A
MONTHLY PUBLICATION OF PEAK
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Issue 99 ........................................................... July 7, 2009
Welcome to Sports Insights Magazine
Welcome to Sports Insights Magazine! Learn practical, cutting-edge sports psychology and mental training tips to improve mental toughness in sports.
If you enjoy our free mental toughness newsletter, please click here to forward it to other athletes and coaches. Get powerful mental game strategies as a subscriber to Sports Insights Magazine!
Golfer's Mental Edge: An 8-Week Program for Ultimate Golf Confidence. Dr. Cohn's new CD and workbook program teaches you the top eight lessons to play with mental toughness on the course. Read more about how to improve confidence in golf...
Boost Confidence for Tournament Tennis! Learn how to boost your tennis confidence with Dr. Cohn's unique 8-week mental training course for tournament tennis players!
Improve Sports Kids' Success with Kids' Sports Psychology! Kids' Sports Psychology is a one-stop, exclusive 10-step plan for boosting confidence and cultivating positive mental game skills in young athletes! Download age-specific confidence-boosting mental game e-books for young athletes. Learn how to boost sports kids' sports success...
Download a Free Mental Game Report! Golfers: Improve Your Preshot Routine. Baseball and Softball Players and Coaches: Improve At-Bat Routines. Tennis Players and Coaches: Improve Your Mindset Between Points! Parents and Youth Coaches: Boost kids' confidence and success in sports!
Locker Room Talk
"Good Job of Simplifying Sports Psychology!"
“The books and CD's in ‘The Confident Athlete Series’ are very good. My swimmer has responded very favorably to them, in fact, her father purchased all three programs. You have done a great job consolidating and simplifying the myriad of ideas in sports psychology.”
~Nick Baker, Peak Performance Swim Camp
Feature Mental Game Article
How to "Tough it Out" When The Game is on the Line
By Patrick J. Cohn, Ph.D.
Ask any champion athlete or respected coach how much of their success is mental, what would they say? Most top athletes and coaches know that success in sports is highly dependent on your mental attitude or mental game.
Why do some athletes dig deep (and perform better) when the game is on the line? How can some athletes play well in crunch time with only 2 minutes left in the game and they have to produce? Being able to "dig deep" has a lot to do with your mental toughness or your ability to never give up faith in your game.
Many athletes I work with daily struggle with their mental game just at the time they need it the most. For many reasons, they lose confidence when the team depends on them to take the last shot or swing the momentum during the game. Some athletes tighten up. Some athletes try too hard. Other athletes are afraid to embarrass themselves and fear attempting the winning shot of the game.
So how do you tough it out when the going gets difficult and you have to sink the winning putt, make the last shot of the game, or score the winning goal with seconds left in the game?
First, tough it out means staying composed and not letting your opponent or the conditions rattle you into negativity and frustration. Second, tough it out means never giving up your confidence because you are behind or find yourself in a tough match.
Third, digging deep means you stay calm and in control when things aren’t going your way. Golfers need to dig deep after a poor performance on the front nine. A basketball player might have to dig deep when he’s exhausted physically and making uncharacteristic mistakes.
The sports world recently witnessed a monumental grind-it-out-and-outlast-the-competition battle. Even the pros have to dig deep and rely on their mental fortitude to help get them through a close competition. If you are a tennis fan, you recently witnessed Roger Federer and Andy Roddick both dig deep at the 2009 Wimbledon Finals.
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____________________________________________Federer finally overcame Roddick in a marathon performance to win his 15th Grand Slam title at Wimbledon. Federer captured the title in five sets over Andy Roddick, winning 16-14 in the final set. Federer broke Roddick’s serve in the final game, his first time to do so the entire match!
“You know, you didn't even get a sense that he was even really frustrated by it. He kind of stayed the course and just toughed it out. He gets a lot of credit for a lot of things, but not a lot of the time is how many matches he kind of digs deep and toughs out. He doesn't get a lot of credit for that because it looks easy to him a lot of the times. But he definitely stuck in there today," said Andy Roddick about Federer's mental toughness.
When you're tired at the end of a long game or match, mental toughness is put to the test. Pau Gasol of the Lakers said you have to dig deep when fatigue sets in at the end of the game. The final moments of the game are more about your mental stamina to tough it out:
“But we think about how hard we have been working all year long to get this far and to have the opportunity to win the championship. And I think that's what I know went through my mind a couple times when I thought I was a little too tired or a little fatigued here or there, I'm like, look, you've got to toughen up, gotta dig deep and get whatever you have out there, because that's what my team needs and that's what our team needs,” said Pau Gasol of the Lakers during the NBA finals.
Here are five mental toughness tips to help you tough it out in a close competition:
1. You can't afford to get frustrated with mistakes or changes in momentum during the competition. Your frustration can be a game changer and allow your opponents to run away with the game. Mental toughness is very much about composure and not letting adversity change your focus.
2. Never "throw in the towel" until the end of the game. I'm talking about your confidence and belief that you can get the job done in the closing moments. Fragile confidence is your worst enemy in sports!
3. Forget about the consequences of winning or losing and stick to focusing your mind on the play, shot, or routine in front of you. Our minds are wired to think ahead about the consequences of the competition and what it means to you, which only causes tension and worry.
4. Have faith in your teammates to help the team come through and win. Don't give up on your teammate that just missed an important basket to shot on net. Part of confidence is knowing your team is there to back you up when you need them the most.
5. Stay the course and stick to what's working. How many times have you seen an athlete change her game plan or strategy out of frustration that nothing is working? Keep using what got you into position to close the deal in the first place. Stay patient with what's working instead of "abandoning the ship."
Want more tips to help you perform your best in competition? Check out The Confident Athlete Sports Psychology CD and workbook programs - to boost your confidence, composure, focus, and trust before and during competition!
Sports Specific Mental Training Tip
"Every Pitcher Needs to be Cocky."
Confidence is huge for any position in baseball, especially for pitchers. How much belief you have in your ability will carry you when you're not perfect with the technical side of pitching...
"I'm pretty cocky on the mound you could say. Every pitcher has to have it. I don't have all the physical abilities, but the mental abilities have carried me a little bit."
~Daniel Ray Herrera, Cincinnati Reds relief pitcher
Podcasts of the Month
The Tennis Psychology Podcast of the Month!
In this week’s tennis psychology session, you’ll learn how to take your practice game to matches. Many tennis players play too tentatively and try to avoid mistakes in matches; they don't trust their skills and what they learned in practice. Dr. Cohn teaches you the top mental strategies to perform freely and improve your mindset for matches.
- Show me the Tennis Psychology Podcast of the Month!
- Watch the Tennis Confidence Video series!
- Tennis Players & Coaches: Improve your mental game between points with this free report!
The Golf Psychology Podcast of the Month!
In this week's golf psychology session, mental game of golf expert and author of The Mental Game of Golf, Dr. Cohn, helps golfers who are overloaded with advice from others. Many golfers get information overload because they receive a lot of advice from teammates and coaches about their game. Learn what to do when you receive too many tips about your game.
Pro Athlete Quote of the Month
"I Fall Back on My Routine..."
“It was just deep breaths and just fall back on my routine. Pre-shot and pick a good target and just hit it. No swing thoughts under pressure, because there's too much going on. You just pick a target, lock in on it and go. If you hit it there, fine. If you don't, run up there and hit it again.”
~Lucas Glover, 2009 US Open Winner
Ask Doc Cohn
"Our Son Says We Make Him Nervous"
Hockey Parent:
My son plays better hockey when I am not there, so he finally admitted that his dad and I make him nervous. We love watching him and feel terrible, we always try to be positive and give him one pointer but maybe because my husband played he is trying to be like him? What can I do to help him?
Most Valuable Product (MVP)
Golfers Mental Edge: An 8-Week Plan for Ultimate Golf Confidence NEW!
Golfer's Mental Edge: An 8-Week Plan for Ultimate Golf Confidence. What's the one big sign that your mental game is the weak link in your golf game? When you can't play consistently as well as you can perform in practice! The “Golfer's Mental Edge Program” is a complete brain dump of the TOP eight mental training sessions Dr. Cohn teaches his personal students to help them boost their mental game and improve consistency on the course. In each of his 8 coaching sessions, you eavesdrop as Dr. Cohn teach four golfers his top mental strategies and learn right along side his students.
Read more about The Golfer's Mental Edge CD Program!
Peaksports Members get 25% off (save $100)! Not a peaksports member yet? Go demo our Online Mental Training System at Peaksports Network!
Dr. Patrick J. Cohn
Master Mental Game Coach
Boost Your Success with The Confident Athlete Series!
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Perfect for any competitive athlete or team coach! Buy
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