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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Practice Mental Skills
Simplicity is Key to Learning
Anything in life can become too complex. Take computers for example. Most of us use them every day, but we really do not know how they work inside the box. Your athlete' sports performance is no different. If learning a new backhand or beam routine becomes too complex for the student, nothing gets
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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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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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