5 Attitudes You Need for Athletic Success
My Prime Performance System explores five important areas related to the psychology of sports: attitudes, obstacles, preparation, mental muscles, and tools. This article will introduce you to the first essential area—attitudes—and explain why they are so important to sports success. The dictionary definition of attitude is “The way you think and feel about something…a way […]
Read More7 Things Parents Can Say and Do at the End of a Sports Season
The conclusion of a sports season can be a time of excitement, relief, and suffering for parents of athletes. The excitement comes when your young athletes have just concluded a season that exceeded their (and your) expectations. The sense of pride and satisfaction can be palatable and reinforces why you have your children involved in […]
Read MoreFREE E-Books for Ski Racing, Sport, and Sport Parenting
I’m excited to announce the publication of three new e-books that ski racers, athletes, coaches, and parents will enjoy and gain real benefit from. These e-books introduce new and different ways of thinking about the psychology of ski racing, sports, and parenting. Most importantly, they are filled with useful information and powerful lessons that racers, athletes, […]
Read MoreVideo Interview on the Psychology of Running
I just did a video interview on the psychology of running for The Running Summit 2016. I talk about the mental side of running as well as how to get your kids into running.
Read MoreEvery Day Can Be a Good Day of Sports Training
One of the most frequent comments I hear from the athletes I work with is: “I had a lousy day of training.” This statement was almost always accompanied by a variety of emotions that are neither pleasant nor helpful including frustration, anger, worry, doubt, and disappointment, and, occasionally, despair. Moreover, I saw that this assertion […]
Read MoreTaylor Interview about Fear of Failure
I was recently interviewed by TrailRunnerNation on the topic of my three-part series on Fear of Failure.
Read MoreInterview on the Power of Golf Imagery
GolfDash blog interviewed me recently with a focus on the power of mental imagery to improve your golf game. You can listen to the podcast here.
Read MoreLetting Go of Fear of Failure-Part IV
To close out my 2015 Prime Sport Alert! e-newsletters, I’m giving you a bonus of an in-depth four-part series on fear of failure among athletes. I recommend that you read them starting with Part 1 and progressing through to this final Part 4.
As I noted at the end of Part III, a recent email from a reader asked the obvious question, “I now understand why my child keeps getting in his own way in his racing. He has a fear of failure! So, what can I do about it?” This question led to extending my Fear of Failure series and discussing ways in which athletes can let go of their fear of failure.
Let me preface my thoughts by saying that there are entire books devoted to fear of failure and how to overcome it. Also, in severe cases, months of psychotherapy are required. My point is that, as with most things in life, there are no magic pills or quick fixes. At the same time, if you (as an athlete) or one of your children (as a parent) has a fear of failure, there are some things you and they can do to relieve the burden of fear of failure and begin to pursue success rather than avoid failure.
Read MoreThe Real Fear in Fear of Failure: Part III
In the Part I in my series, Fear of Failure, I introduced you to the epidemic presence of fear of failure in sports these days. The article describes what fear of failure is and its causes. I also describe three ways that athletes attempt to avoid failure: they quit their sport, they cause themselves to […]
Read MoreFear of Failure – Part II (Total Failure)
In my last post, Fear of Failure: Part I, I discussed the sad epidemic of fear of failure that I found to be rampant in America and that I see frequently in the young athletes with whom I work. I have discovered a new wrinkle to the fear-of-failure phenomenon that brings greater clarity to the problems […]
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