Archive for May, 2013
Be Aware of the Serves Your Opponent Favors
I very much enjoyed watching the first two sets of Clijsters-Henin semi-final at Miami. (I didn’t see the last one.) Two great athletes, great movement, great shot-making, great emotional control. I must admit pulling for Clijsters, no particular offense to Henin, but Clijsters is known to be an exceptionally nice person. So I was frustrated […]
The Unconscious Struggle Between Ambition and Fear
This is an excerpt from: “The Winner’s Mind: A Competitor’s Guide to Sports and Business” * We all fall victim now and then to the most basic problem of competition, the factor that thwarts most people in their quest for success—the unconscious conflict between the desire for success and the fear of failure. To escape […]
Producing the Next Champion
The USTA is pouring a tremendous amount of money and effort into producing the next Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi, Andy Roddick, or Jim Courier. A gilt-edged panel of national and regional coaches has been created along with a detailed blueprint for developing and grooming the next bunch of young champions. The program is well-intentioned, well […]
Why Suspend Players for Recreational Drug Use?
Let me be clear to start with that I am not advocating that athletes or anyone else indulge in cannabis, cocaine, or any other recreational drug. The health hazards of most are well-known and severe. I just think that banning athletes from participating in their sports or fining them for using recreational drugs is unreasonable […]
Open by Andre Agassi: My Review
The Agassi book is a sports psychologist’s dream. It is the most analytic, insightful, and detailed autobiography I’ve read in a sports book. Agassi obviously tries to be honest. And it sounds like he is – mostly. The only parts where he seems to be stretching it a bit is where he spends too much […]
