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Performance Anxiety Solution 3

Posted on March 22, 2017 by in Emotional Aptitude in Sports, Emotional Tennis

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Popular Performance Anxieties

To illustrate how unique personalities operate differently, I’d like to reintroduce you to the twins: Evan and Jarrod. Let’s again call upon the brothers to offer their take on the following top ten performance anxieties. (Following is Solution Number 3)

3. Problem Solving

Evan: I view matches as information-gathering and problem-solving expeditions. I am constantly monitoring my own game as well as my opponent’s game. This includes techniques, athleticism, mental and emotional issues. I also pay close attention to the weather conditions because it may affect my decision making.

Jarrod: Yeah… I don’t stress about defining problems or working on solutions in practice. I’m just good at solving problems. I’m naturally awesome.

Frank’s Tip: Coaches and parents shouldn’t tell the student the problem. They should ASK the student “What is the problem? What is the solution?”  This encourages accountability and strengthens emotional aptitude.

 

Popular Performance Anxieties

Posted on March 15, 2017 by in Emotional Aptitude in Sports

The following post is an excerpt from Emotional Aptitude In Sports NOW available through most on-line retailers!  Click Here to Order

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Solutions to Popular Performance Anxieties 

To illustrate how unique personalities operate differently, I’d like to reintroduce you to the twins: Evan and Jarrod. Let’s again call upon the brothers to offer their take on the following top ten performance anxieties. (Following is solution number one – more solutions to come.)

  1. Handling Pressure

Evan: I thrive under pressure because I’ve focused on it every practice session. I enjoy the negative scoring drills. These stress-buster exercises keep me focused throughout the practice session. They make me accountable for every sloppy error. They help me not only with my fundamentals but with my decision making, my problem solving and my self-coaching/internal dialog.

Jarrod: Dude, I just like to crank the tunes in practice and groove. I don’t need to think about my emotions. So what…?  I get mad when I compete…I’m not worried about it!

Frank’s Tip: Multitask and incorporate stress simulation scoring into daily training. This develops the emotional muscle as well as the technique.

12 Tough Love Rules of Tennis

Posted on March 8, 2017 by in Customized Organizational Plan, Emotional Aptitude in Sports, The Second Edition of The Tennis Parent's Bible

The following post is an excerpt from Emotional Aptitude In Sports NOW available through most on-line retailers!  Click Here to Order

 

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12 Tough Love Rules of Tennis

  1. When you lose, it is usually caused by flawed preparation. Learn from losses and prepare intelligently.
  2. Competition isn’t always fair. Pre-set solutions to deal with it.
  3. When push comes to shove, tennis peers are opponents, not friends. In battle, put aside the friendship until after the match.
  4. If you want to make friends with the top players, you must first beat them … then they will be calling you.
  5. You will not earn a college athletic scholarship training only when it is convenient.
  6. High-performance tennis is a game of keep away… not catch. Rallying back to someone in practice day in- day out isn’t the best use of your time.
  7. Practice in the exact manner you’re expected to perform.
  8. If you think junior tennis is tough, wait until you get to college. College coaches demand that you put in approximately 30 hours a week of hard work.
  9. Playing practice matches versus a slightly weaker opponent isn’t beneath you. It is called: an opportunity for growth.
  10. Only playing up usually teaches you one thing… how to lose. Playing down will assist in implementing one’s game plans and actually learning to stay on script long enough to win multiple matches in a row.
  11. Clean strokes will get you into the event, mental preparedness will progress you into the later rounds but it is your emotional aptitude that will the tournament for you… if you have developed it.
  12. Top national players don’t take summers off. As a matter of fact, they don’t spend school breaks (Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter, long weekends…) relaxing with friends because they are dedicated to being competing at the highest level and being the best they can be!

 

Coaches, please pass this reality check on to your athletes and their parents!

 

Frank Giampaolo, Best Selling Author
The Tennis Parents Bible/Emotional Aptitude in Sports/ Championship Tenniswww.maximizingtennispotential.com

More Solutions to Foster Emotional Strength

Posted on March 6, 2017 by in Emotional Aptitude in Sports, Emotional Tennis, The Second Edition of The Tennis Parent's Bible

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Embrace Failure
Initial failures are the beginning of the long road to success. They are your teachers. It’s often through setbacks that your customized secrets to success are found.

Step Up and Take Responsibility
A challenge for many athletes is to not allow parents or coaches to routinely solve their problems for them. Solve your problems yourself versus tapping out when difficulties arise.

Take Competitive Risks
Being scared to leave your comfort zone stalls the growth you seek. Take the risk…or grow old wondering if you were ever good enough.

Ask Experts About Their Story
You’ll quickly realize that failing is what winners do often. Winners often don’t have the most physical talent. They most often possess the positive emotional qualities you seek.

Organize a New Developmental Plan
Success stems from spectacular preparation. A brand new deliberate, customized developmental plan along with intelligent game day preparation could make all the difference in the world.

Five Solutions to Foster Emotional Strength

Posted on March 2, 2017 by in Emotional Aptitude in Sports, The Second Edition of The Tennis Parent's Bible

The following post is an excerpt from Emotional Aptitude In Sports NOW available through most on-line retailers!  Click Here to Order  

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Five Solutions to Foster Emotional Strength:

Apply Positive Visualization
Winners use positive visualization by imagining themselves executing their best patterns and plays without hesitation. Less successful athletes are overcome with negative visualization, which of course overwhelms their thought processes with visions of failure.

Train Under Game Day Stress
Athletes need to train much more than just their physical techniques and athleticism in practice. They have to get comfortable… being uncomfortable.

Rehearse Tolerance
Overcome hardships and pain in practice. Simulating stress in practice provides you with the opportunity to conquer your emotional demons. By doing so, reoccurring game day negative thoughts are replaced by positive thoughts such as: “I’ve done this before, I’ve conquered this several times and I know I can overcome this again because I have done it often.”

Learn to Compartmentalize Emotions
Great athletes stay in their optimal performance frame of mind during discomfort by staying on script (pre-set protocol). This entails choosing to mentally focus on the job at hand by overriding the emotional contaminants, thus not letting emotions control the show.

Stop Feeding Negative Emotions

Flip constantly feeding the problems, worries and fears with customized protocols which feed optimism, courage, resiliency and fortitude. Athletes should have pre-set triggers (words and actions) that help them focus on positive plays and patterns.

Emotional Sustainability

Posted on February 26, 2017 by in Emotional Aptitude in Sports, Emotional Tennis

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The Antidote for Emotional Sustainability

Remaining in the right frame of mind throughout an athlete’s journey is emotional persistence. Most often, future behavior is driven by emotional reasons. This is why reminding yourself daily of the positive motivational forces is so important. Take 10 minutes each day to focus on gratitude. Simply being thankful for your environment, your possessions, your friends, family, and coaches helps keep your athletic achievements in a healthy perspective.

 

Gratitude is a quick 10 minute cleansing of the soul.

Real Talent Is Emotional Toughness-Part 1

Posted on February 20, 2017 by in Emotional Aptitude in Sports

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 Five Solutions to Foster Emotional Strength- More Solutions to Come…

  1. Nurture the Love of Competition
    Studies show that experiences bring more joy than possessions. The energy of the event is contagious. Athletes should enjoy competing against their past, fatigue, opponents and against time.
  2. Commit to Improving
    Being the best of the best (even in your town) doesn’t come without extreme effort. Improve your performance by understanding emotional aptitude.
  3. Recognize That You Can’t Be Normal …and a Champion
    Champions lead very different lives than normal people. Being an athletic champion is a daily lifestyle.
  4. Customize Your Training
    Realize that diligent customized training trumps social, group learning. Research shows, on average, group training takes up to six times longer than quality private training.
  5. Adopt a Growth Mind-Set
    Great skills are cultivated through continuous effort more so than initial talent or IQ. Without effort…you fail by default. Understand that success starts with the effort of optimism and a growth mindset.

Responsive to Change

Posted on February 13, 2017 by in Emotional Aptitude in Sports

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The Evolution of Winnersea-in-sports4a_final

 

“It’s not the strongest that survive nor the most intelligent but the one most responsive to change.”

                                                                                    Charles Darwin

 

Being responsive to change is emotional aptitude. Winners innovate. The solution to becoming a winner is to be willing to take risks. Champions see taking calculated risks as necessary in order to achieve greatness.

It’s important to note that in competitive sports, there is a difference between controlled aggression and reckless aggression. The same holds true with calculated risk versus reckless risk. In competition, only with risk comes reward. Athletes too afraid to take risks are commonly known as “spectators.”  Emotional aptitude is the mindset of taking your best shot at greatness, regardless of possible failure.

 

 

Sports Hardships Teach Life Skills

Posted on February 6, 2017 by in Emotional Aptitude in Sports

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Hardships in Sports Prepares you for the Real World

There is no success in high-performance sports without hardships. Hardships are actually the lessons needed to prepare athletes for success in the real world.

Strength doesn’t come from winning, it comes from the battle.

A study published in The Journal of Personal & Social Psychology reported that individuals who experience normal adverse events have better overall mental health than individuals with no real history of misfortune. I’ve found this same scenario to be true with athletes.

Many talented athletes who are coddled and pampered by parents and coaches in their youth have difficulty in handling adversity in their teens. These junior athletes are sheltered from the exact problem-solving skills they need in order to thrive at the higher levels. This lack of resiliency is an especially important life skill needed for success. In a sense, resiliency is like a “psychological immune system” which aids athletes in coping with the hardships that come with competing at the higher levels of sports.

 

“What doesn’t Kill you… makes you stronger”

Friedrich Nietzsche

Frustration Tolerance Level

Posted on February 2, 2017 by in Emotional Aptitude in Sports, The Second Edition of The Tennis Parent's Bible

The following post is an excerpt from Emotional Aptitude In Sports NOW available through most on-line retailers!  Click Here to Order

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SOLUTION: Identify the Athlete’s Stress Management Profile

Athletes begin competition with their own unique level of composure. To the untrained eye, two athletes warming up may appear to have a similar athletic ability, but once the competition begins it’s an entirely different story. The degree to which an athlete responds to stress depends on their frustration tolerance level.

 

Frustration tolerance is the ability to endure stress and maintain composure when met with obstacles.

 

An athlete’s frustration tolerance level is an essential topic.  It plays a crucial role in why seemingly gifted athletes lose. Below are a few observations regarding frustration tolerance and opposing personalities under stress:

  • Some folks are both pre-wired and nurtured to agonize and over think. Others are pre-wired and nurtured combatants and ready to fight at the drop of a hat.
  • Some athletes become so overwhelmed by the opponent’s intensity that they emotionally withdraw. Other players get motivated by conflict and their energy rises to the occasion.
  • Some personalities are designed to thrive in fast pace settings – increasing their productivity under stress. While under the same stress, other personalities shut down due to the trauma.

I’ve found that the customization and repetition of practicing in the manner you’re expected to perform greatly assist those overthinking agonizers. By applying quality practice sessions (infusing simulated pressure into drills) over quantity practice sessions (stagnant familiar drills) overthinking agonizers can be nurtured to become strong competitors.