The Bible of Sports Psychology serves as a profound guide for athletes, emphasizing that mental factors of muscle memory that comprises 95% of an athlete’s natural performance, relying on instinctive, subconscious processes rather than conscious thinking. Like Maverick told Rooster in TOP GUN: MAVERICK– “You think up there, up are dead!”
Professional athletes, including golf legend Bobby Jones, recognize that success hinges on the “distance between the athlete’s ears.” The article draws key biblical principles to build this mental edge. Religious organizations and churches can harness sports psychology to bridge biblical teachings with community values.
By drawing parallels between mental resilience in athletics—such as focus and perseverance—and scriptures like Hebrews 12:1 (“run with endurance”), leaders foster sportsmanship that mirrors Christ’s humility and teamwork. Youth programs blend visualization techniques with prayer build character, promoting attributes like grace under pressure and unity. This approach engages communities, inspiring ethical living through relatable, active faith experiences.
To facilitate religious organizations and churches to use sports psychology and sportsmanship as outreach programs, they can use EXCALIBUR Athlete’s Forged Performance as an outreach program:
There is not a professional athlete that doesn’t realize the importance of Sports Psychology and their level of performance. Sports Psychology is 95 percent of an athlete’s performance that must be instinctive, or a subconscious performance. Even Bobby Jones, Sr., recognized that his golf game was dependent on the distance between his ears, or his muscle memory that is essential to assess this huge mental potential between our ears.
All these eight Bible verses goes back to the Blacksmith theme where Iron Sharpens Iron in Proverbs 27:17
The following eight scripture verses helped developed the Sports Psychology of the Golfer’s Sync-Preset Strike Zone APP that allows the golfer to take their golf swing from the Batter’s Box to the Tee Box and onto the Green, below:
No. 1 Joshua 1:18 Meditate on the proper processes
The Bible offers the best approach to Sports Psychology as explained by Joshua in Joshua 1:8- Study this Book of Instruction continually. Meditate on it day and night so you will be sure to obey everything written in it. Only then will you prosper and succeed in all you do.
No. 2 James 2:17-18 Perseverance of Practice
One book in the Bible that I enjoy reading is the book of James, not just from the devotional standpoint, but from a sports psychology point. If you are an athlete of any level, the book of James is a great book that contains sports psychology techniques.
James 2: 17-18 highlights the physical component to our Faith, or what some refer to Perseverance. In my BAJA Fitness Sports Page, I find it easier to explain our Faith with our Perseverance than any other term, especially to athletes. Even with an athlete putting in hard work with strength training and conditioning, they know all too well that the mental edge is essential to their success.
But to access this huge mental potential, even Veterans dealing with PTSD, must use their five senses that triggers PTSD episodes to treat PTSD. In the book of James, the brother of Jesus Christ, James writes in James 2:17-18 In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. But someone will say, “You have faith; I have work.” Show me your faith without perseverance, and I will show you my faith by my perseverance.
This means we must put in the physical work (practice) to develop the proper muscle memory. I am an avid golfer, and I realize the amount of continued practice it takes to maintain muscle memory in our subconscious mind that can retain sequences but loses critical control of my muscle memory. This leads me to my second sports psychology reference in the Bible by the Apostle Paul-
No. 3 1 Corinthians 14:40- But be sure that everything is done properly and in order
The term PROPERTY is in regard to the athlete’s routine and/or sequence; or as Coach Nick Sabin referred to as the process. In my Orange Bucket Challenge, below is a video that I made for the camera crew from WJTV-12 here in Jackson, Mississippi for their Sport Zone Show. I focused on the process or sequence in my golf swing to hit five- 295- yard tee shots to within 15- feet of a Home Depot Orange Bucket in one take.
Part of my process is to create a well-defined mental image based on Déjà vu where I visualize a golf shot that I have made a thousand times to a well-defined target, in this case, above, is an orange bucket. I just don’t visualize the trajectory but trace the trajectory or become the ball and I STOP THINKING. We got to use our five senses to access this type of physical performance.
Just refer to the quote from the movie Caddyshack where Ty Webb (played by Chevy Chase) told Danny Noonan (played by Michael O’Keefe)- “There’s a force in the universe that makes things happen. And all you have to do is get in touch with it, stop thinking, let things happen, and be the ball“.
Breaking down the Be the Ball Quote:
The FORCE is our subconscious mind
Get in touch with IT- It is our five senses.
STOP THINKING- Use Mental Visualization Process (MVP)
Let things HAPPEN- Trust your Training
Be the ball- The Objective of the process
No. 4 Ecclesiastes 10:10 Sharpen your Mental Edge for Skills
King Solomon wisest man wrote about something that I know all too well about in regard to an ax or chainsaw. That is it is essential to maintain a sharp edge on the blade of an axe or tooth on a chainsaw if you don’t want to wear yourself out. The sharp edge is sharp skills of muscle memory. Ecclesiastes 10:10 states- If the ax is dull and its edge unsharpened, more strength is needed, but skill will bring success.
No. 5 Deuteronomy 29:9 Maintain a proper process in all that you do
Moses highlight that the Bible is more than just a spiritual guidepost in our lives but applicable to all that we do as I have alluded to in my article. Moses writes in Deuteronomy 29:9- So you will keep the words of this covenant and do them, in order that you may be successful in everything that you do.
The key phrase is successful in everything that you do.
I worked 35- years as a grid engineer with a transmission line utility where we worked with 115,000 to 500,000 Volts with 3,000 amps. We sometimes had to work what we called HOT WORK, or energized work. If you don’t adhere to procedures, you won’t have a second chance to do so next time. Especially, since it takes 0.008 amps to kill you. Procedures are ingrained into my physique in everything I do, even now since I’m retired working on my farm.
No. 6 Isaiah 30:15 Quiet strength of our Confidence
I refer to Isaiah as the Shakespeare of the Bible because of his elegant writing. But Isaiah realized the importance of our confidence as what I call the quiet strength because it is very subtle in appearance but profound in one’s performance. On the field, course, or court, there is no substitute for an athlete’s performance. This confidence comes from an athlete repeating practice repeatedly that is more strenuous than anything the athlete will perform under.
Confidence is similar to the term Déjà vu, something that the athlete has seen or experienced before that they are accustomed to. One of the 10- Subconscious Rules of the Mind No. 5- What the conscious mind expects tends to be subconsciously performed.
Isaiah 30:15 states- …. In quietness and confidence is your strength.…
No. 7 Philippians 3:14-15 Focus on what is ahead
There is equal potential for impairment in success as there is in failure, both can distract from adhering to a process and routine. Remember Paul’s writing in 1 Corinthian 14:40- But be sure that everything is done properly and in order. I instruct my athletes that we use our failures to gain experience; and we use our successes to develop confidence. Nothing else should be taken from our failures or successes that can either be a blessing or a curse but rather a part of our development.
Paul probably has the best Sports Psychology according to Philippians 3:13 and 14 on our past performance in that- Athletes, I do not consider myself yet to have achieved it yet. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and striving toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
No. 8 Proverbs 23:7 An Athlete that Focuses, they will Perform
Proverbs 23:7 reads “As a man thinks in his heart, so is he.” In sports, the athlete can’t allow themselves to think is a conscious function. Ninety-eight percent of the athlete’s performance must be instinctive muscle memory, or subconscious function. By focusing, the athlete limits their over-thinking that leads to “paralysis by analysis.” Thinking takes the athlete out of their automatic pilot mode.
Elite athletes avoid thinking because it engages their conscious mind, taking them out of their ZONE and disrupting their natural flow. Sports psychology shows that thinking on mechanics—like a golfer obsessing over swing details or a basketball player micromanaging footwork—leads to their “paralysis by analysis.” The prefrontal cortex overloads, interfering with automatic motor skills stored in the cerebellum and basal ganglia. Instead, elite athletes rely on the subconscious processes: muscle memory built through repetition, allowing instinctive, fluid actions without active thought.
Proverbs 23:7 urges athletes to cultivate their “heart”—the subconscious core—through positive, repetitive mental programming. Visualization, affirmations, and deliberate practice embed winning identities. A sprinter who subconsciously internalizes “I am explosive and powerful” becomes that athlete instinctively, not by thinking it mid-race. Negative self-talk, like dwelling on past failures, programs doubt and hesitation; positive, faith-aligned focus reprograms the heart for confidence and resilience.
By prioritizing subconscious mastery over conscious chatter, athletes embody the proverb: what dominates the heart shapes who they become on the field. Guard subconscious inputs—through training, imagery, and belief or our faith—and instinctive excellence follows naturally.
Proverbs 23:7 “As a man thinks in his heart, so is he,” I have revised this Proverb to read for athletes “As an athlete focuses in their heart, so is their performance.”
On February 8, 2023, on TBN Network, James Brown and Tony Dungy interviewed a pastor, Reverend Greg Burris with Enon Tabernacle Baptist Church, about his outreach program where he used sports to connect with youth and families to affect lives. Rev. Burris stressed that it is made clear that Bible Study is mandatory to participate in the church’s outreach program.
The program is so effective that the church program is now in the thousands of young boys and girls that earned scholarships and have placed these athletes into professional sports. But Rev. Greg Burris emphasizes the church goal is still to share God’s Word with others where sports is just one vehicle to do so.
Joshua’s Gauntlet of Divine Providence
This is a book that explorers the nation of Israel is Joshua’s Gauntlet of Divine Providence, the history on how Israel became a country and retained its identity through exiles, wars where the people of Israel were facing unimaginable odds and won the peace: If you are looking for the Cliffs Note version of the history of the Holy Land Joshua’s Gauntlet of Divine Providence will take you from when God called Abraham to leave current-day Iran and travel to Canaan, to Exile of Israel, to the Crusades, to the day Israel was reestablished as a state to Rising Lion and Mid Night Hammer:
The Lost Paradise at Kadesh-Barnea
This is an in depth look at the book of Joshua, looking at the history of both Joshua and Caleb that were bold Alpha personalities in the Bible that proved to be two of the most faithful men of God that helped establish Israel as a nation over a period of five years. If you want a commentary on the book of Joshua of both text and the Jewish History perspective that is a great study guide for those wanting an understanding of the Old Testament. This book is a great example for both young men and women to have an Alpha Faith:
Both these book are a great for understanding the Old Testament and the history of Israel and its impact of Christianity.
