There have been many attempts to define and measure mental toughness in coaching textbooks, academic literature and even in the popular media.
Words like “persistence”, “perseverance”, “determination”, “commitment”, “resilience” and “uncompromising” seem to be used to describe mental toughness: something which clearly means different things to different people.
For some people, mental toughness is about being able to maintain composure, calm and control in difficult situations.
For others, mental toughness is related to physical “hardness” and the ability to endure pain, fatigue and stress in competition conditions and still prevail.
I like this definition of mental toughness:
Mental toughness is the capacity of an athlete to do their “job” – i.e. to do the thing or things they’ve trained to do no matter what’s happening to them or around them.
“It may sound strange, but many champions are made champions by setbacks.” Bob Richards
