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Issue 97 ................................................................. May 5, 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...
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, videos, and audio programs produced specifically for young athletes. Learn how to boost sports kids' sports success...
Want to become a mental game coach for athletes? Apply for the summer Mental Game Coaching Professional (MGCP) certification course. Learn Dr. Cohn's system in a unique 10-week course for coaches, therapists, and life coaches!
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
"Amount of Knowledge Learned is Fantastic!"
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~Paul, Sports Dad
Preview Kids' Sports Psychology Online Mental Training System!
Feature Mental Game Article
A Mental Game Formula for Performing Great and Winning Big
By Patrick J. Cohn, Ph.D.
How big do you have to win by for the game to be classified as a rout? What qualifies as a mega rout in sports? Does momentum play a role in a huge rout? What’s the attitude you or your team needs to perform your best every play, not give up a huge lead when winning, and finish strong? I'll answer these questions in today's issue of Sports Insights Magazine ...
In game four of the Western Division of the NBA playoffs between the Denver Nuggets and New Orleans Hornets, the Nuggets smeared the Hornets by winning 121-63. A big reason the Nuggets won by 58 points was their ability to shut down the Hornets’ defense. 58 points was the record for the biggest margin in NBA playoff history.
In game five of the playoffs, the Nuggets advanced to the second round of the playoff series by beating the Hornets, 107-86, another mild thrashing. Sorry Hornet fans, but I have a mental toughness lesson for today...
How can such as thrashing happen in the playoffs to a professional team, you might ask? I’m sure attitude, confidence, and momentum all played crucial roles in this type of performance by the Nuggets. Although the Hornets lost in five games, you have to wonder what drives such as huge margin of defeat. Let’s find some answers…
"If you play aggressive and you play strong, you can be called a bully. So I guess you need a team of bullies, because that's a mindset you've got to have. You've got to be mentally strong, you've got to be tough and you've got to bring the defense every night" said Denver guard Dahntay Jones.
Jones makes an interesting, although controversial statement: “you need a team of bullies.” A “bully” mindset (translation: being aggressive), helped the Nuggets slam the door on the Hornets. The Nuggets showed unbelievable persistence and intensity when playing defense. Mention the word “bully” for grade schoolers’ behavior and you’ll get lots of strong opinions. But talk about bullying the competition in professional sports, and you come up with a different meaning: An aggressive, never-let-up, and play great offense and even better defense mindset.
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____________________________________________How dis this mindset help the Nuggets? They intimidate the competition with their never-let-up attitude. They intimidate the opponent by their aggressive play, confidence, and mental toughness. All these qualities cause opponents to question if they should even try. The team that goes on a run does not stop shooting when they have a comfortable lead. They’re still driving to the basket, taking risks, and going for shots. They ride the momentum all the way to the end, which is critical to keeping the run alive.
One big challenge a team must overcome when winning big is complacency. The tendency is to let up and just sit on the lead when you are winning comfortably. "It's tough when you get up 20 against a team at home. You kind of relax a little bit." said Deron Williams of the Utah Jazz. When you sit on the lead, it’s hard to pull off such a routing like the Nuggets did.
How does this mindset influence the competition? The Hornets played tentatively and were overwhelmed by doubt and lack momentum. They could not harness any momentum or get a run going, which leads to a feeling of dejection. Some players may even forfeit the game mentally. They start to think that whatever strategy or play they run, the opposing team has an answer to counter them. "Every time we tried something, they countered. We didn't play well and they executed their game plan to perfection,” said Hornets Chris Paul.
Does intimidation play a role? Not in the typical sense of intimidation. Most people think of intimidation as direct intimidation—when a player tries to verbally intimidate the competition. I’m talking about a different type of intimidation: intimidation by example and the attitude of intensity and confidence and every play…
According to Denver coach George Karl, every possession of the game has to be given intensity: ''Every coach talks about playing a playoff game, every possession having value, every possession having intensity to it. I thought my team, probably in my career, I've never seen a team probably do that on every possession - do what they were supposed to do and play the game the right way - as much as they did tonight.''
What’s the mental game formula for winning big over the competition? First, read this: embarrassing the competition is not the goal or a good goal for any athlete or team. The goal is for all members of the team to perform to their potential on every play of the game.
How can you or your team accomplish this? Here’s my formula for winning big: (1) Play with confidence, energy, and intensity on every play and trust in your ability. (2) Harness the momentum from playing well and ride the wave of confidence till the last second of the game. (3) Continue to play aggressively, take risks, keep shooting, and don’t become complacent or sit on the lead. (4) Spread the fun—involve all the players on the team even when one or two are carrying the load!
"If we play with energy and intensity of Games 1 and 2, we don't have to change...the mental game of playoff basketball is always the thing a coach never knows - it's the challenge of our character, challenge of our pride, to see if we want to be big-time or not,” said coach George Karl.
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
"I always have a riual I follow."
How you pace your play is critical to your overall mental game and performance. You should use a ritual to help you prepare for a serve or return of serve...
“I try and play at a constant speed every match I play. Some players like to serve faster than others in between points. I always have a ritual that I follow in between points.”
~Jim Courier
Podcasts of the Month
The Tennis Psychology Podcast of the Month!
In this week’s tennis psychology session, you’ll learn how to play your best tennis when losing. Many tennis players become angry and frustrated when losing, which snowballs in the wrong direction. Dr. Cohn teaches you the top mental strategies to keep your composure. The Tennis Psychology Podcast by Dr. Patrick Cohn helps tournament players, tennis coaches and parents improve confidence, focus, and composure.
- 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 and The Mental Art of Putting, Dr. Cohn, helps golfers learn how to grind out a round when playing poorly. Many golfers lose interest in their game or stop trying when they are playing poorly. Learn how keep your head in the game and grind out the round.
Pro Athlete Quote of the Month
"We took their crowd out of the game..."
"We just wanted to be aggressive... We took their crowd out of the game from the beginning...[It was] a big win on the road."
~Carmelo Anthony, Denver Nuggets
Ask Doc Cohn
"How can I help my son keep it together and not cry?"
Sports Parent:
I coach Select Travel soccer and my 10 year old is a member of the team. This team has played together for the last 2 1/2 years. During the first 3 seasons, my son was one the best players in terms of skills and effort. Now he is not performing well at all. Every time, as coach, I ask him to do exercises or demonstrate effort he responds negatively. Every comment I make he takes as negative criticism and for the past six months he developed a tendency of crying for anything and does not have any control over it, crying desperately and yelling at me when trying to help him calm down to talk about it. How can I help him and where I can find materials to read about and what techniques should I implement. Our team has developed from being the last in the division to become undefeated and champions for the last 2 seasons.
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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