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Archived Blogs
February 12, 2012
Davis Cup – US vs Switzerland – Neutralizing Your Strengths
When hosting a Davis Cup tie versus the United States, European countries will often choose a slow red clay surface on which to play the matches. Americans are typically poor on clay, looking a bit like fish out of water, because of the lack of training that occurs on that surface and therefore they don’t… more »
January 30, 2012
Nadal vs. Djokovic – Reaching New Levels of Performance
The 2012 Australian Open Men’s Singles final between Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic showed the sporting world that there are always more and more levels of performance to attain. “Unchartered territory”. That’s what Darren Cahill of ESPN2 said at the beginning of the 5th set of yesterday’s final when he was asked for his thoughts… more »
July 10, 2011
The Reset Button in Action
No one likes losing the first set of a match. It’s not the kind of start you’re looking for when trying to win, but on the other hand, it’s not the end of the match either. Comebacks are possible when you have the right mindset. However, many players see the loss of the first set… more »
July 5, 2011
Focus on What You Can Control
There was a bit of flack in the Round of 16 match up between Juan Martin del Potro and Rafael Nadal last week at Wimbledon. The center of the controversy was the amount of time that Nadal was taking between points and the injury time out that he took just before the first set tiebreaker. … more »
July 4, 2011
The Confidence Battle
It wasn’t so long ago that Rafael Nadal was an automatic pick versus Novak Djokovic when the two faced each other in a final. Today, that scenario has been turned around in stunning fashion as Djokovic is 5-0 against his former nemesis in 2011. The difference? Belief and confidence. One player’s got it and the… more »
April 21, 2011
Your Potential
One of the first things that I talk about with a new student or new group is the idea of potential. There is potential for greatness in all of us whether our field is sports, art, music, dance, computer programming, etc. We all want to reach our potential and deep down in our thoughts, we… more »
April 8, 2011
The Point of Competition
What is the point of competition? Conventional wisdom tells us that winning is the end goal of competition, but I think that is debatable and possibly detrimental to performing one’s best. In one of the cornerstone works of Positive Psychology, Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi states that the point of competition is to… more »
January 7, 2011
The Importance of “Grit”
In March 2010, I wrote a post on the book Talent is Overrated by Geoff Colvin which focuses on hard work and “deliberate practice” as keys to success. An article in Psychology Today entitled The Winning Edge takes this concept to the next level by looking at the characteristics of high performing people and determines that grit may be… more »
November 18, 2010
TennisXtra for USTA Teams
If you’re the captain of a USTA team and you want your team to take it to the next level in 2011 and beyond, then this is for you. TennisXtra is now offering a program in mental toughness training for teams. This training will benefit teams that have moved up a level or ones that… more »
September 27, 2010
Lack of Intensity
Competitive intensity has been on my mind lately, and more specifically, a drop in competitive intensity during a match or even a lack of intensity from the start. What drives that behavior? Why do tennis players not compete at their highest level at all times? My personal opinion is that much of this behavior is… more »
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