Playing at Home VS Away Field – Sports Performance

It is quite common to hear that athletes and coaches pay some attention to where the match will be played. It is understandable that playing at home can easily bring the local crowd and cheer for you. On the other hand, playing at an away field, it becomes the opposite experience. Come to think about it, playing at home may actually be more difficult because the expectation is higher. Family members can bring higher expectations. …

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How to Bounce Back after Defeat

During Super Bowl 2017, we witnessed the New England Patriots being down by 25 points. As improbable as it was, they scored 19 points in the fourth quarter, including a couple of 2-point conversions, to beat the Atlanta Falcons 34-28 in overtime. In 1993, then world’s No. 1 tennis player, Monica Seles, was stabbed in the back, which led to a 2-year physical and emotional rehabilitation. In 1995, in her first tournament back, she wins …

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Mental Focus in Match Play

Golf is commonly played adding the total shots for 18 holes, called stroke play. However, there is a format called match play where golfer earn a point for each won hole. Rather than focusing on completing the round, match play tends to re-shift the attention to each hole. In match play, it is extremely tempting to focus on how the opponent is playing the hole as it can become a source of strategic shot making …

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A Personality Trait That Top Athletes Share

In-Kyung Kim is a pro female golfer who, in 2012, missed a one-foot putt on the 18th hole to win the ANA Inspiration Tournament. Since then, her name has constantly been associated with such a missed putt, rather than the other tournaments that she has won. For the last five years, In-Kyung has politely addressed her miss with grace and a positive attitude. She did not minimize it. She took full responsibility and continued working …

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Focus Tips from Top Athletes – Mental Preparation

Athletes often share with me that they find themselves getting mentally ahead of their games, which cause not only additional stress, but also become a source of mental distraction. Whether athletes are losing or winning, it is very normal to be carried away with positive or negative thoughts. During the past two weeks, two major sport events took place: Wimbledon and The Open Championship that was played at Royal Birkdale Golf Club. On both occasions, …

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Rickie Fowler: Moving in the Right Direction

Ricky Fowler is very well liked in the PGA tour. He is friendly, respectful, and talented. He is very generous to use his personal and professional time to support noble causes. Additionally, his easy-going demeanor and active social-media interactions attracts many fans, who loudly cheer for him. Fairly or unfairly, the general buzz portraits him as an underachiever because he has won just a handful of tournaments. Reporters from The Golf Channel shared that his …

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An unsolicited advice to Garbiñe Muguruza

By si.robi (Muguruza US16 (6)) [CC BY-SA 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

The 2016 French Open champion, Garbiñe Muguruza, lost to Kristina Mladenovic in the round of 16 in this year’s French Open. The news is not so much about losing a tennis match. Rather, how she reacted after the loss and, more importantly, how to mentally be ready for the next opportunity. Garbiñe 3-set match against local Kristina witnessed a very biased crowd, whose behavior was borderline unsportsmanlike. Constant booing and making loud noises made the …

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What is mental toughness?

Most athletes would agree that being mentally tough is more than just being focused. It rests on the ability to overcome challenges and see opportunities when the chips are down instead of becoming negative and pessimistic. It rests on being committed to achieving a goal despite the odds and multiple sacrifices that need to be addressed. It resides on having control over our emotions and having the ability to regain focus soon after a mental …

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Fear, The Emotion That Inhibits Peak Performance

Imagine yourself reaching an old age, seated by the fireplace, and taking a moment to look back at your life only to conclude, with little remorse, that you achieved what you set out to accomplish. What do you think it will feel having lived your life with little regrets? When successful people are asked, what prevents people from achieving their best, they point out to fear. Fear can become a paralyzing emotion, which is often …

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Changing Your Actions or Changing Your Thinking

change thinking new mindset

Leadership expert, Brian Moran is quoted saying: “When you focus on changing your actions, you experience incremental performance; when, however, your thinking shifts, everything changes.” It is a challenge to change negative habits. Although we promise ourselves to change and even create new year resolutions, most of those well intended hopes rarely reach a happy ending. Procrastination is the mother nature of unhealthy habits. We feel a sense of anxiety or frustration when facing the …

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