Sports Psychology

How To Get Over A Devastating Loss In Sport

From 2000 to 2004 my team had to play the same powerhouse team in the finals. And every year, we LOST. In 2005, we entered the finals optimistically: “It’s going to be our year!” we proclaimed. But our hopes were dashed AGAIN when we lost two games straight. It was enough to kill our sports motivation completely. There was, however, an important wrinkle to this competition: if we won our next game–against a different team–we could still earn a birth into the National... [Read more...]

How Most Athletes Are Crippling Their Mental Toughness

I just posted a new audio for you called, “How Most Athletes Are Crippling Their Mental Toughness – Especially If They Are Using Sports Psychology!” This audio is straight from a special interview I did with the American Coaching Academy. I reveal: The myths of traditional sports psychology and why some of these ideas can make you worse under pressure… How to deal with overwhelming nerves or performance anxiety so you can re-focus and get your confidence back How to identify your ‘demon... [Read more...]

Accepting Yourself Unconditionally in Sport

Most sports psychologists push positive thinking on you all the time. They kind of imply that if you are angry or frustrated it’s because you have dysfunctional thinking. I’ve found that the easiest, most profound way to deal with your fears and frustrations is just to accept them without resistance (instead of trying to manipulate yourself out of these feelings using positive thinking). Most athletes are quite dismal at this. We judge, condemn, and rebuke ourselves any time we aren’t... [Read more...]

Golf

The Psychology of Golf: Steel Yourself To Be A Tough Competitor

Many golfers accidentally sabotage their golf psychology by assuming they are supposed to have positive expectations all the time. So they go into a round expecting it to unfold well. This is a BIG mistake in golf psychology. Huge. It’s one of those psychology of golf... [Read more...]

A Golf Psychologist’s Secret That Always Cures A Bad Attitude

“I lost my swing.” “I got a lousy start.” “My rival trash talked me.” These are typical reasons golfers give for their misery when the going gets tough. The truth? These golfers are using distractions as an excuse to wallow in fear and self-pity. It’s... [Read more...]

He Came Out Of Nowhere To Beat Giants Like Tiger (Not In Golf Psychology Books)

This year’s US Open Golf Championship proved that at the highest level of sport, winning is not a technical issue. It’s a golf psychology issue. It’s not the player with the best technique who wins. It’s the player with the winningest psychology in golf. This... [Read more...]

Tennis

Are You Too Nice To Win At Tennis?

David, a tennis player, sent me his list of Top Ten stressors. And #2 on his list was, “Playing an opponent I want to impress.” Gasp. My first thought was, “Seriously?” I mean, sport is a war, complete with an opponent. But then I realized… Nice people all have... [Read more...]

Basketball

From Self-Pity To Basketball Superstar In One Day

“Lisa, thanks for what the Courage to Win has done for our basketball training this year. You’ll never guess what happened to Ashley, a fourth year player and starting shooting guard. She was having one of those nights where nothing was working. We were playing the #7 ranked... [Read more...]

Michael Jordan Reveals His Basketball Mental Game Secrets

In just 90 seconds of Michael Jordan’s acceptance speech for the NBA Hall of Fame, he gives us some major pearls about his basketball mental game.  Read More →