"Mental game"

To me, "mental game" is part of the game is played inside your head.  Mental game is being strong, confident, and focused in the appropriate time.  Another way I would like to say it is "your head is in the game."  Mental game is being focused only on the game, not worrying about people yelling at you in the stands, looking at your friends, or drama that happened the night before.  A main part of mental game is being able to block out anything that is not related to your success of the game.  You should put all your attention toward things that are important at the time, which is your opponent, your coach, and yourself.  Mental game can definitly relate to school.  In the classroom you have to be confident that you can do the work and pass the class.  Staying focused is hard for everyone, but if you are mentally tough you should not worry about the distractions around you, or electronic devices that tempt you while studying.  Giving all your attention to the instructor can make all the difference.  No, a person does not need to be an athlete to understand a strong mental game.  As a student you know the importance of being focused, determined and confident, which are all characteristics of the mental game.  Now do I think it is easier for an athlete to understand the importance of a the mental game?  Yes, but students understand it just as well because they use a strong mental game to be successful in the classroom.  A strong mental game is used by everyone.  Non athletes, whether you are a student or have a job, knows that when a task is needed to get done it's time to buckle down and get focused.  Same for an athlete, at the beginning of each game or competition an athlete knows it's time to get serious and focused, nothing else matters except getting the job done.  Athletes, students, and workers all use a strong mental game to be successful in life. So no, not just athletes understand the importance of a strong mental game.