Even Roger Federer Loses His Focus

Roger Federer demoralized Novak Djokovic at the Cincinnati Masters Tournament recently winning easily 6-1, 7-5.

“It looks convincing, 6-1, 7-5, but a few points here or there, your focus is not right on break point, maybe you are the better man, but you end up losing because you lost focus on the biggest points,” Federer said. “That’s why you’ve always got to push yourself.”

No matter what the score is, maintaining your focus is important to your performance. Some players lose points or games because they lose focus for just a game or two.

Federer was down 0-3 in the second after winning the first easily. He lost his mental edge for just one moment. He coasted on his talent. He forgot to focus to the max. Was he distracted? No. I think he let up for just a moment and found himself down 0-3.

Read how Federer lost his focus but still won…

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When Your Young Athlete's Confidence is Low Because Friends Excel

What do you do when your young athlete’s confidence sinks every time a talented friend or teammate excels in sports?

This is a common problem for young athletes. Kids are social beings—and they tend to compare themselves to their friends. But in sports, this is a bad thing to do. Making comparisons to other athletes hurts kids’ confidence.

Here’s one sports parent whose athlete struggles with confidence when friends do well:

“My daughter is a sprinter, long jumper and hurdler. She lacks confidence generally, in particular because a friend seems to be a natural at everything and beats her. Her friend has done hurdles once and already beaten my daughter’s best time, which has shattered her self-confidence. How do I build her confidence back up?”

Read youth sports psychology tips to boost your sports kids confidence…

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Are Athletes Weak If They Need Sports Psychology?

Do you or your athletes fear other athletes will see you as weak if you have to do mental training or work with a sports psychologist? Still today, athletes buy into myths about sports psychology, which prevent them from embracing the benefits of mental training. I recently received an email from a young hockey player getting ready for try outs. This hockey player states:

"I have friends who perform better than me and they don't read any mental training books. Every time I open my mental training book I feel no motivation to read because better athletes don't do anything to mentally prepare themselves. I feel that I'm weak by being probably the only guy going to try-outs that reads mental training books. I have only heard of a very few great athletes that do mental preparation."

When I receive these emails from athletes, I'm surprised that people still view mental training or sports psychology as a weakness and thus think they are inferior because they need to do mental training. Unfortunately, a few athletes still buy into myths about sports psychology and thus shy away. This is an interesting--and misguided--conception about the value of sports psychology.

Read entire article at Peaksports.com>> Myths About Sports Psychology

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Favre Welcomes the Pregame Butterflies in NFL Return

Most athletes feel “jitters” or nervousness before competition. But are jitter a bad thing to feel before a game? It depends on who you ask. Many young athletes who experience pregame jitters think they are nervous or tense and don't like these feelings. However, veteran players welcome pregame jitters and even worry when they don't feel some butterflies before a game.

As a matter of fact, I saw an ESPN interview with Brett Favre about playing his first game with the Minnesota Vikings this week. He talked about feeling the butterflies and pregame jitters again, something he has not felt in a long time:

"Today, sitting in the hotel, all of a sudden, I starting having butterflies, I'm like, 'I haven't felt this in a long time," Favre said. He went on to say that the pregame butterflies means he still cares about playing football. He would be worried if he didn't feel the jitters... If he didn't want to play or be on the field, and did not care, that would be a clear sign that he's ready for retirement -- for good!

Read more at Peaksports online mental training system…

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Golf Psychology Podcast: Improve Commitment on Your Shots

Golf psychology expert and author of the “Golfer’s Mental Edge” CD program, teaches amateur to tour professional golfers how to improve their mental game of golf. In this week’s golf psychology session, mental game of golf expert and author of The Mental Game of Golf, Dr. Cohn, helps a golfer improve commitment before her shots. You can't be wishy washy with your decisions and expect to hit good shot. You must make good decisions on the course with you club, target, and shot: http://www.peaksports.com/sports_psychology_blog/?p=365

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Tennis Psychology Podcast: Coping with Mistakes

Tennis players learn how to cope with mistakes and not dwell on mistakes. Welcome to session number thirty four of The Tennis Psychology Podcast. Dr. Patrick Cohn at Sports Psychology for Tennis, is a mental game of tennis expert and helps tournament players, tennis coaches and parents improve confidence, focus, and composure using sports psychology strategies.

In this week’s tennis psychology session, Dr. Cohn teaches you how to overcome the fear of making mistakes. Many tennis players try to avoid making mistakes, which can cause them to tighten up and play tenatively. Listen to the podcast to learn the mental game keys to bounce back quickly from mistakes: http://www.sportspsychologytennis.com/?p=2156

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