One of the exercises in my book, “Next Level Coaching: How To Use Sport Psychology to Educate, Motivate, and Improve Student-Athlete Performance” tackles this question in the chapter on mental toughness. I’ll distinguish among the three mindsets below: Will Power: Strong will to win (outcome-oriented) Winning is of great importance Competitive fight is geared toward the end goal Still Power:…
It was 18 years ago today, 9/11/2001 that the World Trade Center Towers were attacked. I remember teaching in my Business Law class at Rock Bridge High School when told of the news by a student. At the time I thought it must have been a gross error on the part of the pilot. Soon I found out otherwise. The…
This past weekend our girls’ tennis team played in the Great 8 Girls Tennis Tournament in Columbia, MO. We have a different team make-up this year after graduating some key people from last year’s state championship team. Our top players are back but the rest of our varsity line-up is inexperienced. We won our first two rounds to advance to…
Recently I had lunch with one of the greatest coaches of all-time. Coach Greg Patton coached the Boise State Men’s Tennis Team for 22 years. He retired after the 2017-18 season to take a position in the Boise State University Athletic Department. We met for lunch in Boise when my wife and I went to Idaho for a vacation. I…
O P P O R TU N I TY Acronym Open to self-discovery Passionate about what you are doing Persistent in your effort Opposition – you can deal with the resistance Responsible in your decision-making Trustworthy with others Unity – you respect differences and value things in common Nourish your relationships with other people Introspective – you honestly and fairly…
Competitive Fight + Emotional Control = Competitive Balance I wrote an article for ADDvantage USPTA (United States Professional Tennis Association) a few years ago that addressed the issue of competitive balance when an athlete participates in competitive sports. I have used this “equation” with both my boys’ and girls’ tennis teams each season. In late May of this year our…