Mind Gym: An Athlete's Guide to Inner Excellence

by Gary Mack

The mind messes up more shots than the body. —TOMMY BOLT

You get what your mind sets.

You always can do mental practice, even when you are physically tired or injured.

The probability of achieving the outcome you want increases when you let go of the need to have it.

Learn to view pressure as a challenge to meet rather than a threat of defeat.

I tell tennis players they can expect two or three bad calls in every match, sometimes more. How they manage their emotions can determine whether they win or lose. A mentally tough player will say to himself, “OK, if I’ve got to beat the other guy and the referee, then fine—I’ll do that.”

Sports psychology doesn’t create talent. It only can help release it.

Successful people take responsibility for themselves and their game. They understand that it’s not the event but how they respond to it that’s most important.

What can I learn today? How can I become better tomorrow?

The mind is like a parachute—it only works when it’s open.

Be accepting of your weakness rather than resisting.

Believe in the power of your dream, then A.C.T. backward. Accept your present state. Create your desired state. Take action through goal setting.

Two of our greatest fears are the fear of being out of control and the fear of the unknown.

Seek progress, not perfection,

you might not be as good as Michael Jordan, but there isn’t any reason you can’t play with as much effort and enthusiasm as he does.

Do you know how gemologists tell a fake emerald from a real one? The fakes are perfect. Real emeralds have flaws. None of us is perfect.

“Failure is the best teacher in the world… . You get to learn from what happens to you—both good and bad—in a real-live game situation.

I help athletes expand their comfort zone and encourage them to take risks. If you don’t see yourself succeeding, or you don’t feel deserving, you will sabotage yourself.

there is no security in life. There is only adventure.

Motivation can be the desire to succeed or the fear of failure.

As a coach I would want my kids to have fun. I would want them to be eager and excited. I would want them to feel they are improving and focusing on the process rather than the outcome.

Dedication is turning desire into action,

Everyone wants to be successful, but those who achieve success are steeled by an unwavering resolve.

Those who try harder do better. Conscientiousness may be the biggest single factor in success outside of luck.

players with a positive, optimistic attitude will outperform those with a negative, pessimistic one.

While a positive attitude doesn’t always work, a negative attitude almost always does.

We can train ourselves to look positively at negative events.

disappointments are temporary

10 percent of life is what happens to us and 90 percent is how we choose to react to it.

make a list of things you can do. Maybe that means watching videos, studying the opponent, exercising in the weight room, or cheering your teammates on.

There’s always a way to grow.

grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.

Some have a belief system that says failure is a shameful thing. In truth, life is based upon failures.

I would go further and say the ONLY way you improve is by experiencing and reflecting on failure.

Beliefs drive behaviors and self-limiting beliefs lead to self-defeating behaviors.

Buy the solution, not the emotion.

Fear lives in the future. These athletes live in the present—the here and now. Their participation is fun and rewarding.

Remember, fear doesn’t keep you safe. Your training does.

“The past got in my eyes!”

Learn from the past. Prepare for the future. Perform in the present.

Trying harder, which athletes do when they tense up under pressure, oftentimes is counterproductive.

If you can’t feel your swing, you’re swinging too fast or too hard.

The old joke is that if golf instructors taught sex education, it would be the end of civilization as we know it.

Play with your eyes, not your ideas.

Darting eyes are usually not fixed on the task at hand.

confidence is knowing what to do when you don’t know what to do.

preparation can be defined in three words,” Jackson said. “Leave nothing undone.

A wrong decision is generally less disastrous than indecision. —BERNHARD LANGER

it’s better to be decisive than right.

My body knows how to play golf. I’ve trained it to do that. It’s just a matter of keeping my conscious mind out of it.”

The zone is the reward for all your hard work and preparation. Just go with the flow and enjoy the moment.

Many coaches are rigid and inflexible in their thinking. Everything is black or white. It isn’t.

All performers can act themselves into a way of thinking just as they can think themselves into a way of acting.