The following post is an excerpt from Frank’s newest book, The Soft Science of Tennis.
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The following is a list of positive personality traits that I suggest nurturing on a daily basis.
- A “Can Do” Optimistic Attitude
- A Growth Mindset
- Confidence, Belief, and Self-Worth
- Positive Inner Dialog
- Positive Outer Dialog and Interactions
- Managing Perfectionism
- Applying Affirmations to Re-Trigger the Subconscious
- Visualizing Motivational Forces
- Maintaining a Positive Physiology
- Bringing an Enthusiastic Spirit Everywhere
In my experience, far too many gifted athletes don’t thrive at the elite level because they lack a well-developed positive belief system.
My daughter started playing tennis seriously at the age of 10. Every lesson, every day, every week I said to her as we would pick up tennis balls “Sarah, you’re going to be playing the US Open if you keep training like this! Way to go!” Sarah played her first US Open at 15 years of age. Developing the personality traits of a champion doesn’t replace training, it enhances it. At crunch time, it’s all about the athlete’s inner dialog. They’re going to convince themselves that they can or can’t, and either way, they’re usually right.
At tournament sites, I routinely listen to the parent’s dialog after the loss of their junior competitor. “You had’em again Kelly… you blew it.” Well, guess what Kelly’s new inner dialog is in future tight matches? “Come on… please don’t blow it again…you always blow it!” While poor parenting sent the initial message, Kelly is now both the sender and receiver of this ongoing, catastrophic message. Breaking this cycle of a negative inner dialog is life-changing. A key component in peak performance is a positive inner dialog.
It is worth repeating, that when it comes to self-coaching in competition, every athlete has a choice in dialog, to be self-encouraging, or to be self-defeating. Far too often I witness athletes surprised that they’re encountering hardships in tournament play. Thriving in competition is all about one’s ability to expect hardships versus being surprised by them and of course, choosing a healthy response system.
“Positive personality traits program productive solutions. Negative personality traits produce unproductive excuses.”
The good news is that even if an athlete has programmed negative belief systems from early adolescence, it can be changed. Well-informed parents and coaches are typically the most influential adult figures and are positioned to help quiet the athlete’s inner critic. Our daily messages become their inner voice.
For the technical coaching guru’s reading this, I get it. If an athlete has no forehand, backhand, serve, or volley but a great attitude, they’re just going to be a happy loser. I’m not suggesting to train the athlete’s software instead of their hardware; I’m saying train the software along with the hardware to maximize potential and increase competitive dominance.
