you’ve done the work to get yourself there, your belief in yourself soars because you’ve prepared and you know you can handle whatever gets thrown your way.

When the mind is calm and at one with the body, you experience your own greatness and can surpass even your own expectations and limits again and again and again. You can hit peak performance.

And important thing that The Mindful Athlete talks about though is that achieving a solid mind-body connection and greater self-confidence isn’t so much about learning new things as it is about UNLEARNING things that hold you back. The limiting beliefs that we all have, the social conditioning that we experience – these things hold people back.

Getting out of our own way and getting away from the self-sabotaging behaviors that keep us small – that’s how you start to work towards finding balance for your “inner game”.

Reason #5: This book makes it crystal clear that you can't get hung up on mistakes

Being fully present and in-the-moment is how to get past mistakes on the soccer field. In the middle of a soccer game, you need to be able to play with relentless intensity and focus EVEN WHEN THINGS GO WRONG.

"If you missed a play, it's over. You can't dwell on your frustration unless you want to carry that frustration with you into the next play and trip yourself up with that impediment. Think about it: That past play is gone and the future play has not happened."

George Mumford, The Mindful Athlete

When you focus your attention on missed opportunities or mistakes, you are no longer in the present moment. And ironically (and unfortunately), not being fully present mentally is actually what leads to ADDITIONAL MISTAKES. You can only ever access flow or get in the ‘Zone’ when you are fully present and immersed in a mindset where “the past no longer exists and the future never will.” The eternal present is the only place to be if you want to play great.

Mumford doesn’t touch on this exactly, but I do think it’s worth mentioning: there IS absolutely extreme value in reflecting on your errors, but that’s for after the game. So when you have the time to sit down and think. On the field, in-the-moment, there’s ZERO time for that because “the minute your mind is elsewhere, the present moment is gone.” You just can’t play your best soccer when you are mentally checked out, so save the reminiscing for later.

Reason #6: This book explains why you shouldn't focus on outcomes

Focusing on an outcome, such as winning or scoring a goal, immediately takes you out of the present moment. And, as mentioned above, when you aren’t in the present moment you make more mistakes, therefore actually making it LESS LIKELY that you achieve your desired outcome.

"I'm fond of telling players that the best way to score is to forget about scoring. Focusing too much on the end result - or focusing on anything that takes you out of the fullness of the present moment - is misplaced focus."

George Mumford, The Mindful Athlete

The trick to achieving the outcome is to set an intention instead – and then fall in love with the process. Fall in love with learning and progressing towards that intention instead of fixating on the outcome.

When you only think about the outcome, and not the process of how you are going to get there, two things happen. First, it becomes much harder to actually reach your goal (aka the outcome). Second, you are more likely to feel bad about yourself and have low-confidence because your expectations for yourself (to achieve the outcome) are unrealistic and impossible to consistently meet. ESPECIALLY if you don’t have a plan for the process, for the steps to get you there.

Grow your confidence through preparedness.

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Reason #7: This book deep dives into DELIBERATE PRACTICE and why it's the key to fine-tuning your game

This idea of deliberate practice is alone worth reading this book for. It’s one of the great lessons of The Mindful Athlete and probably my top reason soccer players should read this book.

Mumford writes “Deliberate means that something is done consciously and intentionally. Deliberate practice involves focusing on and practicing one specific thing that you want to improve in your game – and practicing it with intention and concentration.” You want the ONE SPECIFIC THING to be so ingrained in you that it becomes second nature, to the point that you don’t even have to think about it, it just happens.

If you are a soccer player that wants to reach the top of the game, you have to set an intention of focusing on the process, of committing to excellence. And then use ‘deliberate practice’ to get you there. When you commit to excellence and deliberate practice wholeheartedly, you are investing in yourself and in your development.

"High performance is less about physical attributes and more about what you bring to the table when you commit to deliberate practice."

George Mumford, The Mindful Athlete

Deliberate practice requires patience, discipline and a genuine desire to learn and focus on progress not perfection. In deliberate practice you WILLINGLY commit to the process (of excellence).

There’s no defensiveness or need to make excuses about what you did or did not do, there’s only objective observations about how you are practicing – and a GENUINE, REAL CURIOSITY from yourself about how you can improve. Investigating, learning and correcting, with no judgement.

Reason #8: This book is frank about saying that how you SEE YOURSELF, creates your reality

You are what you think you are. 100%.

"I'm constantly amazed at the number of athletes I work with who are exceptionally skilled and highly talented, but who don't play that way because they don't see themselves that way. They don't have a clear sense of purpose or understand that how they see themselves creates their reality."

George Mumford, The Mindful Athlete

Your beliefs and what you think about yourself show up in everything you do. And they REALLY show up in your habits, as habits are a big part of your identity (I am someone who walks my dog every morning, I am someone who goes for an afternoon run, I am someone who puts in an hour of ball mastery training every Monday, etc.)

Habits dictate how you act on a day to day basis and they show the world what you think of yourself. If you SAY you are an invested athlete, but your habits show you are not – it’s probably safe to say that you don’t actually SEE yourself as invested. But if you say you are invested, and your habits show that you are – walla! How you see yourself, your belief in yourself, creates your reality.

What I love about The Mindful Athlete is that it addresses the problem that most of our beliefs about ourselves are extremely deep-rooted and hard to overcome. Mumford writes that, “We all have emotional blueprints that have been laid down since childhood, and it’s here that we find patterns and limited thinking that create our inner obstacles that make it difficult for us to believe in ourselves or to readily see ourselves clearly. These include deep insecurities, subtle self-critical messages, and negative self-talk that are always there, under the surface, ready to flare up, trip us up, and validate our unworthiness at the slightest mishap.”

Reason #9: This book will convince you to leave your comfort zone

Having a true, deep intention of wanting to achieve excellence in soccer is how you gain the courage to push yourself out of your comfort zone. Why? Because once you realize that leaving your comfort zone is the ONLY WAY to achieve greatness and excellence, you also realize that leaving your comfort zone is literally the only way forward.

"In order to truly thrive, you have to know your mind and body. To pursue excellence and wisdom, you've got to continually move out of your comfort zone and persistently push the envelope with intention; you have to visualize the goal that matches this intention while you do this; and you have to establish your intention and believe it, see it, and then move forward incrementally to manifest the goal, setting your own standards rather than following the herd."

George Mumford, The Mindful Athlete

The odds can be stacked against you (an uncomfortable place to be, a place where it’s easy to quit), but strong intention can help you triumph. If the obstacle is that you don’t have a certain skillset, then you’re gunna have to do the hard & uncomfortable thing and go out and figure out how to get that skillset. If you focus on the process, and focus on continually outdoing YOURSELF, you’ll move the needle towards peak performance.

Mumford says that a good way to look at it is to “make your comfort zone the horizon” and always push toward it but never arrive. You can thrive and reach high levels in sport DESPITE being less talented or less athletic IF you are constantly pushing yourself out of your comfort zone and towards your intention to focus on the process and your commitment to excellence.

Intention + action (leaving your comfort zone) = an invested player. And investment in yourself, in your development, leads to excellence and greatness.

Reason #10: This book will have you rethinking setbacks

Going through difficult situations makes you a stronger, better soccer player. It’s easy to see this in the long run yes, but it’s important to keep it in the forefront of your mind as you are actually in the midst of the hard thing.

Mumford says “It’s been my experience with all the athletes I’ve worked with, from the Lakers and the Bulls, to girls soccer teams, to weekend warriors, that while there are always calamities, extreme circumstances can make you stronger.”

"Hard knocks are blessings in disguise; they are an opportunity to think and to learn."

George Mumford, The Mindful Athlete

The way to overcome obstacles and push through is having a strong belief in yourself and your ability to figure things out and progress. How you get through is self-efficacy.

In The Mindful Athlete, Mumford describes having a strong sense of self-efficacy as “the ability to tell yourself that no matter what happens, you will take everything as a challenge, not a curse. You’ll rise to the occasion and say, “Okay, the going is touch but this is going to be great!”

The Mindful Athlete is GOLD for soccer players

This book takes a deep dive into the mindset and mental performance skills required of elite athletes. Reading The Mindful Athlete will leave players feeling that they CAN find flow and access ‘the zone’. That they CAN reach excellence no matter their current status. They can do all of these things IF they commit to becoming a mindful athlete with well-focused intention, deliberate practice, self-efficacy and the mindfulness skills to be fully present.

Overall my opinion is that The Mindful Athlete is overwhelmingly well worth the time of any soccer player who aspires to play collegiately or professionally, and of any soccer coach who wants to have a better understanding of how powerful the mental side of the game is for individual players and collective play alike.

As we finish up this book review of George Mumford’s The Mindful Athlete: Secrets to Pure Performance, I’ll leave you with his closing paragraph:

"When you are in the 'Zone', there is no room for any negative self-talk or distracting chatter. Instead you are flooded with consciousness and are fully and wholly concentrated on the here and now. This is the experience every athlete has when he or she is fully in the 'Zone'. Sometimes we call this "being on fire." All distractions are burned away. This is pure performance at its best. This, ultimately, is the path of the mindful athlete."

George Mumford, The Mindful Athlete

Hi everyone! I’m Jenn and I create content to help female soccer players and coaches maximize individual and team potential by developing healthy mindset skills. Join other subscribers and sign up for the newsletter for all my best tips and advice!

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Hi everyone!

I'm Jenn, a USSF C-licensed youth soccer coach, mental skills coach & founder here at Expand Your Game. I created this site because it is the site I needed when I was a soccer player.

About me: I am a former newspaper photojournalist who loves downtempo electronic music, guacamole and books of every sort. And of course soccer! On days off you can find me researching tiny farms in Portugal , tossing a frisbee for my dog, or tending to my growing collection of indoor plants.