MESSAGE #1022 INTERVIEW WITH NEHA UBEROI
In this video blog, Ed Tseng interviews former professional tennis player, Neha Uberoi, as they talk about her toughest opponent, mental toughness and Princeton University.
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MESSAGE #1015 ROGER FEDERER VERSUS YOU
Today’s message is especially dedicated to all of you who think that Roger Federer was born with more tennis talent than you. And Happy Birthday to tennis great, coach John Carrigan in the UK.
I’m currently reading a great book, “Bounce – Mozart, Federer, Picasso, Beckham, and the Science of Success” by Matthew Syed.
The premise of the book is that hard work, not talent determines success. Syed talks about the iceberg illusion. This is when we see a Roger Federer and only see the end result (tip of the iceberg). What we don’t see is the thousands of hours of hard work that he put into this “end product of a process measured in years…What we do not see is what we might call the hidden logic of success.”
Now here’s the interesting thing…
In 1984 Desmond Douglas, the greatest ever UK table tennis player, was placed in front of a screen containing a series of touch-sensitive pads at the University of Brighton. He was told that the pads would light up in a random sequence and that his task was to touch the relevant pad with the index finger of his favored hand as soon as he could, before waiting for the next pad to light up…After a minute, the task ended and Douglas’s teammates gave him a round of applause. Douglas grinned as the researcher left the room to collate the results. After five minutes, the researcher returned. He announced that Douglas’s reactions were the slowest in the entire England team: he was slower than the juniors and the cadets; slower even than the team manager…Douglas was universally considered to have the fastest reactions in world table tennis…
When Roger Federer returns a service, he is not demonstrating sharper reactions than you and I; what he is showing is that he can extract more information from the service action of his opponent and other visual clues, enabling him to move into position earlier and more efficiently than the rest of us, which in turn allows him to make the return – in his case a forehand cross-court winner…
…Federer’s advantage has been gathered from experience: more precisely, it has been gained from a painstaking process of encoding the meaning of subtle patterns of movement drawn from more than ten thousand hours of practice and competition…It is his regular practice that has given him this expertise, not his genes.
Interesting…
MESSAGE #1010 I CAN’T BELIEVE YOU!
I had an amazing day yesterday (despite no sleep the night before) at the Human Performance Institute with Lorenzo Beltrame, who has worked with Pete Sampras and Jim Courier. Mark Dickson (US Open Quarter Finalist in Singles and Doubles and founder of the Mark Dickson Tennis Academy) and mental training coach, Rob Polishook (Inside the Zone)were there as well.
We had a great day talking about the keys to mental toughness and sharing stories.
As I was looking through my notes last night, I found a great quote by Horace Mann…
If an idiot were to tell you the same story everyday for a year, you would end by believing it.
So create the story of the player/person you WANT to be…write it down (by hand) and tell it to yourself over and over again.
And now for Day 2. Time for some breakfast and get picked up by the Mark Dickson Tennis Wagon…stay tuned.
MESSAGE #1007 LET IT FLOW
Have you ever been in the zone?
Didn’t the tennis ball look like a beach ball?
EXERCISE
Part One: Look around you and find a nearby object, like a pen or piece of paper. Now slowly reach for it tightening every muscle in your body. Move as slow as you can. Now slowly bring it to your chest and slowly place it down back where you found it.
Part Two: Now reach for the same object normally and bring it to your chest and back.
Didn’t it feel effortless the second time? When you’re in the zone (or as I like to say, “the state of ‘ON'”) you are just flowing; you are just doing.
When we think too much, especially about negative things, we mentally tighten up just like when you were physically reaching for that object a moment ago.
When you mentally tighten up, your mind is not clear and therefore your body won’t function at peak performance.
Your effort should be ALL-OUT…
But your attitude should be A LITTLE RELAXED.
Empty your mind, be formless. Shapeless, like water. If you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup. You put water into a bottle and it becomes the bottle. You put it in a teapot it becomes the teapot. Now, water can flow or it can crash. Be water my friend. -BRUCE LEE
MESSAGE #1006 WHAT WINNERS DO WHEN THEY LOSE…
I never prayed that I would make a putt. I prayed that I would react well if I missed. -CHI CHI RODRIGUEZ, golfer
How do you react when you miss a shot, or lose a match?
MESSAGE #1002 CREATIVITY
Today’s message is especially dedicated to the great Jonathan Star.
Are you reacting to life, or are you CREATING what you want?
If you’re like most people, you are reacting to what life brings.
On the tennis court, most players react to the last point, good or bad.
After we lose a point, we generally have a negative response. After we win a point, we generally have a positive response.
The secret however, is to CREATE a winning point and feeling, BEFORE the point begins.
I just finished reading the manuscript of one of the best books I have read recently, “GAME ‘ON’: THE FLOW, THE ZONE & THE STATE OF ‘ON,’ IN SPORTS AND LIFE” by Jonathan Star.
In his book, Star talks about this idea of creating what you want instead of reacting to the last one.
Star says that if you lose a point, you should let it go immediately and if you win a point, you should stay with that winning feeling until right before the next point begins.
“In my own view of things, being ‘in the zone’ refers to a state where everything is going right, where you are making your shots, where there is a certain ease and flow to your game. The state of ‘on’ – or what we may call ‘full on,’ since there are different levels in this state – is not so much a feeling that everything is going right, but the feeling that you can do no wrong. It is an elevation of the zone – you’re not in the zone, you’re not going with the flow, you’re creating it. You are not ‘in’ the state, you are the state. But you come to feel this way when you allow a higher dimension of your self to enter the game and bring it to a whole new level.”
Are you creating, or are you reacting?
Stay tuned for more on the state of “on.”
MESSAGE #955 TENNIS TRYOUTS
In this video blog, Ed talks about how to make the most of your tryouts and how you can overcome your nervousness.
What makes YOU nervous? Leave your comments below…
MESSAGE #462 SUCCESS WILL COME TO YOU…
Today’s message is especially dedicated to the great Bob Larson.
I am confident that success will come to you.
But I am also confident about this…
Nobody’s going to ring your doorbell and hand you success. You have to go out and get it.
I have been spending hours each day promoting my new book, “Game. Set. Life.” and today, I’m going into New York City to create a buzz.
The plan is to hit Tennis Magazine, Tennis Week, ESPN, the Public Library, Sports Illustrated, Mason’s Tennis Mart and perhaps some racquet clubs.
Maybe I’ll even give some away to random people on the street. It’s all about getting yourself out there. It doesn’t matter how great you or your product/service is…if nobody knows about it, it doesn’t matter.
So expect success, but you should also CREATE success.
Thanks for reading.
MESSAGE #431 LIFE IS LIKE KARATE…
Today’s message is especially dedicated to the great Noah Maxwell.
Master Okazaki is a 9th degree black belt in Shotokan karate. In his book, Perfection of Character, Guiding Principles for the Martial Arts & Everyday Life, he says…
Karate is just like hot water – if you do not give it continuous heat, it will become cold.
I don’t care if you are the world’s greatest tennis player…if you don’t continuously practice and compete, your game will deteriorate, or become cold.
As a peak performance expert and motivational speaker, I make sure that I practice as much as I can and strive for never-ending improvement, because I know that if I don’t, I will lose it, and others will surpass me. Carol Dweck, ph.D., author of Mindset, calls this a growth mindset.
Are you giving your piano playing continuous heat?
Are you giving your sales technique continuous heat?
Are you giving your nutritional plan continuous heat?
Remember…
Success is not doing something once – success is doing something consistently.
Thanks for reading.
MESSAGE #398 HOW TO GET THINGS DONE…
Today’s message is especially dedicated to the great Richard Ridley.
We all have challenges, big and small. We will always have them. If you try to go through life without problems, you’re in for a big surprise. We cannot control our problems – only our reactions. Here’s what the great William Arthur Ward had to say:
“The experienced mountain climber is not intimidated by a mountain – he is inspired by it. The persistent winner is not discouraged by a problem – he is challenged by it. Mountains are created to be conquered; adversities are designed to be defeated; problems are sent to be solved. It is better to master one mountain than a thousand foothills.”
And, speaking of mountains, the great Tal Ben-Shahar, Harvard professor and author of the book, Happier: Learn the Secrets to Daily Joy and Lasting Fulfillment, said that “Happiness is not making it to the peak of the mountain; happiness is the experience of climbing towards the peak.” In other words, focus on the process (your strategy) instead of the product (winning).
When I asked Dr. Ben-Shahar what the keys to success were, in his opinion, he said, Passion (love for what one does), efficacy (belief in one’s self), and hard work (persistence, dedication).
And that’s how you get things done…
Thanks for reading.