Sports: Competitive Lessons from the World’s Best Athletes
I define Prime Time as the most important game of your life in which you’ll be up against your toughest opponents and competing under the most difficult conditions. Prime Time is what sports are all about. It’s the reason why you work so hard on all aspects of your sport. And Prime Time is probably the reason why you’re reading my article. Prime Time is that moment that defines you as an athlete. It shows you and others how skilled you are, how well conditioned you are, and, most importantly, how strong you are mentally. All of my work in the psychology of sport is directed toward your achieving Prime Sport, playing at a consistently high level under the most challenging conditions, in Prime Time. This notion of Prime Time emerged from my work with one young athlete who was making a difficult, though successful, transition from high-level junior competition to professional sports. What became clear to both of us was that the world’s best athletes hold little resemblance to lower-level athletes. Sure, they compete in the same sport and go through the same motions. But what enables them to be at that rarified level goes beyond just exceptional physical ability. The best athletes in the world don’t just do things better, they do things differently, particularly those things that occur between their ears. These lessons that we learned together helped this athlete overcome the challenges of professional sports and enabled him to progress up the world rankings. They also taught me lessons that athletes at all levels could use to raise their level of play and achieve their highest level of sports success. These lessons are divided into categories: competitive and mental (I’ll discuss the mental lessons next week). <a href="<?php echo get_permalink(); ?>"> Read More...</a>
Read MoreSki Racing: Competitive Lessons from the World Cup
Prime Time, the race that is the most important and has greatest competition, toughest terrain, and most difficult conditions, is what ski racing is all about. It’s the reason why you work so hard on all aspects of your skiing. Prime Time is the reason you’re reading my column. Prime Time is that moment that […]
Read MoreSports: 5 Ps for the Big Game
The greatest challenge that athletes have is to play their best when it really counts. Regardless of the level of competition, whether a state championship, nationals, the Olympics, or World Series, every athlete needs to rise to the occasion of the big game (I will use ‘game’ to denote any sports competition including those that […]
Read MoreSki Racing: 5 Ps for Big Races
The biggest races of the season are rapidly approaching: State Championships, the Junior Olympics, J1 Nationals, U.S. Nationals, Topolino, and others. You’ve been aiming for these big races all season, working hard in training and doing your best in qualifying races. Hopefully, you feel you’re ready to ski as fast as you can. Those of […]
Read MoreLatest News/Education: Radio Interview on Public Education Reform
I was recently interviewed on Blog Talk Radio’s Total Education Show with Neil Haley on my views of public education reform. You can listen to the 15-minute interview here.
Read MoreChildren’s Emotional Reactions to Achievement
These days, children seem to be given every opportunity by their parents to achieve success in school, sports, and the performing arts. Children receive private tutoring, coaching, and instruction. They attend summer camps devoted to their achievement activity. They seem to be assured of having every possible skill necessary to achieve success. Except one: emotional […]
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