To be a consistent performer you *must* slay the raging monster within
- or control of your emotions during competition. I am sure at one
time (or two), you became upset, frustrated, or angry with yourself
and it cost you the game or match.

How quickly you can recover from errors and mishaps will hinge on
your ability to let it go and remain composed.

Many talented athletes who do not know how to control their negative
emotions fail to reach their potential because they get hot-headed,
angry, or just crawl into their negative mental shell and don't
return.

You know the type - the perfectionistic athlete who is prone to
emotional outbursts after errors or when not performing up to his
or her expectations.

What do I mean by emotional control? Emotional control is when you
stay even-tempered, level headed, or poised even when you are
challenged by mishaps or adversity.

Even the top athletes, such as Tiger Woods, get upset, but they are
able to gain control quickly and get back to business. Recovering
quickly from mistakes separates champions from athletes who crack
under adversity and are cooked mentally for the rest of the
competition.

To get control of the raging monster within, you must do two tasks
- have an accepting mindset before competition and arm yourself with
mental strategies to cope with errors or mishaps.

Thus, I teach my students two top strategies for regaining emotional
control quickly:

(1) How to have a positive pregame mindset for competition, and
(2) How to let go of errors before emotions snowball out of control.

For example, your very first step is to identify strict expectations
that cause you to become upset when you do not achieve your own
expectations.

Here is a baseball example to highlight the mental game dangers of
expectations. One of my students, a college pitcher, expected to
throw a no-hitter every game. What do you think happened when he
gave up his first hit?

He got frustrated and negative with his game because the perfect game
was no longer obtainable. It took him several innings to get his
emotional balance back and by the time he did recover, it was too
late.

Some expectations that can lead to feelings of frustration include:

*I must play perfectly to be successful today.
*I expect to perform perfectly today and if I don't, I am failing.
*I cannot make any mistakes if I want to win.
*To play my best, I must have an error-free performance.

If you carry these expectations into competition, you set yourself up
for feeling like you are failing, but in reality, you leave your self
no room for success.

If you want to learn how to shake your expectations and slay the
monster within, I suggest you grab a copy of my new program, "The
Composed Athlete."

I share all my composure-boosting secrets in my new workbook program,
'The Composed Athlete: A 14 Day Plan for Maximum Composure.' A
composed state of mind leads champions to the winner's circle.

To read more about how to improve your composure, jump to peaksports:
http://www.peaksports.com/the_composed_athlete.php

A better option is to become a member of our new and improved online
mental training program and get 30% off The Confident Athlete
workbooks series, and download six mental training e-books and a
ton of other mental training goodies:

http://www.peaksportsnetwork.com

Your Composure Coach,

Patrick J. Cohn, Ph.D.,
Master Mental Game Coach
-----@-----------------------------------------
PEAK PERFORMANCE SPORTS
Instilling Confidence for a Competitive Edge
Mental Game Coaching for Athletes
888-742-7225 (toll free)
407-909-1700 (local)
www.peaksports.com
7380 Sand Lake Rd. Orlando, FL 32819

P.S. We recently re-launched our online mental training program with
more programs and mental game tools to help you reach your potential.
Grab your subscription today and get 30% off The Confident Athlete
workbook series programs. Go here for a demo:
http://www.peaksportsnetwork.com