A major source of stress for professional tennis players, and players at all levels of ability, is the unexpected things that come up before and during matches. The natural reaction to unexpected events is to back off, become tentative and anxious, and lose confidence and focus. Unexpected events hurt performance. During a match, all kinds [...]
Concentration is perhaps the single most misunderstood psychological factor in dance. In fact, in a recent conversation, an elite dancer indicated that she improved her concentration by staring at the second-hand of a watch for an extended period of time. Though she may think she did, most of the theory and research to date suggests [...]
First Law: Prime Triathlon is not achieved on the day you compete, but rather in the days, weeks, and months before the competition. Many triathletes believe that if they’re ready to go on the day of the triathlon, then they are prepared to perform their best. But I have found that success is determined more [...]
The life of a professional tennis player is stressful. There are many things that they can worry about and which can make them depressed, angry, frustrated, and distracted, all of which will hurt their tennis. Unfortunately, many players, pros or junior players, worry about the wrong things. The big problem is that people get stressed [...]
Perhaps the single most important skill that dance teachers must develop in order to be good instructors is their ability to convey information effectively. During instruction, technical development is only as good as the quality of the information feedback that is provided by the teacher. As a result, consideration should be given to several areas [...]
What Is Prime Triathlon? I define Prime Triathlon, as “performing at a consistently high level under the most challenging conditions.” There are two essential words in this definition. The first key word is, “consistently.” I’m not interested if a triathlete can have a great swim leg, but poor riding and running legs or one outstanding [...]
Peak performance is a phrase that is used widely by athletes, coaches, and sport psychologists to describe the level of performance to which athletes should aspire. It is considered to be the best performance an athlete can achieve. When I came out of graduate school that is the goal to which I wanted my athletes [...]
For players on the pro tours, being the best tennis player they can be is simple, but not easy. It is simple because all that is required is that they do everything possible to be their best. It is not easy because to do everything requires Total Commitment. Whether you are a touring pro or [...]
Some call it desire. Others call it being hungry. We call it is the Starring Attitude. The Starring Attitude is what separates the best from the best of the rest, the soloist from the company member, the true star from the flash-in-the-pan. We know what the Starring Attitude can do, but what exactly is it? [...]
What separates a Chris McCormack or Barb Lindquist from other less successful professionals? Do they have superior physical capabilities? Perhaps. But what is noticeably different about them and other top triathletes is their unwavering belief in their ability to succeed. In fact, confidence is the single most important mental contributor to triathlon success. Whether you [...]