Archive: 50 for 50

50 for 50 Idea #29: Get a massage once a month

August 21, 2018

In the late ’90s, I started experiencing some pain in my left knee while playing tennis. The pain was tolerable, so I played through it and then iced it after playing. That worked for a little while, but eventually the pain started to get worse, and my mobility on the court was compromised. The pain […]

50 for 50 Idea # 28: Develop a Personal Philosophy to Compete Better

August 6, 2018

A couple of years ago, I wrote a post about the 3 components of Mental Toughness (Philosophy, Character Skills, and Actions & Behaviors). In there, I described Philosophy as the over-arching factor because it could determine how well you could execute the other two components under pressure and through adversity. All great competitors excel at […]

practice competing

50 for 50 Idea # 27: Practice competing

July 26, 2018

Over the last several years, there have been many books extolling the virtues of practice and mastery. Grit, Peak, and The Talent Code are just a few. The 10,000 hour rule, popularized and oversimplified by Malcolm Gladwell in his book Outliers, has become part of the daily lexicon. Want to be a master of what […]

50 for 50 Idea # 26: Be more self-compassionate

July 18, 2018

As much as we don’t like it, making mistakes is a part of sport performance. And it’s a part of every day life. We are human and we are not perfect. Mistakes are going to happen, however how you react to them might be what determines your success. Will you be self-critical or self-compassionate? Let […]

50 for 50 Idea # 25: Pay more attention to your equipment

July 10, 2018

“Why didn’t anyone tell me about this?!” That’s what I said after using a polyester string in my tennis racquet for the first time in my life. The year was 2005, and I couldn’t believe the combination of power and control that I was experiencing with this string. It was like magic. Everything went in […]

50 for 50 Idea #24: Drink plenty of water

June 19, 2018

To say that there are a lot of articles available on the internet discussing the benefits of hydration for athletes would be an understatement. I discovered this while doing some research for this post. Clearly, drinking water is important for athletes and many of us could be better at doing it. Why else would there […]

50 for 50 Idea #23: Start a Confidence Journal

June 7, 2018

There isn’t a competitor on the planet who doesn’t have doubts sometimes. It’s natural and it’s human. Many of the athletes I work with are really good at what they do. They’ve experienced a lot of success, yet almost all of them have crises in confidence from time to time. None of us are perfect, […]

50 for 50 Idea #22: Read 10 books this year

May 31, 2018

In one of my previous 50 for 50 posts, I wrote about developing a reading habit of 10 minutes a day (or more). Being consistent with this habit will lead to finishing more books than you could have imagined. It will also help you develop and improve your talent and skills in the long term. […]

50 for 50 Idea #21: Watch your sport more

May 24, 2018

When Bill Belichick was a youngster, he used to watch a lot of football film. At the time, his father, Steve, was a coach at the Naval Academy and one of his duties was to scout Navy’s upcoming opponents. That meant a lot of watching of film, and young Bill was there by his side. […]

50 for 50 Idea #20: Plan a trip to play your sport

May 18, 2018

Whenever I travel, I like to pack my tennis racquets. In the last 20 years, I have been fortunate enough to visit many places in the United States as well as other countries. Of course, some of these trips have been for tennis competitions such as national tournaments and team events, so having my racquets […]

50 for 50 Idea #19: Pursue an Outside Interest

May 9, 2018

As human beings, we are more than what we do. We are complex creatures with different strengths and interests, and these are part of what makes us unique. However, sometimes we can get fixated on what we do and we lose sight of the interests that make us happy. Being all consumed with your job […]

50 for 50 Idea #18: Hire a Coach

May 3, 2018

In January of 2012, I turned 44. In the past couple of years prior to that, I had not played many competitive tennis events. However, I was going to be 45 in another year and that meant entering a new age group. I would be young again! This was another opportunity to compete at a […]

50 for 50 Idea #17: Weekly Reflection Practice

April 19, 2018

Do you ever feel that time flies by? Days, weeks and months pass and you can hardly believe that it’s April already. We more or less spend our lives on auto-pilot going through each week while looking forward to the weekend before the cycle starts over again. This is normal behavior, but being on auto-pilot […]

50 for 50 Idea #16: Develop a Super-Strength

April 11, 2018

When you reflect on one of your performances, do you focus more on what you did wrong than what you did right? Do you think more about the impact of your weaknesses on the performance rather than the impact of your strengths? If you’re like most people, you answered “yes” to both of these questions, […]

50 for 50 Ideas 13, 14 & 15: Visualization

April 4, 2018

When I was a teenager in high school, I would shadow swing my forehand with my right hand while walking down the hallway to my next class. I didn’t realize I was doing this until someone pointed it out to me. It was a completely subconscious action. I was combining an image in my head […]

Sign Up & Receive Tips On How To Be Mentally Tough

Blog Categories

Archives