Take Risks for Athletic Success
This article will explore the essential role that risk taking plays in athletic success. Before I continue, though, let me preface this discussion by saying that, when I talk about taking risks, I don’t mean taking stupid risks such as texting while driving, jumping off the roof of your house, or taking drugs. That’s not […]
Read MoreFour Reasons Why Your Kids Should Play Sports
As any sports parent knows, it’s often a challenge to get your kids to the practice field, court, course, hill, or what-have you every day on time and ready to go. I admit that I can be a bit of a taskmaster with my own kids (who’s main sport is ski racing) on those days […]
Read More3 Keys to Making Mental Training Work in Sports
When I speak to athletes and coaches, I ask them how important the mind is to sports success. With few exceptions, the response is that the mind is as or more important than the physical and technical side of sports. I am obviously biased given what I do for a living, so I won’t take […]
Read MoreMore Evidence That ‘10,000 hours’ is Wrong
I guess I’m on a bit of a rampage providing evidence that some of our achievement culture’s most cherished beliefs about performance, specifically, grit and the ’10 years, 10,000 hours’ rule, are not all they are cracked up to be. To add further fuel to the fire, here are two articles that provide persuasive arguments […]
Read MoreDeliberate Practice is Overrated (Sorry, Malcolm Gladwell)
I’ve never been a big fan of either grit or deliberate practice. Of course, they make intuitive sense and have a lot of appeal because they send the message that if we do the right things, anyone can be a champion. Unfortunately, as I describe in my Prime Performance System (and those are just the psychological […]
Read More5 Mental Tools for Athletic Success
This post is the last of my five-part series describing my Prime Performance System which encompasses everything I know about the psychology of sport. This post will introduce five practical mental tools you can use to get the most out of your competitive efforts. These five mental tools are the final piece of the prime […]
Read More5 Mental Muscles for Athletic Success
You have certain muscles in your body that are absolutely essential for sports including your quads, glutes, abs, and hamstrings. The simple reality is that if you don’t actively strengthen these muscles, you will not be capable of performing your best. You should think about your mind as made up of ‘mental muscles’, the same […]
Read MoreGrit is Overrated
A recent study just demonstrated what I have always believed, that grit is overrated. Grit has become a buzzword in education and child development as an attribute that is highly predictive of success and is easily developed. But, as with most ‘solutions du jour’ for the challenges our children face, grit is simplistic and has […]
Read MorePractice is the Foundation of Athletic Success
Practice is the practical foundation of sports success, meaning it’s what you do that determines whether you do or do not achieve your sports goals. In this post, I will describe why practice is so vital to sports success and the specific mental areas where your efforts in practice must be directed. For you to […]
Read More5 Mental Obstacles That Prevent Sport Success
In my last post, I introduced you to my Prime Performance System that is comprised of the five essential mental areas that most influence athletic performance. In that post, I described the first of the five mental areas—attitudes. In this post, I will explore the second of these mental areas, namely, obstacles, and their make-or-break […]
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