Manchester City head coach Pep Guardiola has outlined how he gets inspiration from different sports, singling out the mental discipline required in other fields such as golf.
Guardiola has said he speaks to athletes from various other sports and has used their mental approaches to inform his coaching style.
"You can always learn from other sports," Guardiola said in an interview with Puma India's Instagram account.
"It is nice to know, for example, the mental approach in golf is so important. When you speak to big athletes, you learn how mentally strong they are. We can learn a lot from other sports.
"Football players are so smart, they are intuitive. When you are fake, they realise. You can make mistakes and bad decisions, but you cannot be not authentic. Try to convince them how you want to play. This is the only way I know."
Guardiola arrived in Manchester ahead of the 2016-17 season with the goal to help City continue their success domestically as well as win trophies in international competition.
The Spaniard has achieved major success in England, having won two Premier League titles, three Carabao Cups and one FA Cup, but has yet to taste success in the Champions League.
Guardiola believes that his tenure has been part of a longer period in which City have established themselves as one of England's best sides.
"We are a team who have taken an incredible step forward in the last decade," Guardiola said. "We wanted to be with Liverpool, [Manchester] United, Chelsea, Arsenal, Tottenham - and we were there. We did it."
Though the main goal of Guardiola's job is to win trophies, he believes there is more to being a coach than results on the pitch.
"[It might look like it's] always about winning, winning, winning, but that is not true," Guardiola said. "You can be happy even if you don't win. Suffer the bad moments, enjoy the good moments, have fun. Try to do your best all the time. You don't win? OK, you try again. We will do everything to win."
As Guardiola and City go in search of more trophies this season, they do so in a vastly different atmosphere to previous campaigns due to the coronavirus pandemic. With no fans allowed in stadiums in England for the foreseeable future, Guardiola admits it has been difficult to adapt.
"Without people, it is not the same, it is like a friendly game," the 49-year-old said. "We can do it because the show must go on, but we need the people back [in stadiums]. It is a completely different game, it is empty. Playing behind closed doors is weird."
