I just finished a great conversation with a student, who in college, had a record breaking emotional blowup. The day after being named a Junior College Tennis All American, he decided not to be focused in his next match. He had already qualified for State Championships and would be moving on to the next stage of tournaments, so in his mind, didn’t need to mentally show up for this match.

As this particular match moved forward, it was obvious he wasn’t focused on his routines and mental goals. Instead, he was paying more attention to his opponent on the other side of the net, who throughout the year, was a major rival. They didn’t like each other much. As a matter of fact, this opponent would purposely cheat when matches got close. This day was no different, except for how my student would handle and react to the cheating.

Approximately 45 minutes into the match, the cheating began. Not caring so much about the outcome of the match, my guy started threatening the cheater, promising he wouldn’t get away with it this time. The two jawed back and forth, so much so, that a referee was placed on the court. Unfortunately, this ref had no idea what was about to transpire. This match wasn’t going to end in a hand shake and the customary  “nice match” at the net.

Again, my student came into this match totally unfocused and concentrated on next week’s State Tournament, so he was playing awful. Topped with the normal cheating from his opponent, the perfect storm was brewing. Before any coaches or players on other courts could see what happened, my man hit a perfect volley that was again called out, but this time wasn’t going to take it. He instantly jumped the net with his racquet in hand, ready to crack the cheater with it. His doubles partner somehow jumped the net and tackled him before any blood could be shed. In a split second, coaches and players from the two teams were running to the court.

My student was subdued, but not before being ejected from the match, and kicked off the premises. Before leaving, he proceeded to break four racquets and his plastic water bottle, shattering them into pieces, saving one racquet for later. And when I say, “leaving,” I don’t mean calmly walking away… no, no… this wasn’t his style at 19 years old. He took that one remaining racquet and sprinted far away from the tennis courts. He ran across the street, through a field, over a fence, across another street, finding himself at the base of a huge tree at a deserted park.

As he knelt beside the tree, barely being able to breathe from the mile sprint he just took, he noticed he was still clutching his last tennis racquet in his right hand. He looked at the racquet, then back at the tree, then again at the racquet. “Bye bye racquet,” he promised. What seemed like 15 minutes, he smashed that graphite enemy into the thick bark until there was only a leather grip left, dangling from his fingers.

Finally, he could rest.

I have a conversation with this student in the mirror every morning and night. I look at his reflection and congratulate him for making an amazing transformation. Before he sits down to a mental session and teaches anyone anything, he must first look at himself, be honest, and admit he will always be the student.

Yes … I DO know what you’re going through!

Keep it simple, Sally!

The best teachers, coaches, and mentors I’ve ever had were masters at taking complex situations and breaking them down to their simplest forms. Too often, we talk to much, analyze to deeply, and think more than is needed.

In a tennis match, hit the ball over the net and in more than your opponent. Do this, you win. In basketball, take it away from opponents as much as possible, set a screen to free a teammate, put ball in basket. When trying to lose weight, eat healthy and exercise often. On the golf course, focus deeply on target, hit ball to target as best as you can, repeat.

Sports were made to be played! Knowledge, alone, isn’t the key to our improvement. Knowing what to do, and figuring out the best ways to apply that knowledge is the key that will unlock performance. In my years of experience as a player and now a coach, I’ve learned one simple truth: The simpler we make it, the better we’ll play.

Visualize it happening … accepts all results … go! Repeat over and over.

Emotional intensity increases subconscious ability!

Imagine yourself on the tee box of your #1 handicap hole. OB left, hazard right, and a tight landing area. It’s a long par 4, so you must take driver. If left on it’s own, the mind will automatically focus on the trouble — what it doesn’t want to have happen. This is simply a defense mechanism the conscious mind goes to, in order to protect you from the pain associated with the trouble. In essence, it’s saying, “I don’t want you to hit O.B. because it will bring you a lot of pain. Don’t hit it in there, ok?” Unfortunately, by creating such a focus, it unknowingly makes you hit there more often.

The conscious, “talking mind” will always do just that — talk. So we must give it something to chew on while we attempt to feel and visualize what we want. The way we do this is by intensifying our emotions … with words and thoughts. Since our conscious mind wants to talk, trick it into helping us. Allow it to give us specific words and phrases: “Attack,” “Go now,” “I love these moments,” “This is MY time,” etc. While we allow this type of so-called thinking, we’re creating emotional responses for our subconscious to attach itself to. We kill two birds…

The tough part is INTENSIFYING the emotion on the tee box, as you stare down the tight fairway, knowing what’s on your left and right. This takes practice, but by repeating whatever word or phrase over and over in pre shot and at address with strong emotion, the peripheral will disappear, leaving a detailed picture of what you want. Make yourself feel, with deep passion, the phrase you’re repeating. Make the words more than words … create the intense emotion your subconscious needs.

You can apply this technique to any part of your game, but with any type of change, massive repetition is the only way to attain what you want. On paper this technique seems simple, but the real life application needs discipline and a willingness to step out of your comfort zone.

The 1% Mindset is yours for the taking. What are you waiting for?! Take it!

I received an email recently from someone who didn’t agree that self belief should take precedent over results. He didn’t like that I teach my students to “just believe, regardless of (and especially before) results.”

I normally don’t respond to this type of email, but needed to in this case to “back” my current students’ decisions to work their butts off, irregardless of outcome. I’m very passionate, believe deeply in my approach to the mental game, and especially committed to it’s affects on our lives off the playing field.

Self belief and confidence is a choice we make, not a result of our wins and losses. The levels of belief will definitely increase when we succeed, but our foundation will always be a decision we consciously make. This person is upset because he thinks I’m creating a false belief in my students, telling them to “just believe.” I’m not telling a 5 handicap to believe that he’ll win the US Open this year, or asking a high school tennis player to drop his classes to chase a professional career … but I AM telling them that with unwaivering self confidence, massive discipline, and committed passion for their goals, one day, they will have a chance!

I want each and every student I currently teach, and players I’ll teach in the future to know their belief system is what separates them from the rest. This is especially true when their plans don’t seem to be working as they visualized. The 1% Mindset is about sustaining a level of confidence through the difficult times, knowing the only thing that can stop you … is you! Your mindset dictates your path, decisions, and reactions!

The strength and conviction of your self belief doesn’t have to be a slave to outcome. You have two choices: Decide to believe in yourself, no matter what the result, or as my friendly neighborhood doubter would suggest … only after concrete results appear. The 1% laugh at the latter recommendation. What do you believe?

I’ve received such a huge response about the Pressure video I made for the 1% Academy, I thought I needed to revisit the topic. This subject has created a stir, in my opinion, because my take on Pressure is very much against the grain, causing people to question their rooted definition of the word. Since most are instinctively against major change, you can imagine the conversations I’ve had on the topic.

From the time my memory began, the definition of pressure has been hammered into my brain. Growing up as an athlete, learning how to “handle” or “deal” with pressure better than my opponents has been logged into my daily practice routines. I’ve been told by coaches, parents, and all the so-called experts that the only way to separate from the pack was to play better than them under this monster they named pressure.

As a tennis instructor, I naturally taught my students the same principles about pressure that everyone taught me, but as I began creating my mental performance base, something changed. Before I could teach anyone else how to develop their mental and emotional game, I first had to take a long, hard look at my own, both current and past. I quickly started seeing patterns in the way I approached pressure situations, and realized my body’s physical reaction to those moments were dictated by my perception of the moments.

I remember the day as if it was yesterday, when I first asked myself the question: Could it be possible that pressure didn’t really exist? Could it be that what I called pressure was actually just my thoughts creating specific emotional and physical reactions?

Unfortunately, I didn’t have the courage at the time to “buck the system.” Being the young kid on the block, I didn’t posses the confidence or awareness that I controlled my confidence. So, rather than trying to change the way other coaches and players viewed pressure, I kept my new views on the inside, waiting until “tomorrow” to approach the topic.

Well, tomorrow has come … and it’s today! Since I couldn’t find any “experts” who agreed with me, I had to dive deep within, draw from every past competitive situation, and analyze in detail my reaction to this pressure monster. (Andy Morrison @AMGolfMindCoach on Twitter) is literally the only coach I could find who agrees with my viewpoint. That’s o.k., because I understand how unwilling most are about such a major change in their mindset.

After countless hours of self analyzation, my opinion on pressure has taken a 180 degree turn. Pressure moments do not exist! What we call pressure is simply our perception of the moment, creating an emotional and physical reaction. These reactions are definitely real, but they are created by our thoughts of the specific occasion. We have two ways of viewing these moments: With fear or excitement. When we understand that the physical reactions to these moments are all self-induced, rather than produced by some tangible creature named pressure, we’ll immediately bust free from our mental handcuffs.

Tiger Woods and Michael Jordan, maybe the two most mentally tough athletes of all-time, will say they love and thrive under pressure, primarily because they don’t know any other term for this moment of consequence. What they’re really saying is they love the opportunity to change fear of failure into excitement for the challenge. It’s not pressure they love (because it doesn’t exist), it’s the 1% Mindset of choosing anticipation and fearlessness of the mental battle. They thrive on winning the fight that is process immersion vs. results thinking. Tiger and Michael learned at an early age that succumbing to the fear of “what if I fail” was death to their long term performance. They CHOSE to view each of these moments with enjoyment.

Change your mindset, change your life!