This past weekend I attended the United States Professional Tennis Association/Missouri Valley Division Annual Convention in Wichita, KS. I gave an on-court presentation that was tennis specific entitled “Coaching Dynamic Team Practices the Bruin Way.” There was also a presentation given that included some valuable tips on the mental side of sports. The presentation was given by Jeff Salzenstein (www.tennisevolution.com)…
The 22nd Annual WIN (Women’s Intersport Network) Luncheon was held today, February 5, in Columbia, Missouri. The feature guest speaker was Katrina Adams. Katrina is the Immediate Past President and Chairman of the Board of the United States Tennis Association. She shared her personal story about how she grew up on the west side of Chicago and her road the…
Both the NFC and the AFC Championship Games on January 20 were instant classics as they both were decided in overtime. The competitive fight and spirit by the players in each game was at such a high level. We all know the more you put into it, the more it hurts when the outcome does not go your way. These…
How do you as a coach, player, or fan deal with a team that lacks enough talent to win? It’s a tough situation to deal with in a sports world of constant comparison. I’ll use one of my two favorite sports teams as an example. I’m feeling blue about the St. Louis Blues. The organization tries so hard. They get…
Why is This Quarterback So Good? It’s amazing what Patrick Mahomes has accomplished as a quarterback in the NFL this season. He’s in his second year in the League and his first year as a starter. What makes him so great and likely to be great for many years ahead? Talent Patrick has so much talent and accuracy in his…
Our Rock Bridge High School Girls Tennis Team won the state title in Class 2 Tennis in Missouri for the fifth consecutive year on Thursday, October 18. There were a few things that stand out to me that helped put us in a position to be a contender this season. First of all we had some very good players at…
I was reading an interview with the late and great sport psychologist, Ken Ravizza. He was certainly a master in the field and he appeared to be a very down-to-earth guy. I wish I could have met him while he was still with us. Listed below is an excerpt from the interview. It is a good reminder for all of…
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…