Tip #1: use your self-talk to overcome being hot or tired. When you say you’re hot, it gets 10 degrees hotter. When you say you’re tired, you become 10x more tired. Tip #2: Do 1 thing a day that sets you apart. Tip #3: Don't show up to practice/training just to get...

What if you were told you had to start playing a match or game without any type of warmup- just get out of the car or off the bus and start right away?  Would you feel prepared?  Would you be confident?  Very few people would.  Yet isn't that what we often do with our...

"What You Focus on Grows" We are born with a certain level of talent. However, skills are something we improve with consistent work. In addition, there are other intangibles that you have complete control over that can make the difference in making a team or not,...

One of the best ways for athletes (anyone for that matter) to improve is to journal.  A journal is an effective planning tool as well as reflective measure.   It helps you gain invaluable perspective.  Writing daily before and after practices or competitions helps...

Learning to focus on the present moment can be not only a game changer but life changer.  After all, the present moment is only one that matters.  Almost every negative emotion we have is due to clinging on to something that happened in the past or worrying about what...

This is part 2 of a series to help parents best help their child. To read #1-#6 go to https://r2lc.com/2019/03/04/12-ways-to-help-your-athlete-be-the-best-they-can-be/ 7. Let them fail. If they are late or forgot equipment, let them suffer the consequences.  It...

1. It’s about them.  Let them make their own choices, both good and bad. 2. Never talk to a coach about your child’s play time.  You should have your kid do that and then that should be at the appropriate time. 3.  And never complain to your child or...

The little team that could.  Just take one look at this group and you might not take them seriously.  I mean after all most of them are smaller in stature than their counterparts.  They laugh during games, make funny gestures to each other and have even...

Charles Plumb was a US Navy jet pilot in Vietnam. After 75 combat missions, his plane as destroyed by a surface-to-air missile. Plumb ejected and parachuted into enemy hands. He was captured and spent 6 years in a communist Vietnamese prison. He survived the ordeal...

Don't miss our latest interview with Heidi Lumpkin, Owner of Friday's Open. Heidi is a confidence builder in the business world. https://www.fridaysopen.com/blog/confidence-at-work-interview-with-tami-matheny. For daily confidence tips, follow “The Confident Athlete”...

"It's not how we make mistakes, but how we correct them that defines us" -Rachel Wolchin When you drop something, what do you do? Stop, and pick it up. When your shoelace is untied, what do you do? Stop, and tie it. And so on. You get the picture. When little things...

Excerpt from “The Confident Athlete: 4 Easy Steps to Build and Maintain Confidence” written by Tami Matheny, Owner and Director of Refuse2LoseCoaching, LLC. Common Confidence Mistakes: 1.    Confidence is something you are either born with or without....

By: Heidi Lumpkin  I married a golf fan.  I used to think golf was this elitist, boring sport until I met my husband.  I call him a golf purist - he’s humble about his own game, is fascinated by the history, pays homage in visits to St. Andrews and adores Nicklaus....

By the time one playing season ends, I have already started another.  My fall sports season came to an end this past weekend and I am already in high gear with the winter sports.   It is a given that seasons change but how we change during those seasons is what is...

The most successful athletes focus on being their best regardless of where they were drafted, whom they play for, their salary, if they are traded, etc. They focus all of their energy on being ready for the big moment. Steve Pearce was drafted 241st overall by...

A few days ago, I went for a longer run than I have recently been doing.  In the past it wasn’t too much of a challenge for me to set out on a long run.  Several injuries later as well as finding a love for the road bike, long runs have become less frequent and more...