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 …
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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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 …
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 …
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 …
We all want to continue improving and achieve higher goals. Whether it is at a corporate level or in athletics, individuals relish the opportunity to assume higher responsibilities or winning the golden trophy. As much as we look forward to those opportunities, are we ready for when the opportunity really comes? More often than not, opportunities to advance come at unexpected moments. The job calls for a professional to take an unexpected vacancy due to …
Athletes say that when they are really focused is when they perform at their best. They claim that their attention is fully paid to what is in front of them while able to push aside distractions that are happening all around them. But, are they really pushing away distractions? And, how is that possible? It is impossible to push aside distractions because the athlete does not control the sources of distractions. Even if the athlete …
Much is being talked about mindfulness and how it helps to improve performance and alleviate stress. Research supports that becoming mindful plays a very important role in staying in the zone, as athletes call it. But, what is being mindful? Mindfulness is no other experience than that of being aware of our present moment. Have you ever slowed down to really taste the pizza or salad you are eating? Have you paid real attention to …
In a recent interview with Jack Nicklaus, he was asked if athletes are born having mental toughness. His immediate response was that athletes do not know their fullest potential until they put themselves in situations where they are demanded to perform outside their comfort zone. Athletes are continually asked to take one step further to improve their performance. A thorough preparation leading to perform to one’s best is the only guarantee to building confidence in …
A pre performance routine is the “sequence of task, relevant thoughts and actions which an athlete systematically engages prior to his or her performance of a specific sport skill” (Moran 1996, p177). The objective of executing a pre-performance routine is to assist the athlete to gain full focus of the task at hand. Just prior to starting the performance, it is quite common that noises, people moving around, intrusive thoughts, and emotions become a distraction. …