If you want to become successful (which I know you do because you’re reading this blog), cut these three words out of your vocabulary. CAN’T NEVER IMPOSSIBLE You CAN’T win if you use the word CAN’T. You will NEVER succeed if you use the word NEVER. It will be IMPOSSIBLE to reach your goals if […]
Last Friday, I went into New York City to visit my good friend, Bob Ryland, the first black professional tennis player. Bob was Arthur Ashe’s hero and used to coach Barbra Streisand, Bill Cosby and the Williams sisters. We had a wonderful lunch and talked about tennis and life. He is one of my heros, […]
Confidence is one of the keys to success. There are many sources of confidence, such as hard work, body language, past achievements, etc. Try giving yourself a steady diet of positive thoughts and affirmations, throughout your day, and especially during competition. You get what you focus on, but unfortunately, most people focus on the negative, […]
Every once in a while I hear a great quote, and my new favorite is from Derek Jeter. Recently, the Yankee captain was talking about his off-season routine, and how he doesn’t take much time off. “It’s easier to stay in shape than it is to get in shape.” In other words, it’s better to […]
What you do or dream you can—begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it. Begin it now. —GOETHE
A fellow coach recently told me a story. When he was younger, he faced a young phenom seven times. Going into his final match, his record was 6-0 against this young player. In their final match, however, this coach was losing 2-5 in the third set. It was then that he approached this young […]
Pitchers and catchers have already reported to spring training camp and position players report in a couple of days. Baseball is in the air again, and players are getting ready for their upcoming season. Some are trying to get in shape and others are trying to make an impression. At the professional level, everyone has […]
One of my favorite sayings is: “Doubt your doubts.” We all have a little negative voice inside our heads that shows up every once in a while (more often for some people). Recently, I was coaching some tennis players and I introduced topspin to them. Before they even hit one ball, one of the players […]
William James is known as the father of American psychology. He once said: “Everybody should do at least two things each day that he hates to do, just for practice.” I call this mental cross-training. There will always be things you dislike doing–laundry, homework, making sales calls, practicing, or eating healthy, for instance. But what […]
One day, an old man found himself sitting next to a young man on the local bus. It was February 14th, Valentines’ Day and the old man was holding a bouquet of flowers. They got to talking and the young man said, “Those are beautiful flowers.” “Thank you, I’m going to go bring them to […]