Ant Middleton Quotes

The last thing, and the only one that you cannot physically train for, is the psychological preparation.

When you reach that elite level, 90 percent is mental and 10 percent is physical. You are competing against yourself. Not against the other athlete.

During my first Olympics in 1980, at the age of 23, I was physically in great condition but mentally too inexperienced to cope comfortably in the pressure cooker of an Olympic year.

I know if I want to have a chance to beat the top players, I need to be mentally ready for that.

The more mental strength you have, the better. If you look at some of the best players that we have seen over the years and that I have been playing with, mentally they are the best competitors as well, something I have worked hard on.

Mental strength is really important because you either win or lose in your mind. And I'm not solely talking about sporting matches, boxing events - anything you do, you do it first with your mental strength. And you can actually train and develop it, and I am responsible for what I'm saying because I have experience with that.

I am mentally strong.

When the body doesn't want to go on, the mind continues to fight.

I believe in greater self-sufficiency. International sport is tough, no doubt, but there shouldn't be too many crutches. In most cases sports psychologists are crutches, and they tend to soften rather than harden the players.

Preparedness for a game that usually lasts four-five hours requires good physical condition and also steady nerves.

I've been in a poor physical shape many times in my career and I've had some of my best results. My best performances happened because my mind was in the right place. The mind is definitely stronger than the body.

Tennis is a psychological sport, you have to keep a clear head. That is why I stopped playing.

To win Grand Slams you have to be in the right frame of mind, the right physical shape.

You can wish as hard as you like but all that really matters is the shape you're in on the day of the race. I've always felt these really big races aren't necessarily won by whoever is the fastest. They're won by the athlete who is the smartest and in the best shape on the day.

For me, it was very important to be part of a boxing film that actually explores the psychological aspects of the sport, more than just the physical aspects. I haven't seen boxing movies very often that really go so deep into the minds of the boxers. It really puts out how much it is about strategy and tactics and technique.

Rather than realizing immediate physiological gain, the challenge is more about reducing the mental attrition from the two days to maximize each event.

Psychological edge is massive in sprinting.

My whole thing is I don't want to break mentally. I want to find comfort in uncomfortable situations.

How prepared we are mentally is very important.

I've seen the worst. In my head, I've seen the worst. When I go into a fight, I'm all right. You know what I'm saying? I've already made it.

My mental strength was definitely a weakness back in the karting days, and I've worked hard on that to be as ready as possible for whenever I had the chance in F1.

The mental aspect of kicking is the difficult part. Physically, we still have to be in shape and perform on the field, but the thing that separates the ones who make it versus the ones who don't is definitely the mental side.

At times, you are mentally but not physically prepared; at times, you are physically but not mentally prepared. I would be lying if I said it doesn't affect your performance. But the sooner you get over it, the better. So you discipline yourself. That is why fitness counts.

I feel like I'm a mature fighter, I have what it takes between my ears and in my heart.

It's all a mind thing, just all mental. You have to know going into the game you have to play at a high level, as many minutes, stuff like that. It's just all mental. You get yourself mentally prepared for it and go out there and play.