You always have choices to make prior to any competition. Confident athletes choose to focus their thoughts on things that help them feel confident. Great athletes enter competition thinking about why they deserve to win and they feel confident. The belief in their skill, work ethic in practice and
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Tips for Athletes
The Self-talk of Champions
Every person carries on an internal dialog, which we call "self-talk." Self-talk can be positive - "I will run well today" - or negative - "I hope I don't embarrass myself and finish dead last today." Some athletes have positive self-talk and pick themselves up after a mistake, while other athletes
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Beware of Negative Self-Labels
"You are what you think you are" holds true in sports! Negative self-labels are very unhealthy for athletes. Often they are very subtle and difficult to identify. What is a negative self-label? A negative self-label is a name you give to yourself (or adopt from what others tell you) that influences
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Control the Raging Monster Within
You cannot perform your best in sports unless you can stay in control – in control of your emotions during competition. I am sure at one time, or two, you got upset, frustrated, or angry with yourself and it cost you the game or match. How well you can recover from errors will depend on your ability
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Why Athletes Dwell on Mistakes
Mistakes or errors occur every day in sports and life, but many athletes sabotage their own performance because they simply can't let go of past mistakes. Missing shots, double faulting, and losing an important game happen often in the sports world and become a thorn in many athlete's mind.
Why
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Self-Confidence Roller Coaster
Are you on the self-confidence roller coaster? Many athletes allow their confidence to be thrashed around by immediate results and circumstances. What do I mean by the confidence roller coaster? Athletes with fragile confidence lose it when they hit a bad shot, fail to make a play, or lose a
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Champion Athletes Focus Under Pressure
“One of the biggest differences between the top players and the good players is when they are under the gun, they see and hear less than anyone else,” said Helen Alfredson, LPGA Tour star. The top athletes simply are less distracted when they *need to* hit a good a shot, get a critical first down,
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The Most Harmful Distraction
Do you start a game ready to clean up, but then become besieged by your own inner chatter? Most athletes have trained themselves to focus when needed, but sometimes their own inner chatter or internal, self-induced distractions prevent them from performing up to their potential. What do I mean by
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