» Setting Goals
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- Confidence (3)
- Identity (3)
- Injuries (1)
- Intensity (7)
- Process (5)
- Setting Goals (7)
- Staying positive (15)
- Strategy (2)
- Strengths (2)
- Success (18)
- Training (6)
- Visualization (1)
Archived Blogs
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 »
March 20, 2010
Talent is Overrated
I’m in the middle of reading a book called Talent is Overrated by Geoff Colvin, and it’s quite fascinating because its aim is to completely debunk the assertion that certain people are more talented at a particular skill than others. In the tennis world, we are certainly guilty of this behavior. Think of how fans describe… more »
March 13, 2010
Process Oriented Thinking
We live in a society and culture that is very focused on outcomes and results. That focus permeates all aspects of our lives and is often present in our mind as we perform various tasks. In sports, results generally equal wins and losses, or in the case of the Olympics, gold medals. If you listen… more »
September 20, 2009
Set a Goal!
Setting goals for your tennis can be a very powerful tool. Having a goal provides you with focus and direction for all of your activities on-court and off-court. To understand this concept better, think of the opposite of having a goal. Without a goal, you are potentially aimless. Your training and your practice have no… more »
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