Sports/Parenting: Michael Vick: He Paid. Should He Play?
Over the last several weeks, considerable attention and discussion has been directed toward whether Michael Vick, the former NFL quarterback and convicted felon (he served two years for a conviction related to dog fighting) should be allowed to return to the NFL. He has been conditionally reinstated, so his return seems inevitable. Though protests are […]
Read MoreSports: Building Confidence: Part I
Back in the November, 2008 issue of Prime Sport Alert! I wrote that the next three issues of the newsletter would be devoted to confidence. Well, I kept my promise for the January, 2009 issue, but then got sidetracked for two issues with some other material that I thought was interesting and timely. I’m now […]
Read MoreSports: Interview With Dr. Jim Taylor
I was recently interviewed by an Australian sports magazine and, though it focuses on endurance sports, the interview is clearly relevant to athletes and coaches in all sports. What unique challenges present the athlete of endurance or multi-sport events? In the case of single endurance events, such as marathoning, the unique challenge is keep the […]
Read MoreSports: The Making of a Champion
I was asked recently by a sports parent, “What does it take to make a champion?” I thought for a moment and then responded with three words: “Genes, motivation, and support.” So let’s explore these three essential components to athletic success. Genes Genes are the foundation of all athletic success. Athletes can have all the […]
Read MoreSports: Five Keys to Prime Confidence
Prime confidence is a deep, lasting, and resilient belief in your ability to achieve your goals. Prime confidence keeps you positive, motivated, intense, focused, and emotionally in control when you need it most. With prime confidence, you’re able to stay confident even when you’re not performing well (it happens to even the best athletes periodically). […]
Read MoreSports: Introduction to Confidence
Confidence is the single most important mental factor in sports. Confidence is also a mental area that is ripe for change and I will not only be offering you insights into how confidence impacts your sports performance, but also many practical tools for developing confidence. I define confidence as how strongly you believe in your […]
Read MoreSports: Motivation to Succeed
Motivation lies at the base of the Prime Sport pyramid. Without your desire and determination to improve your sports performances, all of the other mental factors, confidence, intensity, focus, and emotions, are meaningless. To become the best athlete you can be, you must be motivated to do what it takes to maximize your ability. Motivation, […]
Read MoreSports/Parenting: The Dark Side of Youth Sports Superstardom
With the Beijing Olympics just concluded, it is a joy to bask in the reflected glory of such youthful superstars as Nastia Liukin, Michael Phelps, and Usain Bolt. And with the U.S. Open Tennis Championships just beginning in New York City, we can look forward to intense battles between another group of otherwordly young athletes […]
Read MoreSports: Prime Sport Profiling
Now that you have an understanding of Prime Sport from my previous issues of Prime Sport Alert! (if you missed them, click here), you can begin the process of achieving it. The first step involves gaining a better understanding of yourself as an athlete. This self-understanding then results in greater improvement and better performance. Becoming […]
Read MoreSports: Prime Sport Pyramid
As I discussed in the January, 2008 issue of Prime Sport Alert!, Prime Sport is defined as “performing at a consistently high level under the most challenging conditions.” Prime Sport is a goal toward which everyone in the sports world strives, the result of which is to maximize your athletic efforts and enable you to […]
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