Archive: Mental Toughness
Preparation and Success
July 30, 2013“Before anything else, preparation is the key to success.” -Alexander Graham Bell Are you prepared to compete today? Have you done everything possible to get ready? If you answered yes to these questions, then you should feel confident going into your competition. However if you’re like most of us, your preparation could use some improvement. […]
read moreThe Success Formula at Work
June 23, 2013A couple of months ago, I posted a formula for success that the best teams and athletes use on a consistent basis in all areas of their competitive careers: Success = Optimism * (Persistence + Resilience) Recently, it occurred to me that we’ve seen some great examples of this in both the NHL and NBA […]
read moreMental Toughness and Respect
June 11, 2013Several weeks ago, I was playing in a league tennis match and was paired against a player who has a reputation for on-court shenanigans and creating controversy. When I realized who I was playing, I had a decision to make. What should my approach to this player be? Conventional wisdom tells us to be on-guard […]
read moreMental Toughness and Being More Positive
May 25, 2013One of the fundamental aspects of the PerformanceXtra program is to be more positive in competition, in your training and in your life in general as this has been proven to be a determinant for success. To most people, that sounds fairly logical. However, there is a lot of literature that misrepresents what being positive […]
read moreSuccess and Consistency
May 18, 2013When you hear the word consistency, what images come to mind? If you’re a tennis player, you’ll most likely imagine someone who never misses a shot. In basketball, it might be a player with a high free throw percentage. Whatever it is you imagine, it is only a very small part of what being consistent […]
read moreMental Toughness and Playing to Win
May 8, 2013Have you ever watched a game in which the team that was leading stopped playing to win in favor of protecting their lead? And what often happens in this situation? The team that is just protecting the lead ends up losing it. In football, we see this phenomenon with the “prevent” defense. In hockey and […]
read moreMental Toughness and Encouragement
April 29, 2013It’s amazing what a little encouragement can do for a competitor. I was standing in the locker room talking to a fellow player after a grueling match in the National 45 and over Clay Court Tennis Championships in Ft. Lauderdale last week. My body was exhausted. My shoulder was screaming in pain. And my next […]
read moreMental Toughness – A Formula for Success
April 13, 2013Want a formula for being a successful athlete? Try this. Optimism * (Persistence + Resilience) = Success To understand this formula more completely, let’s define our terms starting with Persistence and Resilience as they are the base elements in the equation. Persistence is the ability to sustain effort throughout a performance. We often see this […]
read moreMy Journey to Mental Toughness
April 6, 2013When I was 6 years old, I failed advanced beginner swimming lessons, and thus my tennis career was born! At that time, my family had a membership at a swim and tennis club and my sisters and I went there on a daily basis. And as the name of the club implies, there were two […]
read moreWhat is Mental Toughness – Motivation
March 30, 2013Why do you compete? Why is your sport important to you? Your answers to these questions can be quite revealing in terms of your desire to succeed and achieve your goals, and whether or not you’re ready to do what it takes to reach your potential. That’s why motivation is one of the key ingredients […]
read moreWhat is Mental Toughness – Confidence
March 23, 2013A vitally important ingredient to mental toughness and performing your best is confidence. I know that isn’t exactly a profound revelation, but where many athletes struggle is in developing confidence so that they can compete at a high level consistently. We want to develop the kind of confidence that is unshakeable no matter the circumstances. […]
read moreWhat is Mental Toughness – Focused on Winning
March 16, 2013There are a lot of thoughts that go through an athlete’s mind while competing. Some are beneficial and others are not. A credo that I like to use is that all of your energy, both mental and physical, should be in the direction of helping you win. A great way to keep yourself on track is […]
read moreWhat is Mental Toughness – Positive Body Language
March 9, 2013Want a quick pick-me-up while you’re competing? Pay attention to your body language and make sure it’s positive, strong, confident, determined and shows that you’re willing to fight. The connection between our minds and bodies is very strong, and negative behavior in one area almost always results in negativity in the other. The good news […]
read moreWhat is Mental Toughness – Learning Through Pressure
March 3, 2013I’ve missed over 9,000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times I’ve been trusted to take the game-winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed. – Michael Jordan This quote from Michael Jordan is familiar to most and […]
read moreWhat is Mental Toughness – Coaching and the Zone
February 21, 2013If you’re a sports fan, you have certainly witnessed a coach seemingly losing his mind on the sidelines. He’s yelling at his players, he’s castigating officials, or he’s just throwing a tantrum. Why do some coaches behave this way? Does this behavior motivate players? Does it help them play better? Does it help them get […]
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