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Microsoft To Make TV and Free 3DS WiFI - Press Pause Daily

Added 12/15/11
24 Views

Microsoft To Make TV and Free 3DS WiFI - Press Pause Daily

[LESS INFO] 24 VIEWS | ADDED 04:00:00 12/15/11
Microsoft is looking to start creating television content for Xbox Live and you'll be to get free WiFi at some airports during your holiday travels. SHOW NOTES: Story 1: According to a story on Bloomberg, Microsoft is looking to hire a TV executive to help the company produce original television content for the Xbox 360. As stated in the story, the company has apparently approached two former NBC executives: Marc Graboff and Jeff Gaspin. Gaspin was the head of NBC Universal Entertainment, but stepped down after the merger with Comcast, and Graboff is currently president of West Coast business operations, but recently announced plans to leave. We all know that Microsoft is really fighting to become the king of your living room, and creating original programming would be a good way for them to stand out above the PS3, as well as Google TV, and the like. Hey, if they can come up with some good programming, I’m in. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-12-09/microsoft-said-to-seek-tv-executive-to-develop-shows-for-xbox-live-service.html Story 2: So, Christmas will soon be upon us, and that means that a lot of people will be travelling to see their loved ones. And, or course, that usually means a lot of time waiting at the airport. Well if you own a 3DS, then you got no worries. A recent system update to Nintendo’s handheld added free wifi access to all airport hotspots from service provider Boingo. the company operates hotspots in 42 airports across North America, and the company thought that with the load of families travelling this holiday season, it just made sense. Senior Vice President of Strategy and Business development Colby Goff said “With the holiday season approaching, more leisure travelers and families with children will fill our airports and have access to our hotspots.” Which is probably code for “If you want your kid to shut up when your flight gets delayed, let ‘em play a game.” Works for me. http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20111208005296/en/Boingo-Nintendo-Team-Connect-Nintendo-3DS-Users That will do it for your daily dose of Press Pause. You can always find all our episodes over at presspause.mevio.com . You can also check them out over at our Youtube channel: youtube.com/presspausemevio .

Allen Fox - Learning the Volley, Part 2

Added 08/16/11
77 Views

Allen Fox - Learning the Volley, Part 2

[LESS INFO] 77 VIEWS | ADDED 19:34:18 08/16/11
Download file (right-click and "save as...") About Allen Fox - Author, Speaker, Consultant: Allen Fox, Ph.D. earned a B.A. degree in physics and a Ph.D. in psychology from UCLA where he won the NCAA Singles and Doubles titles and where he was named UCLA Athlete of the Year and All University of California Athlete of the Year. With the same competitive zeal that propelled him to the number four ranking in the United States, to the quarterfinals at Wimbledon and a 3-time member of the US Davis Cup Team, he coached and built the Pepperdine University tennis team into a national power, mentoring, among others, renowned coach, Brad Gilbert. Dr Fox's Pepperdine teams were ranked among the nation's Top 5 for 10 consecutive years and reached 2 NCAA Team Finals. Dr. Fox wrote the tennis best sellers, "If I'm the Better Player, Why Can't I Win?" and "Think to Win," and most recently, "Tennis: Winning the Mental Match." He is an editor of and contributor to Tennis Magazine, writes for various web sites, and is well-known for his 1-Minute Clinics on the Tennis Channel. These have been showing for the last three years. He also lectures around the world on tennis psychology, including at the national conferences of the USTA, USPTA, and the PTR. In addition, Dr. Fox consults on the mental issues of tennis with players of all levels, from recreational players to pros and is the Mental Fitness Director at the Weil Tennis Academy in Ojai, CA. A regular on the Tennis Channel, Dr. Allen Fox is the author of three previous books, "IF I'M THE BETTER PLAYER, WHY CAN'T I WIN?", "THINK TO WIN," and "THE WINNER'S MIND, a Competitor's Guide to Sports and Business Success." Dr. Fox is an editor and writer for Tennis Magazine and for his web site, allenfoxtennis.net. WHAT'S IN HIS NEW BOOK, Tennis: Winning the Mental Match? CHAPTER 1: WHY DO WE WANT TO WIN? Winning a tennis match feels more important than it is because players are genetically wired to compete for position on the social hierarchy. The emotions of a tennis match resemble those of a fight. Players may realize that winning a match doesn't really matter, but they will always want to win anyway. CHAPTER 2: THE EMOTIONAL ISSUES OF COMPETITION: Tennis is inherently an emotional game. Because match outcomes feel important but are ultimately uncontrollable, matches can become stressful. There is often an unconscious urge to escape this stress, which leads to counterproductive behaviors, among which are anger, tanking, and excuse-making. These can be overpowered by the conscious mind, but it requires understanding, high motivation, and constant effort. CHAPTER 3: USING EMOTION TO HELP YOU WIN: Your emotions will dramatically affect your tennis performance. We discuss how to keep counterproductive emotions in check and how to create productive ones that will help you win. Topics include the use of adrenalin, profiting from the time between points, and maintaining an optimal excitation level. CHAPTER 4: REDUCING THE STRESS: Matches can become overly stressful, and this hinders performance. Stress can be reduced by developing a more realistic perspective of the game. Included are accepting outcomes that can't be controlled; resisting a narrow focus on winning; avoiding excessive perfectionism; getting over losses quickly; and using goals for hope and motivation rather than allowing them to become expectations and cause stress. CHAPTER 5: THE PROBLEMS OF FINISHING: Most players become nervous and stressed when they are ahead and face the hurdle of finishing the match against a dangerous opponent. The unique tennis scoring system intensifies this problem. The closer players get to winning, the greater the stress. Trying to reduce it gives rise to counterproductive behaviors such as procrastinating the finish or becoming "overconfident" and easing up with a lead. CHAPTER 6: CHOKING - ITS CAUSES AND HOW TO MINIMIZE ITS EFFECTS: Choking is most frequent at the finish of games, sets, and matches due to the uncertainty of outcome. You can limit choking damage by immediate acceptance of this uncertainty. Avoid stressful thoughts of winning by using rituals, focusing, and relaxation techniques. Rid yourself of the idea that choking will make you lose, and recognize that there are usually multiple opportunities to win, not just one. CHAPTER 7: CONFIDENCE AND HOW TO GET IT IF YOU DON'T HAVE IT: Confidence, aka self-belief, comes mostly from winning. Though it's more difficult, you can win without it by replacing it with sufficient emotional discipline. Slumps and hot streaks occur in cycles and both end naturally with time. Stressing over a slump prolongs it. You can speed its ending by several methods which we discuss. CHAPTER 8: GAME PLANS: Game plans give your efforts direction and structure. They can rely primarily on offence or defense but should be consistent with your personality. With Plan A you are looking for a match-up where you have a relative advantage, most commonly pitting your strengths against your opponent's weaknesses. With Plan B, which you always employ simultaneously with Plan A, you attempt to tire your opponent mentally. CHAPTER 9: BREAKING DOWN YOUR OPPONENT MENTALLY: You can weaken your opponent mentally by using dominance techniques. Be aware of momentum development - maintain it when you're winning and break it when you aren't. Take advantage of the let-downs that occur in transitional situations: at the end of sets, after long points, after service breaks, and after long games. Learn to resist becoming psyched out by opponents. CHAPTER 10: MAINTAINING MENTAL EFFECTIVENESS IN THE HEAT OF BATTLE: Remember the Golden Rule of tennis: Never do anything on court that doesn't help you win. Decide beforehand how you will handle the frustrations and errors that are likely to occur during match play. Understand the value of intensity and its role in playing percentage tennis. Players who have beaten you too frequently get into your head. Beating them requires exceptional emotional discipline and focus. Learn to deal with injuries, both yours and those of your opponents. CHAPTER 11: THE VALUE OF OPTIMISM: Being optimistic is always helpful during competition. If it does not occur naturally you can become more optimistic by deliberately focusing on the real positives that exist in every situation. Monitor your thoughts and be alert to negative ones. When one occurs replace it immediately with a positive one. A bad attitude is difficult to change in mid-match, so make sure to start out with a good one. When you are behind, hope is your most crucial asset, and it is always realistic. CHAPTER 12: DEVELOPING YOUR GAME AND THE ROLE OF PARENTS: Tennis is a difficult game and not enjoyable until you can control the ball with some level of consistency. The "middle game" is the heart of any player's game, and is learned by intelligent, repetitious practice, Tennis should generally be made fun for beginning youngsters, but some little push may occasionally be necessary. Tournaments can be motivating for kids, but they are stressful for parents and can impel even a good parent to act improperly. CHAPTER 13: COURAGE AND HIGHER VALUES: Competing successfully in tennis is helped by focusing on character development rather than on winning. Everybody wants to win anyway. Working to develop higher values such as courage, unselfishness, consideration for others, appreciation, and morality is good for your character and will, as a by-product, reduce your stress and help you win. CHAPTER 14: THE PSYCHOLOGY OF DOUBLES: An important doubles skill is the ability to make your partner play better. You affect your partner's emotional state and level of play with your gestures and words. Champions are not concerned with parceling out blame for a loss; rather they are focused on doing what it takes to win. You can also disrupt the opposing team by attacking the weaker player and by intimidation.

Allen Fox - Learning the Volley

Added 08/15/11
42 Views

Allen Fox - Learning the Volley

[LESS INFO] 42 VIEWS | ADDED 20:59:27 08/15/11
Download file (right-click and "save as...") About Allen Fox - Author, Speaker, Consultant: Allen Fox, Ph.D. earned a B.A. degree in physics and a Ph.D. in psychology from UCLA where he won the NCAA Singles and Doubles titles and where he was named UCLA Athlete of the Year and All University of California Athlete of the Year. With the same competitive zeal that propelled him to the number four ranking in the United States, to the quarterfinals at Wimbledon and a 3-time member of the US Davis Cup Team, he coached and built the Pepperdine University tennis team into a national power, mentoring, among others, renowned coach, Brad Gilbert. Dr Fox's Pepperdine teams were ranked among the nation's Top 5 for 10 consecutive years and reached 2 NCAA Team Finals. Dr. Fox wrote the tennis best sellers, "If I'm the Better Player, Why Can't I Win?" and "Think to Win," and most recently, "Tennis: Winning the Mental Match." He is an editor of and contributor to Tennis Magazine, writes for various web sites, and is well-known for his 1-Minute Clinics on the Tennis Channel. These have been showing for the last three years. He also lectures around the world on tennis psychology, including at the national conferences of the USTA, USPTA, and the PTR. In addition, Dr. Fox consults on the mental issues of tennis with players of all levels, from recreational players to pros and is the Mental Fitness Director at the Weil Tennis Academy in Ojai, CA. A regular on the Tennis Channel, Dr. Allen Fox is the author of three previous books, "IF I'M THE BETTER PLAYER, WHY CAN'T I WIN?", "THINK TO WIN," and "THE WINNER'S MIND, a Competitor's Guide to Sports and Business Success." Dr. Fox is an editor and writer for Tennis Magazine and for his web site, allenfoxtennis.net. WHAT'S IN HIS NEW BOOK, Tennis: Winning the Mental Match? CHAPTER 1: WHY DO WE WANT TO WIN? Winning a tennis match feels more important than it is because players are genetically wired to compete for position on the social hierarchy. The emotions of a tennis match resemble those of a fight. Players may realize that winning a match doesn't really matter, but they will always want to win anyway. CHAPTER 2: THE EMOTIONAL ISSUES OF COMPETITION: Tennis is inherently an emotional game. Because match outcomes feel important but are ultimately uncontrollable, matches can become stressful. There is often an unconscious urge to escape this stress, which leads to counterproductive behaviors, among which are anger, tanking, and excuse-making. These can be overpowered by the conscious mind, but it requires understanding, high motivation, and constant effort. CHAPTER 3: USING EMOTION TO HELP YOU WIN: Your emotions will dramatically affect your tennis performance. We discuss how to keep counterproductive emotions in check and how to create productive ones that will help you win. Topics include the use of adrenalin, profiting from the time between points, and maintaining an optimal excitation level. CHAPTER 4: REDUCING THE STRESS: Matches can become overly stressful, and this hinders performance. Stress can be reduced by developing a more realistic perspective of the game. Included are accepting outcomes that can't be controlled; resisting a narrow focus on winning; avoiding excessive perfectionism; getting over losses quickly; and using goals for hope and motivation rather than allowing them to become expectations and cause stress. CHAPTER 5: THE PROBLEMS OF FINISHING: Most players become nervous and stressed when they are ahead and face the hurdle of finishing the match against a dangerous opponent. The unique tennis scoring system intensifies this problem. The closer players get to winning, the greater the stress. Trying to reduce it gives rise to counterproductive behaviors such as procrastinating the finish or becoming "overconfident" and easing up with a lead. CHAPTER 6: CHOKING - ITS CAUSES AND HOW TO MINIMIZE ITS EFFECTS: Choking is most frequent at the finish of games, sets, and matches due to the uncertainty of outcome. You can limit choking damage by immediate acceptance of this uncertainty. Avoid stressful thoughts of winning by using rituals, focusing, and relaxation techniques. Rid yourself of the idea that choking will make you lose, and recognize that there are usually multiple opportunities to win, not just one. CHAPTER 7: CONFIDENCE AND HOW TO GET IT IF YOU DON'T HAVE IT: Confidence, aka self-belief, comes mostly from winning. Though it's more difficult, you can win without it by replacing it with sufficient emotional discipline. Slumps and hot streaks occur in cycles and both end naturally with time. Stressing over a slump prolongs it. You can speed its ending by several methods which we discuss. CHAPTER 8: GAME PLANS: Game plans give your efforts direction and structure. They can rely primarily on offence or defense but should be consistent with your personality. With Plan A you are looking for a match-up where you have a relative advantage, most commonly pitting your strengths against your opponent's weaknesses. With Plan B, which you always employ simultaneously with Plan A, you attempt to tire your opponent mentally. CHAPTER 9: BREAKING DOWN YOUR OPPONENT MENTALLY: You can weaken your opponent mentally by using dominance techniques. Be aware of momentum development - maintain it when you're winning and break it when you aren't. Take advantage of the let-downs that occur in transitional situations: at the end of sets, after long points, after service breaks, and after long games. Learn to resist becoming psyched out by opponents. CHAPTER 10: MAINTAINING MENTAL EFFECTIVENESS IN THE HEAT OF BATTLE: Remember the Golden Rule of tennis: Never do anything on court that doesn't help you win. Decide beforehand how you will handle the frustrations and errors that are likely to occur during match play. Understand the value of intensity and its role in playing percentage tennis. Players who have beaten you too frequently get into your head. Beating them requires exceptional emotional discipline and focus. Learn to deal with injuries, both yours and those of your opponents. CHAPTER 11: THE VALUE OF OPTIMISM: Being optimistic is always helpful during competition. If it does not occur naturally you can become more optimistic by deliberately focusing on the real positives that exist in every situation. Monitor your thoughts and be alert to negative ones. When one occurs replace it immediately with a positive one. A bad attitude is difficult to change in mid-match, so make sure to start out with a good one. When you are behind, hope is your most crucial asset, and it is always realistic. CHAPTER 12: DEVELOPING YOUR GAME AND THE ROLE OF PARENTS: Tennis is a difficult game and not enjoyable until you can control the ball with some level of consistency. The "middle game" is the heart of any player's game, and is learned by intelligent, repetitious practice, Tennis should generally be made fun for beginning youngsters, but some little push may occasionally be necessary. Tournaments can be motivating for kids, but they are stressful for parents and can impel even a good parent to act improperly. CHAPTER 13: COURAGE AND HIGHER VALUES: Competing successfully in tennis is helped by focusing on character development rather than on winning. Everybody wants to win anyway. Working to develop higher values such as courage, unselfishness, consideration for others, appreciation, and morality is good for your character and will, as a by-product, reduce your stress and help you win. CHAPTER 14: THE PSYCHOLOGY OF DOUBLES: An important doubles skill is the ability to make your partner play better. You affect your partner's emotional state and level of play with your gestures and words. Champions are not concerned with parceling out blame for a loss; rather they are focused on doing what it takes to win. You can also disrupt the opposing team by attacking the weaker player and by intimidation.

Stories using Social Media Storify

Added 05/30/11
9 Views

Stories using Social Media Storify

[LESS INFO] 9 VIEWS | ADDED 20:12:29 05/30/11
What is Storify? Storify is a way to tell stories using social media such as Tweets, photos and videos. You search multiple social networks from one place, and then drag individual elements into your story. You can re-order the elements and also add text to give context to your readers. Why should I make stories with Storify? Millions of people are sharing content through social media. But these streams of information are quickly lost in the never-ending stream of updates. With Storify, you can put together the best Tweets, photos and videos to make stories that will be remembered. Can't I just do this now with my regular blogging platform? It's a pain and takes a lot of time. You can cut and paste text, download and then re-upload photos, copy links to original sources, attempt to format that to look nice by going back and forth between previews and editing modes, etc. We make it easy to do that by just dragging-and-dropping, creating beautiful, simple stories. We preserve all attribution and metadata for each element. We let you notify all the sources quoted in a story with one click, a great way to help it go viral. Stories with Storify are interactive, and your readers can re-Tweet or reply to the people quoted in stories. Also, Storify's API opens up new possibilities for developers to display stories in new ways and on different devices. What should I Storify? That’s up to you! You can create a story around an event using social media from people who were there, or put together a story using your own Tweets and photos. If you’re a business, you can use it to compile what people are saying about your product. You can also make an online scrapbook from a wedding or party with posts from your friends. Can I use other sources? We have an API for that and will be opening up the platform to many other sources. We also plan to let you use different algorithms to search for social content. Please stay tuned and let us know what other sources you would like. I ’ve created a story with Storify, now what? You can point readers to the version on your profile page at http://storify.com/your_username. But you can also take the embed code from that story and put it on any Web site, much like you would embed a Youtube video. Because it’s an embed, you will always get attribution as the source and you will be able to see where your story is embedded and how many views it gets. When readers re-Tweet elements from your story and interact with it, you’ll get the attribution as the curator. Isn’t there an issue with copyrights to use all this stuff? We use publicly available content in accordance with the terms for use provided by the sources we are searching. The content we display has been made public by the original creators. We also maintain links to original sources to make sure they always receive attribution for their work. And we even help you notify the content creators that they are now part of your story. You own the content you create with Storify, so it's ultimately your responsibility to make sure that you have appropriate licenses for any work depending on your use. What about this feature that notifies the people I quote in my story with @replies on Twitter, aren't I spamming all my followers? We also don't like spam! The @replies don't show up in the timeline that your followers see unless they are following both you and the other person who you've @replied to. This is a feature that Twitter itself created to prevent clutter of people's feeds. Also, we always let you decide whether to send the @replies and to whom, so it's up to you whether you want to use the feature. We will never send tweets from your account without your permission. What are you doing to help content creators? We care deeply about the debate over how to compensate content creators. That's why we always attribute original sources, as a first step to make sure people are credited for their work and can see how it's used.Having these metrics will help creators identify their best strategy. Should they continue giving it away for free to get exposure or should they monetize part or all of it? Providing these metrics to content owners is the first step for monetization. We are also looking at having paid content sources in Storify, please contact us at info@storify.com if you're interested Will Storify work with my content management system (CMS)? As long as you can embed any kind of Javascript on your pages, you can embed a Storify story. Will Storify work with my Wordpress blog? Yes for self-hosted Wordpress blogs! But not for now if your blog is hosted by Wordpress.com. Storify also works with Wordpress MU, but you may have to install a plugin to allow Javascript in blog posts. Will Storify work with my Tumblr/Posterous site? Storify works with Tumblr and Posterous just fine, please feel free to embed and share your stories there! How does Storify affect search engine rankings and affect SEO? Stories on Storify.com are optimized for SEO, because we link to all the sources used. We are working on a solution to optimize for SEO on embeds. However, our main focus is optimizing for social sharing, which is the fastest growing way that readers are discovering content. What happens if someone deletes something they’ve posted? If it’s a Tweet, we keep a copy on our own site and it won’t be removed from your story. For other forms of rich media like photos and video, we simply link to the source so that content will not appear in your story if it's removed by the original creator, as would happen for any embedded content. What about Storify on the iPad and other devices? Our drag-and-drop interface is ideal for the iPad and touch interfaces, we're working on it! What does “Storify” mean? It’s actually an obsolete word that used to be in the dictionary that means “to form or tell stories.” It’s also a word that was used internally at The Associated Press, where our co-founder Burt worked as a correspondent. Editors sending messages to reporters asking them to do a story would regularly write: “Can u pls storify?”

Allen Fox - "Catch-Up" Choke

Added 05/24/11
32 Views

Allen Fox - "Catch-Up" Choke

[LESS INFO] 32 VIEWS | ADDED 20:30:42 05/24/11
Download file (right-click and "save as...") About Allen Fox - Author, Speaker, Consultant: Allen Fox, Ph.D. earned a B.A. degree in physics and a Ph.D. in psychology from UCLA where he won the NCAA Singles and Doubles titles and where he was named UCLA Athlete of the Year and All University of California Athlete of the Year. With the same competitive zeal that propelled him to the number four ranking in the United States, to the quarterfinals at Wimbledon and a 3-time member of the US Davis Cup Team, he coached and built the Pepperdine University tennis team into a national power, mentoring, among others, renowned coach, Brad Gilbert. Dr Fox's Pepperdine teams were ranked among the nation's Top 5 for 10 consecutive years and reached 2 NCAA Team Finals. Dr. Fox wrote the tennis best sellers, "If I'm the Better Player, Why Can't I Win?" and "Think to Win," and most recently, "Tennis: Winning the Mental Match." He is an editor of and contributor to Tennis Magazine, writes for various web sites, and is well-known for his 1-Minute Clinics on the Tennis Channel. These have been showing for the last three years. He also lectures around the world on tennis psychology, including at the national conferences of the USTA, USPTA, and the PTR. In addition, Dr. Fox consults on the mental issues of tennis with players of all levels, from recreational players to pros and is the Mental Fitness Director at the Weil Tennis Academy in Ojai, CA. A regular on the Tennis Channel, Dr. Allen Fox is the author of three previous books, "IF I'M THE BETTER PLAYER, WHY CAN'T I WIN?", "THINK TO WIN," and "THE WINNER'S MIND, a Competitor's Guide to Sports and Business Success." Dr. Fox is an editor and writer for Tennis Magazine and for his web site, allenfoxtennis.net. WHAT'S IN HIS NEW BOOK, Tennis: Winning the Mental Match? CHAPTER 1: WHY DO WE WANT TO WIN? Winning a tennis match feels more important than it is because players are genetically wired to compete for position on the social hierarchy. The emotions of a tennis match resemble those of a fight. Players may realize that winning a match doesn't really matter, but they will always want to win anyway. CHAPTER 2: THE EMOTIONAL ISSUES OF COMPETITION: Tennis is inherently an emotional game. Because match outcomes feel important but are ultimately uncontrollable, matches can become stressful. There is often an unconscious urge to escape this stress, which leads to counterproductive behaviors, among which are anger, tanking, and excuse-making. These can be overpowered by the conscious mind, but it requires understanding, high motivation, and constant effort. CHAPTER 3: USING EMOTION TO HELP YOU WIN: Your emotions will dramatically affect your tennis performance. We discuss how to keep counterproductive emotions in check and how to create productive ones that will help you win. Topics include the use of adrenalin, profiting from the time between points, and maintaining an optimal excitation level. CHAPTER 4: REDUCING THE STRESS: Matches can become overly stressful, and this hinders performance. Stress can be reduced by developing a more realistic perspective of the game. Included are accepting outcomes that can't be controlled; resisting a narrow focus on winning; avoiding excessive perfectionism; getting over losses quickly; and using goals for hope and motivation rather than allowing them to become expectations and cause stress. CHAPTER 5: THE PROBLEMS OF FINISHING: Most players become nervous and stressed when they are ahead and face the hurdle of finishing the match against a dangerous opponent. The unique tennis scoring system intensifies this problem. The closer players get to winning, the greater the stress. Trying to reduce it gives rise to counterproductive behaviors such as procrastinating the finish or becoming "overconfident" and easing up with a lead. CHAPTER 6: CHOKING - ITS CAUSES AND HOW TO MINIMIZE ITS EFFECTS: Choking is most frequent at the finish of games, sets, and matches due to the uncertainty of outcome. You can limit choking damage by immediate acceptance of this uncertainty. Avoid stressful thoughts of winning by using rituals, focusing, and relaxation techniques. Rid yourself of the idea that choking will make you lose, and recognize that there are usually multiple opportunities to win, not just one. CHAPTER 7: CONFIDENCE AND HOW TO GET IT IF YOU DON'T HAVE IT: Confidence, aka self-belief, comes mostly from winning. Though it's more difficult, you can win without it by replacing it with sufficient emotional discipline. Slumps and hot streaks occur in cycles and both end naturally with time. Stressing over a slump prolongs it. You can speed its ending by several methods which we discuss. CHAPTER 8: GAME PLANS: Game plans give your efforts direction and structure. They can rely primarily on offence or defense but should be consistent with your personality. With Plan A you are looking for a match-up where you have a relative advantage, most commonly pitting your strengths against your opponent's weaknesses. With Plan B, which you always employ simultaneously with Plan A, you attempt to tire your opponent mentally. CHAPTER 9: BREAKING DOWN YOUR OPPONENT MENTALLY: You can weaken your opponent mentally by using dominance techniques. Be aware of momentum development - maintain it when you're winning and break it when you aren't. Take advantage of the let-downs that occur in transitional situations: at the end of sets, after long points, after service breaks, and after long games. Learn to resist becoming psyched out by opponents. CHAPTER 10: MAINTAINING MENTAL EFFECTIVENESS IN THE HEAT OF BATTLE: Remember the Golden Rule of tennis: Never do anything on court that doesn't help you win. Decide beforehand how you will handle the frustrations and errors that are likely to occur during match play. Understand the value of intensity and its role in playing percentage tennis. Players who have beaten you too frequently get into your head. Beating them requires exceptional emotional discipline and focus. Learn to deal with injuries, both yours and those of your opponents. CHAPTER 11: THE VALUE OF OPTIMISM: Being optimistic is always helpful during competition. If it does not occur naturally you can become more optimistic by deliberately focusing on the real positives that exist in every situation. Monitor your thoughts and be alert to negative ones. When one occurs replace it immediately with a positive one. A bad attitude is difficult to change in mid-match, so make sure to start out with a good one. When you are behind, hope is your most crucial asset, and it is always realistic. CHAPTER 12: DEVELOPING YOUR GAME AND THE ROLE OF PARENTS: Tennis is a difficult game and not enjoyable until you can control the ball with some level of consistency. The "middle game" is the heart of any player's game, and is learned by intelligent, repetitious practice, Tennis should generally be made fun for beginning youngsters, but some little push may occasionally be necessary. Tournaments can be motivating for kids, but they are stressful for parents and can impel even a good parent to act improperly. CHAPTER 13: COURAGE AND HIGHER VALUES: Competing successfully in tennis is helped by focusing on character development rather than on winning. Everybody wants to win anyway. Working to develop higher values such as courage, unselfishness, consideration for others, appreciation, and morality is good for your character and will, as a by-product, reduce your stress and help you win. CHAPTER 14: THE PSYCHOLOGY OF DOUBLES: An important doubles skill is the ability to make your partner play better. You affect your partner's emotional state and level of play with your gestures and words. Champions are not concerned with parceling out blame for a loss; rather they are focused on doing what it takes to win. You can also disrupt the opposing team by attacking the weaker player and by intimidation.

Allen Fox - Choking

Added 05/23/11
24 Views

Allen Fox - Choking

[LESS INFO] 24 VIEWS | ADDED 00:06:45 05/23/11
Download file (right-click and "save as...") About Allen Fox - Author, Speaker, Consultant: Allen Fox, Ph.D. earned a B.A. degree in physics and a Ph.D. in psychology from UCLA where he won the NCAA Singles and Doubles titles and where he was named UCLA Athlete of the Year and All University of California Athlete of the Year. With the same competitive zeal that propelled him to the number four ranking in the United States, to the quarterfinals at Wimbledon and a 3-time member of the US Davis Cup Team, he coached and built the Pepperdine University tennis team into a national power, mentoring, among others, renowned coach, Brad Gilbert. Dr Fox's Pepperdine teams were ranked among the nation's Top 5 for 10 consecutive years and reached 2 NCAA Team Finals. Dr. Fox wrote the tennis best sellers, "If I'm the Better Player, Why Can't I Win?" and "Think to Win," and most recently, "Tennis: Winning the Mental Match." He is an editor of and contributor to Tennis Magazine, writes for various web sites, and is well-known for his 1-Minute Clinics on the Tennis Channel. These have been showing for the last three years. He also lectures around the world on tennis psychology, including at the national conferences of the USTA, USPTA, and the PTR. In addition, Dr. Fox consults on the mental issues of tennis with players of all levels, from recreational players to pros and is the Mental Fitness Director at the Weil Tennis Academy in Ojai, CA. A regular on the Tennis Channel, Dr. Allen Fox is the author of three previous books, "IF I'M THE BETTER PLAYER, WHY CAN'T I WIN?", "THINK TO WIN," and "THE WINNER'S MIND, a Competitor's Guide to Sports and Business Success." Dr. Fox is an editor and writer for Tennis Magazine and for his web site, allenfoxtennis.net. WHAT'S IN HIS NEW BOOK, Tennis: Winning the Mental Match? CHAPTER 1: WHY DO WE WANT TO WIN? Winning a tennis match feels more important than it is because players are genetically wired to compete for position on the social hierarchy. The emotions of a tennis match resemble those of a fight. Players may realize that winning a match doesn't really matter, but they will always want to win anyway. CHAPTER 2: THE EMOTIONAL ISSUES OF COMPETITION: Tennis is inherently an emotional game. Because match outcomes feel important but are ultimately uncontrollable, matches can become stressful. There is often an unconscious urge to escape this stress, which leads to counterproductive behaviors, among which are anger, tanking, and excuse-making. These can be overpowered by the conscious mind, but it requires understanding, high motivation, and constant effort. CHAPTER 3: USING EMOTION TO HELP YOU WIN: Your emotions will dramatically affect your tennis performance. We discuss how to keep counterproductive emotions in check and how to create productive ones that will help you win. Topics include the use of adrenalin, profiting from the time between points, and maintaining an optimal excitation level. CHAPTER 4: REDUCING THE STRESS: Matches can become overly stressful, and this hinders performance. Stress can be reduced by developing a more realistic perspective of the game. Included are accepting outcomes that can't be controlled; resisting a narrow focus on winning; avoiding excessive perfectionism; getting over losses quickly; and using goals for hope and motivation rather than allowing them to become expectations and cause stress. CHAPTER 5: THE PROBLEMS OF FINISHING: Most players become nervous and stressed when they are ahead and face the hurdle of finishing the match against a dangerous opponent. The unique tennis scoring system intensifies this problem. The closer players get to winning, the greater the stress. Trying to reduce it gives rise to counterproductive behaviors such as procrastinating the finish or becoming "overconfident" and easing up with a lead. CHAPTER 6: CHOKING - ITS CAUSES AND HOW TO MINIMIZE ITS EFFECTS: Choking is most frequent at the finish of games, sets, and matches due to the uncertainty of outcome. You can limit choking damage by immediate acceptance of this uncertainty. Avoid stressful thoughts of winning by using rituals, focusing, and relaxation techniques. Rid yourself of the idea that choking will make you lose, and recognize that there are usually multiple opportunities to win, not just one. CHAPTER 7: CONFIDENCE AND HOW TO GET IT IF YOU DON'T HAVE IT: Confidence, aka self-belief, comes mostly from winning. Though it's more difficult, you can win without it by replacing it with sufficient emotional discipline. Slumps and hot streaks occur in cycles and both end naturally with time. Stressing over a slump prolongs it. You can speed its ending by several methods which we discuss. CHAPTER 8: GAME PLANS: Game plans give your efforts direction and structure. They can rely primarily on offence or defense but should be consistent with your personality. With Plan A you are looking for a match-up where you have a relative advantage, most commonly pitting your strengths against your opponent's weaknesses. With Plan B, which you always employ simultaneously with Plan A, you attempt to tire your opponent mentally. CHAPTER 9: BREAKING DOWN YOUR OPPONENT MENTALLY: You can weaken your opponent mentally by using dominance techniques. Be aware of momentum development - maintain it when you're winning and break it when you aren't. Take advantage of the let-downs that occur in transitional situations: at the end of sets, after long points, after service breaks, and after long games. Learn to resist becoming psyched out by opponents. CHAPTER 10: MAINTAINING MENTAL EFFECTIVENESS IN THE HEAT OF BATTLE: Remember the Golden Rule of tennis: Never do anything on court that doesn't help you win. Decide beforehand how you will handle the frustrations and errors that are likely to occur during match play. Understand the value of intensity and its role in playing percentage tennis. Players who have beaten you too frequently get into your head. Beating them requires exceptional emotional discipline and focus. Learn to deal with injuries, both yours and those of your opponents. CHAPTER 11: THE VALUE OF OPTIMISM: Being optimistic is always helpful during competition. If it does not occur naturally you can become more optimistic by deliberately focusing on the real positives that exist in every situation. Monitor your thoughts and be alert to negative ones. When one occurs replace it immediately with a positive one. A bad attitude is difficult to change in mid-match, so make sure to start out with a good one. When you are behind, hope is your most crucial asset, and it is always realistic. CHAPTER 12: DEVELOPING YOUR GAME AND THE ROLE OF PARENTS: Tennis is a difficult game and not enjoyable until you can control the ball with some level of consistency. The "middle game" is the heart of any player's game, and is learned by intelligent, repetitious practice, Tennis should generally be made fun for beginning youngsters, but some little push may occasionally be necessary. Tournaments can be motivating for kids, but they are stressful for parents and can impel even a good parent to act improperly. CHAPTER 13: COURAGE AND HIGHER VALUES: Competing successfully in tennis is helped by focusing on character development rather than on winning. Everybody wants to win anyway. Working to develop higher values such as courage, unselfishness, consideration for others, appreciation, and morality is good for your character and will, as a by-product, reduce your stress and help you win. CHAPTER 14: THE PSYCHOLOGY OF DOUBLES: An important doubles skill is the ability to make your partner play better. You affect your partner's emotional state and level of play with your gestures and words. Champions are not concerned with parceling out blame for a loss; rather they are focused on doing what it takes to win. You can also disrupt the opposing team by attacking the weaker player and by intimidation.

Allen Fox - Emotional Intelligence (EQ)

Added 05/17/11
24 Views

Allen Fox - Emotional Intelligence (EQ)

[LESS INFO] 24 VIEWS | ADDED 20:05:57 05/17/11
Download file (right-click and "save as...") About Allen Fox - Author, Speaker, Consultant: Allen Fox, Ph.D. earned a B.A. degree in physics and a Ph.D. in psychology from UCLA where he won the NCAA Singles and Doubles titles and where he was named UCLA Athlete of the Year and All University of California Athlete of the Year. With the same competitive zeal that propelled him to the number four ranking in the United States, to the quarterfinals at Wimbledon and a 3-time member of the US Davis Cup Team, he coached and built the Pepperdine University tennis team into a national power, mentoring, among others, renowned coach, Brad Gilbert. Dr Fox's Pepperdine teams were ranked among the nation's Top 5 for 10 consecutive years and reached 2 NCAA Team Finals. Dr. Fox wrote the tennis best sellers, "If I'm the Better Player, Why Can't I Win?" and "Think to Win," and most recently, "Tennis: Winning the Mental Match." He is an editor of and contributor to Tennis Magazine, writes for various web sites, and is well-known for his 1-Minute Clinics on the Tennis Channel. These have been showing for the last three years. He also lectures around the world on tennis psychology, including at the national conferences of the USTA, USPTA, and the PTR. In addition, Dr. Fox consults on the mental issues of tennis with players of all levels, from recreational players to pros and is the Mental Fitness Director at the Weil Tennis Academy in Ojai, CA. A regular on the Tennis Channel, Dr. Allen Fox is the author of three previous books, "IF I'M THE BETTER PLAYER, WHY CAN'T I WIN?", "THINK TO WIN," and "THE WINNER'S MIND, a Competitor's Guide to Sports and Business Success." Dr. Fox is an editor and writer for Tennis Magazine and for his web site, allenfoxtennis.net. WHAT'S IN HIS NEW BOOK, Tennis: Winning the Mental Match? CHAPTER 1: WHY DO WE WANT TO WIN? Winning a tennis match feels more important than it is because players are genetically wired to compete for position on the social hierarchy. The emotions of a tennis match resemble those of a fight. Players may realize that winning a match doesn't really matter, but they will always want to win anyway. CHAPTER 2: THE EMOTIONAL ISSUES OF COMPETITION: Tennis is inherently an emotional game. Because match outcomes feel important but are ultimately uncontrollable, matches can become stressful. There is often an unconscious urge to escape this stress, which leads to counterproductive behaviors, among which are anger, tanking, and excuse-making. These can be overpowered by the conscious mind, but it requires understanding, high motivation, and constant effort. CHAPTER 3: USING EMOTION TO HELP YOU WIN: Your emotions will dramatically affect your tennis performance. We discuss how to keep counterproductive emotions in check and how to create productive ones that will help you win. Topics include the use of adrenalin, profiting from the time between points, and maintaining an optimal excitation level. CHAPTER 4: REDUCING THE STRESS: Matches can become overly stressful, and this hinders performance. Stress can be reduced by developing a more realistic perspective of the game. Included are accepting outcomes that can't be controlled; resisting a narrow focus on winning; avoiding excessive perfectionism; getting over losses quickly; and using goals for hope and motivation rather than allowing them to become expectations and cause stress. CHAPTER 5: THE PROBLEMS OF FINISHING: Most players become nervous and stressed when they are ahead and face the hurdle of finishing the match against a dangerous opponent. The unique tennis scoring system intensifies this problem. The closer players get to winning, the greater the stress. Trying to reduce it gives rise to counterproductive behaviors such as procrastinating the finish or becoming "overconfident" and easing up with a lead. CHAPTER 6: CHOKING - ITS CAUSES AND HOW TO MINIMIZE ITS EFFECTS: Choking is most frequent at the finish of games, sets, and matches due to the uncertainty of outcome. You can limit choking damage by immediate acceptance of this uncertainty. Avoid stressful thoughts of winning by using rituals, focusing, and relaxation techniques. Rid yourself of the idea that choking will make you lose, and recognize that there are usually multiple opportunities to win, not just one. CHAPTER 7: CONFIDENCE AND HOW TO GET IT IF YOU DON'T HAVE IT: Confidence, aka self-belief, comes mostly from winning. Though it's more difficult, you can win without it by replacing it with sufficient emotional discipline. Slumps and hot streaks occur in cycles and both end naturally with time. Stressing over a slump prolongs it. You can speed its ending by several methods which we discuss. CHAPTER 8: GAME PLANS: Game plans give your efforts direction and structure. They can rely primarily on offence or defense but should be consistent with your personality. With Plan A you are looking for a match-up where you have a relative advantage, most commonly pitting your strengths against your opponent's weaknesses. With Plan B, which you always employ simultaneously with Plan A, you attempt to tire your opponent mentally. CHAPTER 9: BREAKING DOWN YOUR OPPONENT MENTALLY: You can weaken your opponent mentally by using dominance techniques. Be aware of momentum development - maintain it when you're winning and break it when you aren't. Take advantage of the let-downs that occur in transitional situations: at the end of sets, after long points, after service breaks, and after long games. Learn to resist becoming psyched out by opponents. CHAPTER 10: MAINTAINING MENTAL EFFECTIVENESS IN THE HEAT OF BATTLE: Remember the Golden Rule of tennis: Never do anything on court that doesn't help you win. Decide beforehand how you will handle the frustrations and errors that are likely to occur during match play. Understand the value of intensity and its role in playing percentage tennis. Players who have beaten you too frequently get into your head. Beating them requires exceptional emotional discipline and focus. Learn to deal with injuries, both yours and those of your opponents. CHAPTER 11: THE VALUE OF OPTIMISM: Being optimistic is always helpful during competition. If it does not occur naturally you can become more optimistic by deliberately focusing on the real positives that exist in every situation. Monitor your thoughts and be alert to negative ones. When one occurs replace it immediately with a positive one. A bad attitude is difficult to change in mid-match, so make sure to start out with a good one. When you are behind, hope is your most crucial asset, and it is always realistic. CHAPTER 12: DEVELOPING YOUR GAME AND THE ROLE OF PARENTS: Tennis is a difficult game and not enjoyable until you can control the ball with some level of consistency. The "middle game" is the heart of any player's game, and is learned by intelligent, repetitious practice, Tennis should generally be made fun for beginning youngsters, but some little push may occasionally be necessary. Tournaments can be motivating for kids, but they are stressful for parents and can impel even a good parent to act improperly. CHAPTER 13: COURAGE AND HIGHER VALUES: Competing successfully in tennis is helped by focusing on character development rather than on winning. Everybody wants to win anyway. Working to develop higher values such as courage, unselfishness, consideration for others, appreciation, and morality is good for your character and will, as a by-product, reduce your stress and help you win. CHAPTER 14: THE PSYCHOLOGY OF DOUBLES: An important doubles skill is the ability to make your partner play better. You affect your partner's emotional state and level of play with your gestures and words. Champions are not concerned with parceling out blame for a loss; rather they are focused on doing what it takes to win. You can also disrupt the opposing team by attacking the weaker player and by intimidation.

Allen Fox - Fight & Emotion

Added 05/10/11
31 Views

Allen Fox - Fight & Emotion

[LESS INFO] 31 VIEWS | ADDED 20:12:53 05/10/11
Download file (right-click and "save as...") About Allen Fox - Author, Speaker, Consultant: Allen Fox, Ph.D. earned a B.A. degree in physics and a Ph.D. in psychology from UCLA where he won the NCAA Singles and Doubles titles and where he was named UCLA Athlete of the Year and All University of California Athlete of the Year. With the same competitive zeal that propelled him to the number four ranking in the United States, to the quarterfinals at Wimbledon and a 3-time member of the US Davis Cup Team, he coached and built the Pepperdine University tennis team into a national power, mentoring, among others, renowned coach, Brad Gilbert. Dr Fox's Pepperdine teams were ranked among the nation's Top 5 for 10 consecutive years and reached 2 NCAA Team Finals. Dr. Fox wrote the tennis best sellers, "If I'm the Better Player, Why Can't I Win?" and "Think to Win," and most recently, "Tennis: Winning the Mental Match." He is an editor of and contributor to Tennis Magazine, writes for various web sites, and is well-known for his 1-Minute Clinics on the Tennis Channel. These have been showing for the last three years. He also lectures around the world on tennis psychology, including at the national conferences of the USTA, USPTA, and the PTR. In addition, Dr. Fox consults on the mental issues of tennis with players of all levels, from recreational players to pros and is the Mental Fitness Director at the Weil Tennis Academy in Ojai, CA. A regular on the Tennis Channel, Dr. Allen Fox is the author of three previous books, "IF I'M THE BETTER PLAYER, WHY CAN'T I WIN?", "THINK TO WIN," and "THE WINNER'S MIND, a Competitor's Guide to Sports and Business Success." Dr. Fox is an editor and writer for Tennis Magazine and for his web site, allenfoxtennis.net. WHAT'S IN HIS NEW BOOK, Tennis: Winning the Mental Match? CHAPTER 1: WHY DO WE WANT TO WIN? Winning a tennis match feels more important than it is because players are genetically wired to compete for position on the social hierarchy. The emotions of a tennis match resemble those of a fight. Players may realize that winning a match doesn't really matter, but they will always want to win anyway. CHAPTER 2: THE EMOTIONAL ISSUES OF COMPETITION: Tennis is inherently an emotional game. Because match outcomes feel important but are ultimately uncontrollable, matches can become stressful. There is often an unconscious urge to escape this stress, which leads to counterproductive behaviors, among which are anger, tanking, and excuse-making. These can be overpowered by the conscious mind, but it requires understanding, high motivation, and constant effort. CHAPTER 3: USING EMOTION TO HELP YOU WIN: Your emotions will dramatically affect your tennis performance. We discuss how to keep counterproductive emotions in check and how to create productive ones that will help you win. Topics include the use of adrenalin, profiting from the time between points, and maintaining an optimal excitation level. CHAPTER 4: REDUCING THE STRESS: Matches can become overly stressful, and this hinders performance. Stress can be reduced by developing a more realistic perspective of the game. Included are accepting outcomes that can't be controlled; resisting a narrow focus on winning; avoiding excessive perfectionism; getting over losses quickly; and using goals for hope and motivation rather than allowing them to become expectations and cause stress. CHAPTER 5: THE PROBLEMS OF FINISHING: Most players become nervous and stressed when they are ahead and face the hurdle of finishing the match against a dangerous opponent. The unique tennis scoring system intensifies this problem. The closer players get to winning, the greater the stress. Trying to reduce it gives rise to counterproductive behaviors such as procrastinating the finish or becoming "overconfident" and easing up with a lead. CHAPTER 6: CHOKING - ITS CAUSES AND HOW TO MINIMIZE ITS EFFECTS: Choking is most frequent at the finish of games, sets, and matches due to the uncertainty of outcome. You can limit choking damage by immediate acceptance of this uncertainty. Avoid stressful thoughts of winning by using rituals, focusing, and relaxation techniques. Rid yourself of the idea that choking will make you lose, and recognize that there are usually multiple opportunities to win, not just one. CHAPTER 7: CONFIDENCE AND HOW TO GET IT IF YOU DON'T HAVE IT: Confidence, aka self-belief, comes mostly from winning. Though it's more difficult, you can win without it by replacing it with sufficient emotional discipline. Slumps and hot streaks occur in cycles and both end naturally with time. Stressing over a slump prolongs it. You can speed its ending by several methods which we discuss. CHAPTER 8: GAME PLANS: Game plans give your efforts direction and structure. They can rely primarily on offence or defense but should be consistent with your personality. With Plan A you are looking for a match-up where you have a relative advantage, most commonly pitting your strengths against your opponent's weaknesses. With Plan B, which you always employ simultaneously with Plan A, you attempt to tire your opponent mentally. CHAPTER 9: BREAKING DOWN YOUR OPPONENT MENTALLY: You can weaken your opponent mentally by using dominance techniques. Be aware of momentum development - maintain it when you're winning and break it when you aren't. Take advantage of the let-downs that occur in transitional situations: at the end of sets, after long points, after service breaks, and after long games. Learn to resist becoming psyched out by opponents. CHAPTER 10: MAINTAINING MENTAL EFFECTIVENESS IN THE HEAT OF BATTLE: Remember the Golden Rule of tennis: Never do anything on court that doesn't help you win. Decide beforehand how you will handle the frustrations and errors that are likely to occur during match play. Understand the value of intensity and its role in playing percentage tennis. Players who have beaten you too frequently get into your head. Beating them requires exceptional emotional discipline and focus. Learn to deal with injuries, both yours and those of your opponents. CHAPTER 11: THE VALUE OF OPTIMISM: Being optimistic is always helpful during competition. If it does not occur naturally you can become more optimistic by deliberately focusing on the real positives that exist in every situation. Monitor your thoughts and be alert to negative ones. When one occurs replace it immediately with a positive one. A bad attitude is difficult to change in mid-match, so make sure to start out with a good one. When you are behind, hope is your most crucial asset, and it is always realistic. CHAPTER 12: DEVELOPING YOUR GAME AND THE ROLE OF PARENTS: Tennis is a difficult game and not enjoyable until you can control the ball with some level of consistency. The "middle game" is the heart of any player's game, and is learned by intelligent, repetitious practice, Tennis should generally be made fun for beginning youngsters, but some little push may occasionally be necessary. Tournaments can be motivating for kids, but they are stressful for parents and can impel even a good parent to act improperly. CHAPTER 13: COURAGE AND HIGHER VALUES: Competing successfully in tennis is helped by focusing on character development rather than on winning. Everybody wants to win anyway. Working to develop higher values such as courage, unselfishness, consideration for others, appreciation, and morality is good for your character and will, as a by-product, reduce your stress and help you win. CHAPTER 14: THE PSYCHOLOGY OF DOUBLES: An important doubles skill is the ability to make your partner play better. You affect your partner's emotional state and level of play with your gestures and words. Champions are not concerned with parceling out blame for a loss; rather they are focused on doing what it takes to win. You can also disrupt the opposing team by attacking the weaker player and by intimidation.

Allen Fox - Emotional Drive

Added 05/06/11
41 Views

Allen Fox - Emotional Drive

[LESS INFO] 41 VIEWS | ADDED 19:26:46 05/06/11
Download file (right-click and "save as...") About Allen Fox - Author, Speaker, Consultant: Allen Fox, Ph.D. earned a B.A. degree in physics and a Ph.D. in psychology from UCLA where he won the NCAA Singles and Doubles titles and where he was named UCLA Athlete of the Year and All University of California Athlete of the Year. With the same competitive zeal that propelled him to the number four ranking in the United States, to the quarterfinals at Wimbledon and a 3-time member of the US Davis Cup Team, he coached and built the Pepperdine University tennis team into a national power, mentoring, among others, renowned coach, Brad Gilbert. Dr Fox's Pepperdine teams were ranked among the nation's Top 5 for 10 consecutive years and reached 2 NCAA Team Finals. Dr. Fox wrote the tennis best sellers, "If I'm the Better Player, Why Can't I Win?" and "Think to Win," and most recently, "Tennis: Winning the Mental Match." He is an editor of and contributor to Tennis Magazine, writes for various web sites, and is well-known for his 1-Minute Clinics on the Tennis Channel. These have been showing for the last three years. He also lectures around the world on tennis psychology, including at the national conferences of the USTA, USPTA, and the PTR. In addition, Dr. Fox consults on the mental issues of tennis with players of all levels, from recreational players to pros and is the Mental Fitness Director at the Weil Tennis Academy in Ojai, CA. A regular on the Tennis Channel, Dr. Allen Fox is the author of three previous books, "IF I'M THE BETTER PLAYER, WHY CAN'T I WIN?", "THINK TO WIN," and "THE WINNER'S MIND, a Competitor's Guide to Sports and Business Success." Dr. Fox is an editor and writer for Tennis Magazine and for his web site, allenfoxtennis.net. WHAT'S IN HIS NEW BOOK, Tennis: Winning the Mental Match? CHAPTER 1: WHY DO WE WANT TO WIN? Winning a tennis match feels more important than it is because players are genetically wired to compete for position on the social hierarchy. The emotions of a tennis match resemble those of a fight. Players may realize that winning a match doesn't really matter, but they will always want to win anyway. CHAPTER 2: THE EMOTIONAL ISSUES OF COMPETITION: Tennis is inherently an emotional game. Because match outcomes feel important but are ultimately uncontrollable, matches can become stressful. There is often an unconscious urge to escape this stress, which leads to counterproductive behaviors, among which are anger, tanking, and excuse-making. These can be overpowered by the conscious mind, but it requires understanding, high motivation, and constant effort. CHAPTER 3: USING EMOTION TO HELP YOU WIN: Your emotions will dramatically affect your tennis performance. We discuss how to keep counterproductive emotions in check and how to create productive ones that will help you win. Topics include the use of adrenalin, profiting from the time between points, and maintaining an optimal excitation level. CHAPTER 4: REDUCING THE STRESS: Matches can become overly stressful, and this hinders performance. Stress can be reduced by developing a more realistic perspective of the game. Included are accepting outcomes that can't be controlled; resisting a narrow focus on winning; avoiding excessive perfectionism; getting over losses quickly; and using goals for hope and motivation rather than allowing them to become expectations and cause stress. CHAPTER 5: THE PROBLEMS OF FINISHING: Most players become nervous and stressed when they are ahead and face the hurdle of finishing the match against a dangerous opponent. The unique tennis scoring system intensifies this problem. The closer players get to winning, the greater the stress. Trying to reduce it gives rise to counterproductive behaviors such as procrastinating the finish or becoming "overconfident" and easing up with a lead. CHAPTER 6: CHOKING - ITS CAUSES AND HOW TO MINIMIZE ITS EFFECTS: Choking is most frequent at the finish of games, sets, and matches due to the uncertainty of outcome. You can limit choking damage by immediate acceptance of this uncertainty. Avoid stressful thoughts of winning by using rituals, focusing, and relaxation techniques. Rid yourself of the idea that choking will make you lose, and recognize that there are usually multiple opportunities to win, not just one. CHAPTER 7: CONFIDENCE AND HOW TO GET IT IF YOU DON'T HAVE IT: Confidence, aka self-belief, comes mostly from winning. Though it's more difficult, you can win without it by replacing it with sufficient emotional discipline. Slumps and hot streaks occur in cycles and both end naturally with time. Stressing over a slump prolongs it. You can speed its ending by several methods which we discuss. CHAPTER 8: GAME PLANS: Game plans give your efforts direction and structure. They can rely primarily on offence or defense but should be consistent with your personality. With Plan A you are looking for a match-up where you have a relative advantage, most commonly pitting your strengths against your opponent's weaknesses. With Plan B, which you always employ simultaneously with Plan A, you attempt to tire your opponent mentally. CHAPTER 9: BREAKING DOWN YOUR OPPONENT MENTALLY: You can weaken your opponent mentally by using dominance techniques. Be aware of momentum development - maintain it when you're winning and break it when you aren't. Take advantage of the let-downs that occur in transitional situations: at the end of sets, after long points, after service breaks, and after long games. Learn to resist becoming psyched out by opponents. CHAPTER 10: MAINTAINING MENTAL EFFECTIVENESS IN THE HEAT OF BATTLE: Remember the Golden Rule of tennis: Never do anything on court that doesn't help you win. Decide beforehand how you will handle the frustrations and errors that are likely to occur during match play. Understand the value of intensity and its role in playing percentage tennis. Players who have beaten you too frequently get into your head. Beating them requires exceptional emotional discipline and focus. Learn to deal with injuries, both yours and those of your opponents. CHAPTER 11: THE VALUE OF OPTIMISM: Being optimistic is always helpful during competition. If it does not occur naturally you can become more optimistic by deliberately focusing on the real positives that exist in every situation. Monitor your thoughts and be alert to negative ones. When one occurs replace it immediately with a positive one. A bad attitude is difficult to change in mid-match, so make sure to start out with a good one. When you are behind, hope is your most crucial asset, and it is always realistic. CHAPTER 12: DEVELOPING YOUR GAME AND THE ROLE OF PARENTS: Tennis is a difficult game and not enjoyable until you can control the ball with some level of consistency. The "middle game" is the heart of any player's game, and is learned by intelligent, repetitious practice, Tennis should generally be made fun for beginning youngsters, but some little push may occasionally be necessary. Tournaments can be motivating for kids, but they are stressful for parents and can impel even a good parent to act improperly. CHAPTER 13: COURAGE AND HIGHER VALUES: Competing successfully in tennis is helped by focusing on character development rather than on winning. Everybody wants to win anyway. Working to develop higher values such as courage, unselfishness, consideration for others, appreciation, and morality is good for your character and will, as a by-product, reduce your stress and help you win. CHAPTER 14: THE PSYCHOLOGY OF DOUBLES: An important doubles skill is the ability to make your partner play better. You affect your partner's emotional state and level of play with your gestures and words. Champions are not concerned with parceling out blame for a loss; rather they are focused on doing what it takes to win. You can also disrupt the opposing team by attacking the weaker player and by intimidation.

Your Take on China's Energy Use

Added 12/01/10
7 Views

Your Take on China's Energy Use

[LESS INFO] 7 VIEWS | ADDED 21:44:00 12/01/10
We went to Union Station in Washington to ask people about the recent International Energy Agency report predicting that China will account for about one-third of the world's energy use in 25 years. We also invited them to submit questions to our panel opf experts who will be discussing the report Alison Nadle of Coral, Springs, FL, says she's not surprised considering China's population, but she believes the U.S. will face rising energy costs as a result. She wants to ask our panel of experts if there are any plans for joint efforts to reduce energy use in China and the U.S. She believes China's per capita energy use figures are not a concern because so many people in rural areas there have no access to electricity. Piper Holloway of Oxon Hill, MD, is surprised at the extent of China's energy use. She believes that the United States should help bring the number down because it will affect all of us. She wants to know the details of China's energy use and its strategies for reducing it. She believes that Americans should use this as a signal to cut their own energy use, and that if children are taught now, it will catch on by the time they're adults. Chris Thomas of Washington says the U.S. should reach out to China to get it to develop more renewable energy to reduce its energy use. Johnny Cruz of Silver Spring, MD, believes China's energy use will result in more outsourcing of U.S. jobs. He wants to know if there is any way the U.S. can tell China to reduce its energy use. Rob Davies of Stamford, CT, says Americans need to be prepared and should use models to project prices over the next few decades so consumers will know what to expect. He doesn't believe the U.S. has much to learn from China's lower per-capita energy use because China has less business infrastructure. He believes it should be a concern for Americans because the per capita use of developing countries will increase as they develop more technology and infrastructure.