In this episode of the Peak Performance Podcast, Ed chats with Tanyon Sturtze, former setup man for Mariano Rivera and the New York Yankees. In this exclusive interview, you will hear Ed and Tanyon talk about:
The mental game in baseball (and life)
The mind of Mariano Rivera
The character of Derek Jeter
What challenges Tanyon and other elite athletes face
And much more!
For more on Tanyon, follow him on Twitter @Sturtze56
https://www.edtseng.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/sturtze.jpg7371200Ed Tsenghttps://www.edtseng.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/TsengLogo211-2.pngEd Tseng2014-06-13 16:21:352014-06-13 16:21:35PPP 018 TANYON STURTZE, FORMER NEW YORK YANKEES RELIEF PITCHER
In this episode of the Peak Performance Podcast, I speak with quadruple amputee, Jorge Dyksen and his parents on the mental side of life and how happiness and success come from the inside.
What you’ll learn:
How The Dyksen Family found young Jorge in Panama, the home country of his idol, Mariano Rivera
How Mariano Rivera and other Yankees surprised Jorge during HOPE Week
The secret to making a difference in the world
The one thing that Jorge can’t do (or so he thinks)
In Episode #4 of the Peak Performance Podcast, I have an intimate conversation with Babe Ruth’s daughter, the great Julia Ruth Stevens. Having turned 97 years young recently, Julia shares her thoughts and memories of her father, the greatest baseball player who ever lived…”The Bambino,” “The Sultan of Swat,” or as Julia calls him…”Daddy.”
ESPN said Ruth was the first athlete to achieve international fame, beyond sports. In 1920, Babe’s first year with the Yankees, he hit 54 home runs which was more than the entire roster of all the other teams in the league besides the Philadelphia Phillies. Sports has never been the same since.
What you’ll learn:
What was the real Babe Ruth like?
Did Babe Ruth get nervous?
Did he actually call his famous “called shot”?
Was The Babe talented, or did he just work hard?
People often ask me, “If you could go back in time, who would you like to spend time with?” My answer is usually, “Babe Ruth!” Unfortunately I don’t have a time machine, but this podcast is the next best thing.
https://www.edtseng.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/podcast_art.jpg19051905Ed Tsenghttps://www.edtseng.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/TsengLogo211-2.pngEd Tseng2013-07-21 19:57:152017-07-11 12:03:23PPP 004 MY INTERVIEW WITH BABE RUTH'S DAUGHTER, JULIA RUTH STEVENS
In the Yankee Stadium bleachers with Jeff Nelson, a 4-time World Series Champion
I recently spent some time with the former Yankee great, Jeff Nelson at Yankee Stadium. We were at an event for Cystic Fibrosis and participated in the famous roll call with bleacher creature, Bald Vinny, Yankee writer, Jon Lane, and my friend Fred Weiland, among others.
What did I learn from “Nellie”?
1. He was always confident.
2. He was always nervous.
3. He treated both feelings the same way.
Nelson said that he was always confident, but there are so many factors in sports so you never know what’s going to happen. He also said that being nervous is normal. And he didn’t think too much about either one. That leads me to my Top 5 Ways to Play in the Zone Almost Instantly.
1. Understand that feelings (both positive and negative) are random.
2. Understand that feelings (both positive and negative) are neutral.
3. Understand that feelings come and go.
4. Understand that feelings come from your own thoughts.
5. Understand that if you don’t take your thoughts and feelings so seriously, you will play in the zone more consistently.
Notice my Top 5 has no technique, routine or ritual? There’s no how-to. All you need is UNDERSTANDING. The reason why is because when you are in a slump and you look to a technique, it will not work. It will just begin to make you think more. And when you think more, you perform less. The zone is a state of no thought (at least you don’t realize you are thinking), so why would you do the opposite when things are not going your way?
I don’t know either.
Let me end with a quote from another famous Yankee…
“You can’t think and hit at the same time. A full mind is an empty bat.”
—Yogi Berra
https://www.edtseng.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Nellie1-300x3002.jpg300300adminhttps://www.edtseng.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/TsengLogo211-2.pngadmin2012-07-03 08:03:552012-07-03 08:03:55MESSAGE #1641 TOP 5 WAYS TO PLAY IN THE ZONE ALMOST INSTANTLY
Well, it’s officially HOPE Week, my favorite week of the entire baseball season. The above photograph is of myself and the great Mariano Rivera at HOPE Week 2011. For an entire week, the Yankees honor a person or organization that could use their help. HOPE is an acronym for Helping Others Persevere and Excel. Every season, Yankee players volunteer their time and after helping out, most players agree that they benefitted more than the recipient.
But the Yankees don’t know the secret…yet.
Recently, I taught a class at Whole Food Princeton’s Wellness Club entitled, “The Art of Happiness: Mental Wellness 101.” I told the class that one of the things that makes me happy is to make others happy. The truth is, when I do something nice for someone else, my thoughts and feelings change to ones of compassion, love, and gratitude so it’s not the act, but the thoughts. The same will happen for the Yankees this week.
This week, I also will be donating my time and educating people on how peak performance occurs on the inside (thoughts), not the outside (strategy). Volunteering and helping others is great, but remember it’s your new thoughts that change your feelings, not the kind act itself.
In fact, let’s try a little experiment this week. Wherever you are in the world, I challenge you to do an act of kindness every day this week. I have donated my time with the Special Olympics, Boys and Girls Club of Trenton, Mercer County Juvenile Detention Center, United States Tennis Association, and other great organizations, but this week I’m going to step up my game as well. Your contribution this week could be complimenting a stranger on the street, helping someone with their stroller up the steps, or reading to the blind. As you do these things, see if you notice a change in your thoughts and/or feelings. You may or you may not, depending on your state of mind at the moment. But that’s not the point. Do good things because you want to, not because of how you think they may make you feel.
I will be posting updates this week on this site, as well as on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. I would love to hear your random acts of kindness as well. Leave your comments below or on the social media mentioned above.
I took the above photograph of Yankee prospect, Austin Romine next to the Yankee Double-A affiliate, Trenton Thunder clubhouse last year. This week, Romine got called up to the big club, caught Mariano Rivera’s 599th career save, started his first Major League game and collected his first major league hit.
Not bad for someone who thought his season was over. Romine was walking out of a Wal-mart in Kentucky when Yankee manager, Joe Girardi called, telling him the news.
4:30am the next morning, Romine began is trip to join the Yankees in Anaheim, ten minutes from his home town.
A couple dozen family members were present and Romine’s brother, Andrew was in the opposing dugout, playing for the Angels.
After traveling from Kentucky, Romine was thrown right into the mix, looking at photos, videos, scouting reports, etc.
“I just took a deep breath and treated it like spring training. I’d caught all these guys before and I’d played (at Angel Stadium) before, so the comfort level was higher than I thought it was going to be. I just took a deep breath and didn’t think.”
Romine knows the secret, don’t think.
His deep breath, relaxed him a bit and kept him in the present moment.
Not thinking helped him avoid paralysis by analysis.
Even though Austin Romine is a rookie, he has a veteran approach.
If you missed my exclusive interview with him, you can watch it HERE.
Make sure you checkout my new FREE video on my top five peak performance secrets. Register and enjoy!
Ed Tseng
Director of Mental Conditioning
Monroe Sports Center
609.558.1077
https://www.edtseng.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Romine_clubhouse2-200x3002.jpg300200adminhttps://www.edtseng.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/TsengLogo211-2.pngadmin2011-09-14 23:36:042011-09-14 23:36:04MESSAGE #1512 BE LIKE A ROOKIE
Phil Hughes is an All-Star and World Series Champion with the New York Yankees. I spoke with Phil on Tuesday at South Street Seaport in New York City for Day 2 of the Yankees’ HOPE Week.
I asked Hughes what he does when he has a bad day.
“I call my dad,” Hughes responded with a laugh.
I followed up with, “Do you ever have a negative voice inside your head?”
“Oh yeah, I do,” said Hughes.
“We ALL do,” chimed in pitcher, Steve Garrison.
“You have to have a short-term memory,” Hughes added.
What does this mean for you?
If an All-Star and World Champion gets negative, it’s okay if YOU get negative.
The key is to be like Phil and let it go and move on. You can certainly LEARN from the past, but you shouldn’t LIVE in the past.
Be like Phil Hughes today!
Ed Tseng
Director of Mental Conditioning
Monroe Sports Center
609.558.1077
https://www.edtseng.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/IMG_21802-204x3002.jpg300204adminhttps://www.edtseng.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/TsengLogo211-2.pngadmin2011-07-27 23:39:502011-07-27 23:39:50MESSAGE #1463 PHIL HUGHES GETS NEGATIVE?
On Tuesday, I was honored to be one of the people honored by the New York Yankees as part of HOPE Week. For approximately five years, I have been a mentor for Tuesday’s Children, a wonderful organization which began helping children who lost a parent in 9/11.
I became a volunteer mentor because I wanted to make a difference in a child’s life. It turned out to be the opposite – a child has made a difference in my life. I have a feeling this week, the Yankees have a similar attitude.
This amazing day consisted of mentors and mentees attending a beach party at South Street Seaport…with the New York Yankees. Highlights included lunch, ping pong, a water balloon fight, photos, autographs, a water taxi ride, a private Yankee Stadium tour, on field for batting practice…all with the Yankees.
To the Yankees, HOPE stands for: Helping Others Persevere and Excel. This is their way of giving back, but like the volunteer that I am, the Yankees reap the benefits of their charity. All of the players I spoke to felt that HOPE Week is one of their favorite weeks of the year, and it puts everything into perspective.
Even though I was one of the honorees, I was thinking about you (yes you) and how I could help you persevere and excel.
On the beach, I had a wonderful conversation with Mariano Rivera, the greatest closer in the history of baseball. I asked him what he did when he didn’t feel confident. His answer replayed in my mind the rest of the day…
“You don’t ask a professional what he does when he doesn’t feel confident. A professional should always be confident. A better question is, ‘What do you do when you aren’t at your BEST?'”
Let’s analyze Mo’s answer.
Rivera says that you should always act confident (regardless of how you feel). He focuses on the positives versus the negatives. When he re-phrased my question, he didn’t say, “What do you do when you are at your WORST?” He, instead, chose to use a more powerful word, “BEST.”
Mariano Rivera doesn’t focus on results, he focuses on the process. I asked him what he thinks about when he pitches. His answer?
The catcher’s mitt.
You don’t have to be the best closer in the history of baseball to have the mindset of a champion.
Stay positive, and focus on the process instead of the results and you too can reach peak performance.
Ed Tseng
Director of Mental Conditioning
Monroe Sports Center
609.558.1077
Congrats to Brandon Laird, who just got called up to the New York Yankees today. Laird is a class act who plays the game right and deserves this great promotion. Here is my video with Brandon last year. Enjoy.
https://www.edtseng.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/0281.jpg360480adminhttps://www.edtseng.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/TsengLogo211-2.pngadmin2011-07-18 17:57:102011-07-18 17:57:10MESSAGE #1454 THE NEWEST YANKEE
Recently, Yankee pitcher, Phil Hughes (above) was put on the Disabled List due to a “dead arm.”
Today, Hughes made a rehab start for the Trenton Thunder. He looked good to me. Here are his stats: 6.1 innings pitched, 3 hits, 1 run, 2 walks, 8 strikeouts.
Injuries and adversity are part of the game, whether your game is sports, sales or school. So it’s not what happens to you, it’s how you react.
In sports and life, there will always be setbacks, but it’s our reactions that determine our results.
