A few weeks ago, I remember seeing a sign outside of a fitness studio. The words and message struck me … It read like this: “You recharge your phone once a day, how often do you recharge yourself?” I thought this was a great message and applies so well to sports. As a mental…
I was playing golf recently with a friend who also happens to be an avid tennis player. As we walked down the seventh fairway and approached our drives, he asked me a seemingly simple question: “Tom, how do you teach tennis players to finish off their opponent and go on to win?” Indeed that…
A few months ago, I was listening to John O’Sullivan’s Way of Champions’ podcast when he interviewed his colleague, renowned mental training coach Dr. Jerry Lynch. They were talking about how all athletes want to win, but the path to winning is not so much about wanting to win, but understanding how to W.I.N….
Sometimes, as a tennis player, you exist on an island. Alone, solo, under the lights of your local club or drenched in the sun, there you are … between the lines, either gaining the accolades of glory hitting the winning shot or facing the weight of defeat. There are no teammates to pass to,…
It’s always fun to sit on the dais with some of the great thinkers in the world of tennis. I was recently invited to participate in a panel discussion at this year’s New York Tennis Expo at NYCB LIVE. The panel consisted of Steve Johnson, the California-born powerhouse currently ranked 34th in the world;…
Most of us saw Novak Djokovic’s dominating win over Rafael Nadal in the finals of the 2019 Australian Open. Usually, coaches, parents, fans and even the athletes themselves write off this kind of big win as: “He just played great.” But this explanation is often too simplistic. In sports and in life, we tend…
I remember it like it was a lightning bolt, my then mentor said to me: “Your opponent is your partner, not an enemy!” I thought that statement was blasphemous! My entire competitive life, I viewed the opponent as my enemy, someone whom I must defeat. The entire goal was decimation! My mentor, Jena Marcovicci,…
This story first appeared in the November/December 2018 issue of Long Island Tennis Magazine. Click Here to see the full issue. The local tennis community has some of the sport’s finest facilities and some of the top coaches in the world. With this wealth of talent available, Long Island Tennis Magazine took the opportunity…
To become a champion, you must have talent, fitness, good coaching, money, supportive parents, access to courts, discipline and patience. The sport psychologist is usually called upon when a player is having trouble with anxiety, anger, confidence, focus or pain tolerance. Any coach and athlete will admit that the ability to stay focused, confident…
In my first book, Tennis Inside the Zone: Mental Training Workouts for Champions, I wrote a chapter entitled, “OMG, I’m Nervous …What Do I Do?” At the time I wrote that chapter, that was the top question tennis players brought to me. But there is another question tennis players experience and grapple with that…