Strong mentality helping Corey McCullagh, Ben Wallis stay at the top of their game

Athletes and teams at all levels are always looking for a way to get better and get an edge over their opposition.

Mindfulness and meditation played a big part in Richmond breaking its AFL premiership drought in 2017.

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Dylan Grimes suggested the club pursue it after two books in particular - Dan Millman's Body Mind Mastery and Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi's Flow - introduced him to mindfulness and how better controlling your mind could enhance performance.

The club then hired mind coach and mindfulness expert Emma Murray in 2017 as their "competitive edge" and helping stars like Dustin Martin and Grimes.

A strong mentality is also not uncommon for south-west athletes such as Grand Annual Sprintcar Classic champion Corey McCullagh and distance runner Ben Wallis.

McCullagh believes "the mental side of sprintcar racing makes or breaks you" as he pushes his car to its limits searching for a place on the top of the podium.

"I've heard James (McFadden) say you have to believe you're the best driver there on that night," he said.

"You've got to have a lot of confidence because they're a hard thing to drive and if things don't go right, it can kick you in the guts pretty quickly.

"It's just important to have good people around you and have that mindset (dialled in)."

Wallis' mentality is slightly different to McCullagh's but they both try to get into a zone and are happy to accept help from those around them.

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However, the multiple-marathon runner's mentality is not around winning but on goal-setting to ensure he can complete the gruelling training needed to run the 42.195km distance.

"You have to take smaller steps if you have got a big goal in mind," he said.

"Taking small steps and building it up and as your building up you get stronger and stronger and get more confident and hopefully when that confidence comes together you will be ready to go.

"With any sport you need confidence in yourself and your ability and once you get that the mental stuff comes in along the way."

Doubts and setbacks do creep in but McCullagh and Wallis have built up their individual mindsets to ensure they are prepared for those inevitable moments.

McCullagh said he was "nowhere near his full potential" but has worked hard through the winter to ensure he is at the top of his game heading into the 2020-21 racing season.

"We don't have the budget to have a full-time crew chief so we sort of have to work twice as hard," the 30-year-old said.

"But it's sort of a blessing in disguise. I'm feeling mentally a lot clearer and I think we've been smart this off-season.

"I think we'll be fast enough to have a good crack."

Wallis believes everyone handles setbacks differently but he uses self analysis to help himself recover from them.

"I'm a bit of everything and I'll go 'oh well that didn't work that day but what am I going to to do to make it better?'," he said.

"Then there are other days when you may have done everything to prepare and you are so confident and then it all falls in a heap.

"My second marathon was the best and all the others have been bad and I've been frustrated by it but then after it I didn't worry about doing them for a while and concentrate on other things."

Wallis says he brushes off his doubts but his advice for others is just as simple.

"Everyone will have them at some stage and a lot of people struggle but the best thing to do is to brush it off your shoulder," he said.

"Also don't be too hard on yourself because everyone is human at the end of the day."

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