Red Bull Podcast "Mind Set Win" Releases Longer Versions Of Its First Season called "Uncut"

 New York Yankees catcher Yogi Berra once famously said, "Baseball is 90 percent mental. The other half is physical."

 Despite the humor aspect, Yogi may have been on to something. The mental aspect in any game, competition, or sport can be the deciding factor.

In January 2023, Red Bull released a sports podcast called Mind Set Win. Red Bull sponsors a wide variety of sports, from base jumping to auto racing, soccer to skiing. I can understand why. For some of these dangerous sports like cliff diving, you'd probably need to pound a lot of Red Bull before you leap off a rock cliff into a body of water with little knowledge of depth or topography.

Give credit where credit is due. Unlike 95 percent of all sports podcasts where sports teams are worshiped like deities, or the hosts argue at jet engine decibel level about everything, Mind Set Win has a worthier and more useful objective. The podcast unlocks the mental tactics used by leading sports professionals and shows how we can apply the same techniques to our daily lives.

  Red Bull has just announced the new release of UNCUT, an uninterrupted, nonstop version of Mind Set Win. Don't get alarmed. This newer version is not about men who are not circumcised. Uncut is the listener's chance to hear the rawness and unfiltered accounts from people like soccer's Mario Gómez on the highs and lows of competitive environments; tennis's Matteo Berrettini on using defeats as stepping stones; and triathlete Lucy Charles-Barclay on the importance of rekindling passion and drive to overcome endurance blocks, and more.

Episodes of Mind Set Win’s first season were short, tight, and tactical. Hosts Cédric Dumont and Kate Courtney left a lot on the cutting room floor to keep episodes under 15 minutes.  

I loved the idea of the two people alternating as hosts, and Dumont and Courtney both excelled at their hosting duties. 

One aspect of the podcast I admired was its commitment to actionable steps. Too often, these sports podcasts that focus on the "mental game" offer trite and generalized advice such as stay focused, think positively, and visualize your actions.

Mind Set Win is better than that. The podcast pivots off the Angela Duckworth 2016 bestseller Grit. In the superb Lindsey Vonn episode, Dumont explains how talent plus effort equals skill, and Vonn details how she fought through adversity like injuries. Vonn then declares that, "Skill plus effort equals achievement."

In the Mario Gomez episode, the German footballer talks to Kate Courtney about how to manage the outsized expectations of rabid fans and developing a mindset that the next opportunity to score will come.

All sports have strong mental components, yet golf and tennis may offer particularly difficult challenges due to the length of the competition. In a January episode with high-ranked Greek tennis player Stefanos Tsitsipas, Dumont focuses on the tennis star's ability to focus and achieve that sense of flow, which is being completely absorbed in the activity. 

Tsitsipas acknowledges that flow can only be achieved after you've practiced and are well-rehearsed. 

There's no doubt that what distinguishes the athletes that fans watch on TV or at a sporting event may not be just talent, but the mental discipline, toughness, and "grit" to win. 

Mind Set Win is a useful tool for aspiring athletes and hopeful weekend warriors. The show is well-produced, and achieves its own flow state of helping people find the right mindset to enjoy a sport, work hard at improving, and achieve a measure of success.

The longer versions that are being released as of June 5 called Uncut offer listeners more depth of knowledge with the longer interviews. 

Check out Uncut. You never know what you can achieve when your mind and body are on the same wavelength.

For me, I am attempting to reach a state of flow in my golf game. Is throwing your club, cursing loudly, and stomping your feet in the sand bunker you can't get out of what you call flow?

No. I'll listen to Mind Set Win again.