Today’s message is especially dedicated to the great Nic Cecan.
Summer Tennis Camp 2010 officially begins today.
Though numbers are down, I am very excited.
I’m sure there will be some new faces, which will bring new opportunities.
I look at every session as a way to positively affect our youth. It’s life lessons through tennis. Sure, the campers will improve their tennis game, but more importantly, they will learn confidence, teamwork, how to perform under pressure, focus and much more.
Honestly, I don’t look at Tennis Camp as a way of making money, or getting a nice tan. I look at it as contribution.
Helping others become healthier, mentally and physically.
Teaching them that effort and attitude are more important than results and materialistic objects.
Making the world a better place.
What if everyone on the planet had this mentality?
https://www.edtseng.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/P50604011.jpg20481536adminhttps://www.edtseng.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/TsengLogo211-2.pngadmin2010-06-21 07:31:392010-06-21 07:31:39MESSAGE #1063 I'm NOT Teaching Tennis Today
Today’s message is especially dedicated to the great Carol Dweck, Ph.D. at Stanford University.
I just finished listening to and interview with Carol Dweck, Ph.D. and author of “Mindset: The New Psychology of Success.”
I talk about Dr. Dweck in my book, “Game. Set. Life.” and her research on fixed versus growth mindsets.
In a fixed mindset, people worry about their skills/talent and think that you only have a certain amount.
People with growth mindsets feel that the sky is the limit and that it takes challenges for you to grow and improve.
With a growth mindset, setbacks are opportunities to grow and improve.
I asked Dr. Dweck what an athlete can focus on when they are not playing their best game, or when the pressure is on.
She said that instead of beating yourself up after a loss, you should think about what you can do to improve next time and what you can work on in practice. The key is effort and practice, not results. Don’t worry about talent.
Dweck talked about her own career and said that “Everything involves setbacks.”
It’s true.
And I always say, “A setback is a setup for a comeback.”
Thanks for reading.
https://www.edtseng.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/Dweck.jpg800600adminhttps://www.edtseng.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/TsengLogo211-2.pngadmin2010-06-18 14:50:202010-06-18 14:50:20MESSAGE #1060 FIXED VS GROWTH MINDSETS
I recently received an email from a psychology student at UCLA asking, what is your favorite “pain management” technique that you would share with a marathon runner to help get through “the wall”?
As a runner, pain is part of the process and as long as you are not risking injury, you have to push through it.
Too often, our mind gives up before our body.
In yoga, when you feel you cannot hold a pose any longer, the secret is to shift your focus to another body part, your breathing or anything besides the fact that you cannot hold it any longer. Once you fight through that pain, it becomes easier. Running (and life) is the same way.
If you don’t feel like working out anymore, or if you don’t feel like making more sales calls, or you don’t feel like studying anymore…FIGHT THROUGH IT.
Last night was the major league debut of baseball phenom, Stephen Strasburg, age 21.
He is a right-handed pitcher for the Washington Nationals, who selected him with the first pick in the 2009 Major League Baseball Draft. Strasburg signed for a record $15.1 million contract on August 17, 2009. ESPN called him the “most-hyped pick in draft history” and Sports Illustrated called him the “most hyped and closely watched pitching prospect in the history of baseball.”
Now, there are many top prospects, but many of them never make it.
I think, if Strasburg stays healthy, he will make it.
Why? Because he works hard. And he’s humble. He goes all-out in every start.
So what did Strasburg do last night in his major league debut?
He struck out 14 Pittsburgh Pirates (a Nationals single-game record) over seven innings in a 5-2 victory. Oh, and his last pitch was faster than his first – 99 miles per hour.
“They didn’t really talk to me about a game plan or how to attack certain hitters,” the 21-year-old Strasburg said. “They just told me to go out there and enjoy it.”
I will be certain to follow this young man’s career over the next few years and I have a good feeling about it.
In his post-game interview he said the 5 most powerful words…
“I definitely think anything’s possible.”
https://www.edtseng.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/default2.jpg300300adminhttps://www.edtseng.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/TsengLogo211-2.pngadmin2010-06-09 10:51:382010-06-09 10:51:38MESSAGE #1051 WHAT YOU CAN LEARN FROM A KID
Here’s a an easy mental toughness tip that you can instantly start to use.
1. Stand or sit up straight.
2. Stick your chest out.
3. Bring your shoulders back.
4. Lift your chin up.
Now feel negative.
You can’t do it, can you?
I can tell you to try to feel confident, happy and positive, but you may not be able to.
But I can say smile, or act like the most confident person in the whole world and you can. The beauty of this is that even if you have to fake it at first, soon you will feel it.
Congratulations to Rafael Nadal and Francesca Schiavone and a special thank you to the great Angie Holmberg who snapped some great shots of Game. Set. Life. on her recent trip to London and the French Open. See below.
https://www.edtseng.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/image013.jpg10241365adminhttps://www.edtseng.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/TsengLogo211-2.pngadmin2010-06-08 09:21:162010-06-08 09:21:16MESSAGE #1050 ONE EASY MENTAL TOUGHNESS TIP
Greetings from Florida, Day 3. I am having a great time and my talk yesterday in Key Largo was very well received. I sold many books and connected with some great Florida coaches.
Sarah and I then had a great lunch at the Conch House, which was featured on the Food Network.
Today we are in Dania Beach/Hollywood.
As I blog here at Starbucks, I can’t stop thinking about the late, great Coach John Wooden.
Much of my coaching and life philosophy came from John Wooden. And much of John Wooden’s coaching and life philosophy came from his father.
His father used to say:
“You should never try to be better than someone else.
Always learn from others.
Never cease trying to be the best that you can be – that’s under your control.”
Here are some other great quotes from Wooden…
“Never mention winning – you can lose when you outscore somebody in a game and you can win when you are outscored.”
“Give your best effort and your results will be what they should. The score of a game is a by-product and not the end itself.”
“The journey (practice) is better than the end (game). The game is to see if they did a decent job (in practice) during the week.”
Success is…“Peace of mind attained only through self-satisfaction in knowing you made the effort to do the best of which you are capable.”
“Character is what you are, your reputation is what you are perceived to be.”
“We hope that things will turn out the way we want them to, but we don’t do the things that are necessary to make those things become reality.”
Wooden’s 3 Rules (From his father):
Never be late
Never use profanity
Never criticize a teammate
“Never mistake activity for achievement.”
“He just used sports as a means to teach us how to apply ourselves to any situation.” -KAREEM ABDUL-JABBAR
In the 1930s, a poem stuck with Wooden that helped shape his philosophy. Watch the vlog below to see me recite the poem.
https://www.edtseng.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/default2.jpg300300adminhttps://www.edtseng.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/TsengLogo211-2.pngadmin2010-06-06 09:01:552010-06-06 09:01:55MESSAGE #1048 FLORIDA DAY 3
Well, I leave for the airport in a few minutes to hop a flight to Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.
Tomorrow morning I will be speaking at the USPTA Florida Convention to tennis coaches, directors, club owners and administrators at the Ocean Reef Club in Key Largo.
I will be nervous.
Being nervous is good – it means you are about to do something important. Being nervous is much better than not caring.
Do you get nervous before a big match? A presentation at work? Asking someone out on a date?
Pete Sampras used to get nervous all the time. In fact, he used to get so nervous before finals that he would throw up in the locker room.
But why was Sampras able to perform the way he did?
Because he didn’t act how he felt.
So tomorrow morning at about 9:30am I will be getting nervous.
But at 10am, I am going to ACT like I’m going to rock the house.
Next message from sunny (hopefully) Florida.
https://www.edtseng.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/default2.jpg300300adminhttps://www.edtseng.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/TsengLogo211-2.pngadmin2010-06-04 06:56:462010-06-04 06:56:46MESSAGE #1046 NEXT STOP: KEY LARGO
Just because the three birds decided to fly off, doesn’t mean they did.
What are you putting off doing today?
Remember…Motivation is not a feeling, it’s an ACTION.
https://www.edtseng.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/default2.jpg300300adminhttps://www.edtseng.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/TsengLogo211-2.pngadmin2010-06-01 13:42:562010-06-01 13:42:56MESSAGE #1043 THIS IS A TEST
Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal; nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude.
-THOMAS JEFFERSON
https://www.edtseng.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/default2.jpg300300adminhttps://www.edtseng.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/TsengLogo211-2.pngadmin2010-05-30 08:29:592010-05-30 08:29:59MESSAGE #1041 A QUOTE FROM JEFFERSON
