Posts by Jeff Greenwald
How to Eliminate Choking On and Off The Court
We’ve all seen it happen, and maybe even experienced it. You are dominating your opponent and suddenly you miss a few “easy” shots. Instinctively, you attempt to fix it, try harder to execute, and then, become hyper-focused on your technique, “I need to get the ball deeper, accelerate more, don’t take such a big backswing.” But,…
Read MoreDon’t Let Your “Knots” Slow You Down
Pre-Covid, when we could safely go to the gym, I often remember pulling out my old headphones wondering how they could get so tangled, especially since I know they were definitely not tangled after my last workout. Each time, as I sat in the locker room untangling the cord, I remember being struck how our…
Read MoreThe Best Athletes Behave Their Way into the Zone. So Can You.
If you tuned into the 2021 Australian Open, you probably heard how much the top players increasingly talking about their “mental” games. After Stefanos Tsitsipas defeated Rafa Nadal in a five set thriller he said: “How would I describe myself?” he mused afterward, asked to describe his mind-set after winning what proved a pivotal tiebreaker.…
Read MoreFind Pleasure in Pressure
1 Idea, 1 Anecdote, 1 Action adapted from Jeff’s book, The Best Tennis of Your Life I’ve been asked how the best players in the world compete so well when the stakes are so high. “How do athletes deal with the stress with so much on the line?” Answer: They learn to thrive in it.…
Read MoreWhat if The Right Expectations Could Transform Your Performance?
The King of Clay, Rafa Nadal, won his 13th French Open Title last Sunday and tied Roger Federer’s Grand Slam record of 20. Here’s what Rafa said about it immediately following his win: “When I lose it’s not a drama for me, and when I achieve something important I don’t see it as especially amazing…
Read MoreTwo Techniques To Master Your Focus And Achieve Your Best Outcomes
What’s New? 1-1-1 with Jeff Greenwald Over the next ten weeks I will be sharing ONE Idea that can transform the way you think and live, ONE Analogy to drive it home, and ONE Action you can take to see its effects in your life. These time-tested ideas–drawn from 22 years working in the field…
Read MoreThe Link Between Persistence and Contentment
While waiting to play tennis with a friend yesterday (I’ll call him Shane), I asked him how many of his friends were happy from his perspective. He said, “Most of them, actually.” “Because you probably don’t want to be around negative people, right?” He quickly responded, “Exactly.” But, he did acknowledge that many of the…
Read MoreWhen Success is Just Beyond Your Reach
A few days ago my son, Will, asked me to jump with him on the trampoline. He particularly likes it when I bounce him really high, which I do by using the well-known technique where I jump right next to him just before he lands sending him twice as far into the air as he…
Read MoreFinding the Music Inside of You
I know we can all feel low and sometimes our motivation, or even the belief in ourselves, can fluctuate. Clearly, we all have good reason to drag at this moment. But, we don’t have to lay down and give in for too long. That said, if you are struggling, as many people are these days,…
Read MoreEngage in the Learning Process
With our desire for immediate results and a lack of self-awareness, we often don’t even see the learning opportunities in front of our eyes. Engaging in the learning process is a critical step toward achieving goals on the tennis court. Recently, I was practicing my serve for an upcoming tournament. On the court next to…
Read MoreChoosing Resilience in Adversity
In the near future, perhaps sometime next month or early June, this first wave of Covid will be behind us. This will be a relief for everybody. Will you be depleted and burned out when you re-emerge? Or, will you have a new appreciation for the little things in life, including your relationships with friends…
Read MoreChoose the Path of Engagement
This morning, as I was staring down the rabbit hole of a minimum of two more months with two home-schooled children living in my home 24/7, I felt that had a choice to make. Would l let the heavy blanket of despair envelope me and hold me in a state of inaction or would I…
Read MoreMinding your Mind in Challenging Times
Before reading my suggestions below, please understand that anything you’re feeling right now is completely normal. We are all facing the same external situation, but each of us will have different reactions based on our personalities, values and life experiences. Yesterday, I spoke with an anxious entrepeneur in his early fifties who had to close down all of his…
Read MorePrioritize Your Focus
Last week a player at my club stopped to tell me, “Jeff, what I didn’t realize is how hard it is to sustain your focus in a match.” She was trying to tell me that she used my tools between points and that they were working, but was stunned by how much energy it required…
Read MoreWhat’s it Like to Play Against Novak Djokovic?
Have you ever wondered what it might feel like to play the best player in the world? Last week I spoke with one of my long-term clients who happened to play him just two weeks ago in the Australian Open (I often work with players in the U.S and abroad via video). Two days after…
Read MoreTrue Grit
The longer I do this work and the more insight I get into people’s challenges, hopes, obstacles, and personal breakthroughs, I also find myself experiencing more empathy and understanding for the universal barrier we all face when it comes to success and performance. What is it? Fear with many faces. Fear of your own disappointment…
Read MoreThe Inner Game of Tennis – by W. Tim Gallwey
In the past ten years I have witnessed tremendous progress in both the acceptance of the the mental game, or inner game of tennis, and the number of conversations about it. You will be hard pressed to go 15 minutes without a commentator at any Grand Slam event not expounding on the relevance of “mental…
Read MoreClosing Out Matches
“We had it. It was mine. I can’t believe it. What happened? I blew it. I choked. Aaargh.” Matches at all levels are lost every day because players are unable to “close it out.” Pros, juniors, college players, and competitive league players confront this challenge universally. Interestingly, in many ways, this phenomenon is a microcosm…
Read MorePlaying Tennis with More Freedom
Before I transformed my mind and approach to the mental game of tennis I had a pretty rigid view of my game and place in the tennis rankings. Basically, my self-image reflected my past results and view on how I typically played in matches. Of course, as a result, if I was playing someone I…
Read MorePlay with Gratitude
One of the best ways to replicate your best day on the court is to remember to be grateful for the moment you are in right now. We now have conclusive evidence from MRI scans of the brain and more dependable biofeedback procedures that show how a feeling of gratitude or deep appreciation can
Read MoreAre you Ready to Change?
One of my main objectives when I work with athletes is to help them deeply engage in the “process.” Most athletes understand the concept of an outcome focus vs. a process focus by now. However, actually doing it, committing to a particular process, regardless of the outcome is far from easy. There is a big
Read More5 Rules to Close the Gap Between Parents and Athletes
Nearly 35 million children and adolescents participate in organized youth sports in the United States. Thirty-five percent of these same children say they will likely quit the following year. In the United States, youth participation in organized sports has dramatically increased over the past 25+ years from approximately 18 million children in 1987 to 60
Read MoreFearless Tennis Series: Introduction
By Jeff Greenwald, M.A., MFT. Even though by some standards I was excelling in the game, for years I had felt as though I wasn’t tapping my potential. How did I know this? I would hold back on my shots when the score became close. I would miss my best shots that I made in
Read MoreUtilizing Wisdom in Your-On-Court Arsenal (Part I)
By Jeff Greenwald, M.A., MFT. “I’m more relaxed now.” I’m finally enjoying the game.” I’m smarter now.” I feel the ball better than I ever have. I know what my strengths are and don’t beat myself up when I miss.” “I am convinced that my best day today would beat me on my best day
Read MoreRiding the Wave of Momentum
By Jeff Greenwald, M.A., MFT. When it comes to athletic competition, everyone talks about momentum — psychological momentum, when everything is moving in the right direction for one competitor or another. As I write this, Pete Sampras has won 24 consecutive matches and is moving toward his 13th Grand Slam, the most in tennis history
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