Rachael Adams: The Olympic Mental Training Journey (‘Our Thoughts Become a Reality’)

“It’s Not Like I Didn’t Believe in Myself. But Our Thoughts Become a Reality.”

That’s Rachael Adams, talking to the Associated Press in August 2016 — weeks before she started for the U.S. Women’s National Team at the Rio Olympics. A year earlier, she had been left off the World Cup roster entirely. The story of what happened in between is one of the clearest examples in volleyball of mental training actually working — and it’s why her journey anchors the methods on this site.

2015: The Roster That Didn’t Include Her Name

In 2015, Rachael Adams was left off the U.S. Women’s National Team roster for the World Cup. For a middle blocker in her prime, that’s the kind of rejection that ends careers — not because the door closed, but because of what the athlete does with the story she tells herself about it.

Adams went to work with performance coach Michael Gervais — and instead of treating the cut as a verdict, she treated it as feedback.

The Three Lessons from Her Comeback

• Reframe rejection as feedback, not failure. The cut didn’t mean she wasn’t good enough; it meant there was work to do. Athletes who internalize rejection as identity stop developing. Athletes who process it as information keep going.
• Trust the process — daily, for a full year. Adams’ improvement wasn’t a breakthrough moment. It was a year of consistent mental and physical work, most of it invisible, none of it glamorous. Karch Kiraly would later call her “the most improved player in the U.S. program.”
• Own your thoughts — because they become a reality. Her own words: “It’s not like I didn’t believe in myself. But our thoughts become a reality.” The story you tell yourself about a situation predicts performance. At Rio 2016, Adams started and the U.S. took bronze.

Why Her Story Anchors This Site

The tools and methods on VBallStars exist because of what that journey demonstrates: the mental side of high-level competition is the most overlooked part of elite youth sports — and it’s trainable. The science behind it (the studies we cite in our science of mental performance guide) and the methods that follow from it aren’t ours to invent — they’re here to be gathered and put to work.

Editorial note: VBallStars.com is not affiliated with Rachael Adams, USA Volleyball, or the U.S. Women’s National Team. This story is shared for educational purposes. Source: Associated Press / San Diego Union-Tribune, August 2016.