Love the Battle: Pathways to Performing Under Pressure

Great competitors love the process, not just the winning. It's easy to love winning. Great competitors learn to love the process. They learn to extend themselves and to find great fulfillment in the feeling that they gave their best, put themselves on the line, and moved closer to the control that they are seeking within themselves. This mastery of myself, this battle of me against myself, these are not just competitive skills in sport. These are life skills. Pete Sampras says in his recent autobiography that he had a mantra coming up as a young player: "It's all a learning experience." His focus was never on results. He was never ranked at the top nationally in the juniors. Yet he went on to win the most Grand Slam titles in history. Why? "It was always about playing the right way, trying to develop a game that would hold up throughout my career." "It wasn't about winning. By putting pressure on myself to develop a great game, I had less preessure to win. That helped me enjoy the game and develop my maximum potential." These two articles on Tennisplayer have been prepared to help you, no matter what your level, achieve...