For Melanie Oudin, Mental Toughness Pays Off at the U.S. Open

“I try to pretend that it's not like Arthur Ashe Stadium playing Maria Sharapova. I try to just pretend it's any other match, even just practicing. Sometimes I tell myself I'm just practicing at my academy at home and I'm just playing one of my friends.”

--Melanie Oudin, discussing her approach to her matches.

The 17-year-old from Marietta, Georgia staged another upset Monday afternoon at the U.S. Open, extending her surprising run to the quarterfinals with another come-from-behind victory, 1-6, 7-6 (2), 6-3 over 13th-seeded Nadia Petrova. Oudin once again upset a more-seasoned, higher-ranked opponent.

Oudin, the 70th-ranked player already had wins over No. 4 Elena Dementieva and No. 29 Maria Sharapova, a former No. 1 and U.S. Open champion, along with one over former No. 1 Jelena Jankovic this summer at Wimbledon. Now, she's knocked off the No. 13 seed at the U. S Open.

Melanie Oudin defeated Sharapova 3-6, 6-4, 7-5.

“I learned, once again, proved to myself that I can compete with these top girls,” said the American, who once again rallied from a set down to beat her heavily-favored opposition. “And if I believe in myself and my game, then I can beat them.”

Previously, on Thursday afternoon, Oudin knocked out another top Russian, Elena Dementieva, in three-sets, 5-7, 6-4, 6-3. Dementieva was ranked No. 2 earlier this year. Oudin’s ranking will now rise to the low 50s from 70.

After beating Dementieva, Oudin said, “I didn't think that she was blowing me off the court. She wasn't hitting winners left and right on me. We had long points. I was right there with her. I knew if I could play well and keep being aggressive and stay in there that I could do it.”

Oudin has displayed a great deal of mental toughness, and an ability to reach back and gather energy late in the third set.


Hard Work, Passion and Focus

“Someone asked me at Wimbledon, how I would describe the whole experience,” said Oudin. “There's not really one word. Everything about it is just unbelievable. But basically I love to play tennis, and that's why I'm here. I'm loving it.”

“I guess it’s kind of surprising, but it’s like I’ve worked so hard for this,” said Oudin. “Finally, everything is just coming together. I’m playing how I’ve been wanting to play, how I knew I could play. I just haven’t been able to do it continually for an entire match. These past matches here, I’ve been able to keep it up the entire time, not just a couple points here or there, a set here and there, but like the entire match.”


Confidence and Composure

“She’s just playing with such confidence now, and she thrives on playing in front of people,” said Brian de Villiers, Oudin’s coach since she was 9. “Before we went out, she was like: ‘I cannot let Sharapova intimidate me. I have to just hold my ground.’ ”

Oudin has now beaten two women who were once ranked No. 1 (Jelena Jankovic at Wimbledon and now Sharapova).

“I think she has a great amount of potential,” said Sharapova, who, like Dementieva, was gracious in defeat. “I thought she played really well. I thought she has many weapons. You know, she certainly held her ground.”

After looking average, anxious, and out of her league in the first set against Sharapova, Oudin regained her composure in the second set, jumping out to a 5-1 lead before Sharapova recovered. Sharapova fought through the next three games before Oudin won the set on her seventh set point.


Competitive Spirit

“I’ve always been so competitive, doesn’t matter what I’m doing,” Oudin said, adding: “I always want to win more than anything. I’m not going to give up, you know, no matter what the score is.”

She has become the youngest American to move into the quarterfinals at America's Grand Slam since Serena Williams in 1999.

All four of Oudin's wins have come against Russians and her next match could be against yet another. That's sixth-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova, the 2004 Open champion and the only Grand Slam tournament winner left on Oudin's side of the bracket.


Tenacity and Determination

"It's kind of hard to explain how I've done it," Oudin said. "Today, there were no tears because I believed I can do it. Now I know I do belong here. This is what I want to do. I can compete with these girls no matter who I'm playing. I have a chance against anyone."

Oudin improved to 6-1 at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open this year when she's lost the first set. She is 17-4 overall this year in three-set matches. In all the matches, she has shown tenacity and determination.

"I don't actually mean to lose the first set," she insisted. "Sometimes, I just start off slowly. Maybe I'm a little nervous. Today, my timing was off a little. But I just totally forgot about it, started off the second set like it was a new match, and I started playing better."

With a serve that needs work (she won the match with Petrova without serving a single ace) Oudin is winning with high energy, footwork, technique, precision. Mostly, though, she is thriving in pressure situations that has destroyed so many others in her situation.

"You don't know if she's winning or losing," said her father, John. "She doesn't seem nervous out there -- and I don't know where that came from."

“It’s kind of hard to explain how I’ve done it,” Oudin said. “Like today, there are no tears because I believed that I could do it. And it’s like now I know that I do belong here. This is what I want to do, and I can compete with these girls no matter who I’m playing. I have a chance against anyone.”

Against Petrova, Oudin started slowly with Petrova serving well and Oudin unable to control her service games. A mere mortal would have had a difficult time bouncing back from a 1-6 beating. Petrova had been playing very well, beating her first three opponents without dropping a set.

“I think it’s just mentally I’m staying in there with them the whole time, and I’m not giving up at all,” Oudin said. “If they’re going to beat me, they’re going to beat me, because I’m not going to go anywhere.”

In The Zone

“She gets pretty much in her own zone,” John Oudin said. “Nothing breaks her focus. I don’t know where she gets it from.”

Oudin, though, kept her composure and got going in the second set and got the crowd into it with her.

“She has nothing to lose,” Petrova said of Oudin. “She has the crowd going for her. She’s just having a blast out there.”

“I know that I can compete with the best in the world now,” Oudin said. “And I will know that forever.”

Melanie Oudin: "Believe"

“I think she’s very talented. She was in the court and not afraid to play. She was playing very aggressively, really enjoying this atmosphere, you know, the crowd support and really going for the winners.”

--Elena Dementieva, who lost to Melanie Oudin in an upset in the second round of the U.S. Open. Dementieva is still seeking her first Grand Slam title.

To help with motivation, Oudin has "Believe" written on her tennis shoes. After reaching the fourth round as a qualifier, she upset the former No. 1 player in the world, Jelena Jankovic at Wimbledon earlier this summer.

Oudin, from Marietta, Georgia, continues to excel at the U. S. Open at Arthur Ashe Stadium on Thursday by upsetting No. 4 seed Elena Dementieva, 5-7, 6-4, 6-3, in the second round. She moves on the the third round to play Maria Sharapova.

The “Believe” message on Oudin’s shoes was her boyfriend's idea. Austin Smith, 15, is with her in New York. He said Oudin did not want to follow the lead of other pros by putting her name or nickname on her shoes.

“For me, it’s all about that,” Oudin said. “It’s believing that I can beat these girls.”

Excerpts from the New York Times, September 4, 2009.

For more on Peak Performance, click on The Handbook of Peak Performance.

Notes from the U.S. Open: Andy Roddick Learns Confidence

"I think I used to get more up and down on an individual results or two. I maybe used to be convinced after two bad weeks that it was going to fall apart forever or after two good weeks that I'd probably never play a bad match again. I think maybe I have a little more confidence in the process than I used to."

--Andy Roddick, discussing his past problems with confidence and self-criticism.

Andy Roddick, who Roger Federer has beaten in 19 or their 21 meetings, comes to this year's U.S. Open seeded fifth. His classic five-set loss to Federer at Wimbledon has rejuvenated his career and increased his fan support.

"I would be lying if I sat here and said I totally understood it. But it definitely made it easier to get motivated to get back on the court," says Roddick about his fans' reaction.

Roddick also hired Larry Stefanki last year as his coach. Stefanski has helped him with confidence, his self-criticism and internal dialogue. Roddick has also seemingly benefitted from his marriage to model Brooklyn Decker.

Will Roddick be confident and play well this year at the U.S. Open?

Excerpts from the New York Times (August 30, 2009)

For more on Peak Performance, go to The Handbook of Peak Performance.

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Dinara Safina: Mental Battles

"I try to do something good, but when it doesn't go good, then I go like too much into myself, what I'm doing right, wrong, instead of thinking more what I have to do with the ball."

--Dinara Safina, #1 ranked women's tennis player in the world and top-seed woman at the U.S. Open in New York.

New York, New York (USA)-- Dinara Safina came very close to becoming the first top-seeded woman to lose in the first round of the 2009 U.S. Open. She entered the match with the best women's winning percentage (52-12, .813). She was matched against Olivia Rogowska, a 18-year-old from Australia, a wild card competitor with one single career title as a professional and one victory over a top-50 player.

Rogowska won the first set in a tiebreaker when Safina seemed to lose her chronic war on nerves.

No top seed on the women's side at the U.S. Open in the Open era had ever lost a first-round match. It's only happened four times in the majors in 41 years. The highest seed to lose in those circumstances was Martina Navratilova, a third seed in 1976.

However, Safina worked her way back into the match and she was able to subdue the No. 167-ranked player in the world. The final was 6-7 (5), 6-2, 6-4, but Safina was challenged by Rogowska and by her own emotions.

"A total mental battle," ESPN analyst Mary Joe Fernandez observed. "She fought herself."

Despite her overall success, Safina continues to struggle mentally.

Excerpts from ESPN.com (September 1, 2009)

For more in Choking, Panic and Failure, click on Failure: The Peak Performance Field Guide #2.

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Florida's Tim Tebow Wants to Make a Difference

Check out the New York Times article from 8/29/2009 about Tim Tebow.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/30/sports/ncaafootball/30tebow.html

Usain Bolt Provides Motivation to Other Sprinters

“Just because you get beat doesn’t mean you stop trying, it just means you go home and work on your own résumé. When I go home this off-season, I’ve got to go home and work twice as hard, three times as hard and put a picture of Bolt above my bed.”

--Wallace Spearmon, US sprinter who came in third in the 100M to Usain Bolt in Berlin in a time of 9.85 seconds.

Excerpt from New York Times, August 20, 2009.

For more on Peak Performance, click on The Handbook of Peak Performance.

Peak Performance Videos: Usain Bolt Smashes World Records in 100M and 200M

Watch and admire!





For more on Peak Performance, click on The Handbook of Peak Performance.

U.S. Army Promotes Emotional Resiliency

"Resilience is a way of thinking -- you apply optimistic thinking to a problem. It is really a difference between, for instance, when you invite somebody for a date and they say no, resilient people think 'their loss -- I'll do better next time.' What they don't think is 'nobody will ever like me. I'm worthless.' That's really what it is. It teaches you to remember that problems are temporary, that they are local.

"Our intention is to have every platoon sergeant and every drill sergeant to have gone through this. It's really like part of what you do when you take somebody to the range, or when you are teaching somebody how to have confidence about going into the gas chamber [combat training]. It is also about teaching by example in an operational environment, how to deal with fear, and disappointment. It's tools, thinking tools, how not to fall into thinking traps or catastrophic thinking."

--Brig. Gen. Rhonda Cornum, director of the U.S. Army Comprehensive Soldier Fitness program.

Resiliency, or mental toughness, is part of the Army's larger "Comprehensive Soldier Fitness" program, that aims to ensure Soldiers are as mentally tough as they are physically tough. Cornum said soldiers will be taught resiliency in basic training by master resilience trainers, who themselves have gone through courses like the one taught in Philadelphia at the University of Pennsylvania.

Additionally, she said, soldiers will develop mental toughness through self-guided learning, based on assessments they will take online during basic training and every two years afterward. Mental fitness, she said, is like physical fitness; life-long and ongoing.

"It is something you are going to start when you come into the Army; if you are already in, you start in the middle of your career. And it is a long-term process. It is not something that you can do once, any more than you can get physically fit by one trip to the gym. This is not an individual single event. It is a way of looking at your psychological health as important as your physical health," says Gen. Cornum.

The training, the first of its kind in the military, is meant to improve performance in combat and head off the mental health problems, including depression, post-traumatic stress disorder and suicide, that plague about one-fifth of troops returning from Afghanistan and Iraq.

U.S. Military to Begin Training Soldiers in Mental Conditioning

In response to increasing incidents of post-traumatic stress syndrome, suicide, and depression in the military, it is planned that all 1.1 million U.S. troops will be trained in emotional resiliency and stress management.

The new training will be taught in weekly 90-minute classes led by sergeants who will be trained in mental techniques that focus on faulty cognitions. These faulty cognitions are thought to lead to emotional difficulties such as anxiety and frustration under stress.

The techniques are being incorporated with the consultation of Dr. Martin Seligman, a leading psychologist in the area of mental conditioning and stress management. The techniques are based on the work of Dr. Albert Ellis and Dr. Aaron Beck, who worked in clinical settings help people to understand and change their self-talk to improve their emotional functioning.



For the entire New York Times article from August 18, 2009 click on: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/18/health/18psych.html?th&emc=th

Progressive Relaxation Helps Michael Phelps to Gold

"When I step onto the blocks to race, I switch into a different gear. It doesn't matter what kind of training I have or what's going on in my life, I'm always going to rise to the occasion."

--Michael Phelps.

Bob Bowman, Michael Phelps' coach, says that structured relaxation has been a part of Phelps' prerace routine since he was 12 years old and is a key to his success. Bowman introduced Phelps to progressive relaxation and includes a recitation of cues.

Every night before Phelps went to sleep, his mother, Debbie, would sit with him in his dimly lit bedroom, read a script, and command him to relax different parts of his body. With considerable practice, Phleps could relax without his mother's cues. With more practice, he became adept at placing himself in the same meditative state in the ready room before a race.

Once he cleared his mind and loosened his limbs, Phelps would swim each race over and over in his mind. In addition to a perfect race, Phlep pictures himself overcoming every conceivable obstacle to achieve his goal time so that when he stands on the blocks he feels as if nothing can stand in the way of him and his quest.

"I do go through everything from a best-case scenario to the worst-case scenario just so I'm ready for anything that comes my way," Phelps says.

So, for example, when Phelps' goggles unexpectedly filled with water during the finals of the 200 butterfly at the Beijing Olympics in 2008, he did not panic. He counted his strokes so he knew where the walls were and was able to lower his world record and win the gold medal.

Excerpts from the New York Times (July 26, 2009).

For more on progressive relaxation, click on Peak Performance eCoach.

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Tom Brady & the New England Patriots: Ready for a New Season?

"Playing these guys a few times in the playoffs, you look over and say 'Hey, we can go over and beat that team. What do they do that we don't do? We can win this game.' But then when you get here, you see his passion, you see the way he studies, you see how demanding he is of his players, the leadership. Right in front of you, it just jumps right out. You see why he's a proven winner."

--Fred Taylor, who signed with the New England Patriots after being released by the Jacksonville Jaguars, talking about how he is impressed with Tom Brady, the Patriots' veteran quarterback.

Brady is recovering from an injury to his left knee that he received in the opening game of the 2008 NFL season. Should Brady be back to his old self, the Patriots are one of the favorites to reach the Super Bowl, despite being the oldest team in the league (an average age of 27-plus).

Excerpt from the New York Times (July 31, 2009).

For more on the New England Patriots, click on New England Patriots: Peak Performance Case Study.

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Lance Armstrong & Alberto Contador: Racing for the Team

"If we ride into Paris with the yellow jersey in the team, I'm cool with that. I've got seven of them at home."

--Lance Armstrong, seven-time winner of the Tour de France and teammate of Alberto Contador on the Astana team.

VERBIER, Switzerland -- Alberto Contador, current leader in the Tour de France, distanced himself in Stage 15 from seven-time winner Lance Armstrong and a group of other rival contenders.

Contador, with the reputation as the best climber in the world, now holds the 2009 Tour lead by 1 minute, 37 seconds over teammate Armstrong, who acknowledged he couldn't keep up. Armstrong's performance kept him in second place overall.

"The differences now are pretty big," Contador said, "and the team's bet should now be me, no? I'm happy to have earned this jersey."

"We are ready to sacrifice everything to have Alberto in the yellow jersey in Paris: the teams standings and Lance's second place," Astana sports director Alain Gallopin told Reuters on Monday.

So, Lance Armstrong, cycling icon, with the handwriting on the wall sacrifices his individual goals to assist 2007 Tour winner Alberto Contador and the Astana team achieve their rightful glory.

Excerpts from ESPN.com and the New York Times, July 20, 2009.

For more on Peak Performance, click on The Handbook of Peak Performance.

the tour is getting interesting.

Lance Armstrong: Championship-Calibre Teammate

"Like I've said all along, my first obligation is to the team."

--Lance Armstrong, during a TV interview after the seventh stage.

ARCALIS, Andorra -- Lance Armstrong dropped one spot to third place in the Tour de France on Friday, July 10, 2009, with rival and teammate Alberto Contador breaking away in the final sprint up the mountain to claim second. Armstrong began the day a split second off the lead and now trails by eight seconds. Contador, the 2007 Tour winner, sped ahead in the last 1.2 miles in an attempt to seize the overall lead. He started the day 19 seconds behind Armstrong and finished 21 seconds before the seven-time Tour champion Texan crossed the line.


Italy's Rinaldo Nocentini captured the yellow jersey from Switzerland's Fabian Cancellara after a punishing climb in the Pyrenees to complete the seventh stage. The 140-mile leg, the first in the mountains, was won by Brice Feillu of France in a solo breakaway.

Excerpts from ESPN.com (July 10, 2009).

For more on Peak Performance, click on The Handbook of Peak Performance.

The Tenacity, Determination & Focus of Roger Federer

"Sometimes it takes a loss to make you strong. As you can see, I reacted, I've come back."

--Roger Federer, discussing his tenacity and determination in returning championship form and winning the Wimbledon men’s singles title.

A back injury hampered Federer early this year, and many were predicting that Federer was on the way down.

"Australia was pretty tough. It's huge that he loves tennis. That helps him a lot. Otherwise, he would maybe need some time off afterwards. But he loves tennis, so he went on. He was practicing hard, he was staying focused, and everything paid off now."

--Severin Luthi, the Swiss Davis Cup captain who acts as a part-time coach for Federer, who believes the comeback was fueled by Federer's passion.

Excerpts from ESPN.com (July 9, 2009)

For more on Peak Performance, click on The Handbook of Peak Performance.

Michael Jackson: A Tribute to the Greatest Performer of All Time

"He studied the great and became greater. He raised the bar and then broke the bar. His talent and creativity thrust him and entertainment into another stratosphere. Michael Jackson went into orbit and never went down."

--Barry Gordy.

Roger Federer: Wimbledon Champion Already Planning the Future

“I definitely have to regroup after this victory and put my mind in the right frame of mind for the rest of the season. I definitely want to finish the year at No. 1.”

--Roger Federer, discussing the future after winning his record-breaking 15th Grand Slam tournament at Wimbledon on Sunday.

Federer said he felt the “defining moment” of his "comeback" this summer came when he was practicing in April of this year.

“I’ve always been pushing myself in practice, but I told my team that we needed to do something completely extreme.”

Federer has played in 39 consecutive Grand Slam tournaments, and he has won the last two after being forced to take a break in February because of lower back pain that affected him during his loss to Rafael Nadal in the 2009 Australian Open final.

Excerpts from the New York Times, 07/07/09. For the original article, go to: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/07/sports/tennis/07wimbledon.html?ref=sports

For more about Peak Performance, click on The Handbook of Peak Performance.

Lance surges to third overall at Tour de France

Lance surges to third overall at Tour de France

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Get Smarter - The Atlantic (July/August 2009)

Interesting article from The Atlantic on the future of intelligence. Get Smarter - The Atlantic (July/August 2009)

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Roger Federer Wins His 15th Grand Slam Singles Title

"The great ones, at the end, they have just a little bit more.”

--Pete Sampras, referring to the resolve of Roger Federer, who beat Andy Roddick, to win the 2009 Wimbledon championship.

WIMBLEDON, England — Andy Roddick made Roger Federer work hard, but Federer won another Grand Slam tournament for a record 15th singles title.

Roddick played the match of his career. But Federer was a little better.

Federer breaks his tie with Pete Sampras, who is now second on the career list with 14 major singles titles.

Federer, who has won Wimbledon six times, held off Roddick by the unprecedented score of 5-7, 7-6 (6), 7-6 (5), 3-6, 16-14.

Federer served a personal record 50 aces in a match that took 4 hours 18 minutes. But Roddick was the better server: holding 37 times in a row before finally being broken in the last game.

“It was a crazy match with an unbelievable end, and my head is still spinning,” Federer said after the match. “But it’s an unbelievable moment in my career.”

The Neo/Post Economy: The Information Age 3.0

Malcolm Gladwell, Mark Cuban, Chris Anderson, Seth Godin, and Chris Brogan are talking interestingly about the idea of free. I would suggest that you read what they have to say about it. I am sure the conversation will continue.

In the new economy, which is still a long way from working itself out, things are shifting as we speak. It still has a long way to go. It has been broken badly and for a while. Smart people are discussing the value of free. Should the Internet be free? Should digital music be free? Should the news be free? Will customers start to pay for what they can get for free? Should providers give away what used to charge for?

Have you heard about the hamburger joint that gives its food away for free? All they ask is that you give them whatever you think is reasonable. Stiff them or leave them a ten. It works. They make as much or more that they would with fixed prices on their items. Most of the customers love them.

The saxophone player on the street corner hopes you put some coins in the cup. The waiter at your favorite watering hole hopes you like his service and tip him well. I heard Johnny Depp left a $4000 tip the other day. My dad, who was a small business owner, would often barter for goods and services when his customers couldn’t pay.

I am an entrepreneur, a CEO, a consultant, a small business owner. I blog frequently. I am LinkedIn. I do Facebook. I Tweet, Ning, Ping, and Xing. I get the whole social networking thing. I have a weekly newletter. I field phone calls, answer questions via e-mail, I comment on others’ blogs. I answer questions.

Through these activities I have the capacity to inspire, motivate, inform, solve problems, find solutions, identify hidden problems, move careers forward, help others make decisions, and provide new insights and opinions. I can keep a deal alive and kill it. Much of this I do for free (Mostly voluntarily, sometimes, not so much).

Yes, that’s right. I give lots of information, advice, and counsel away for free. I like it. It adds value. It develops and deepens relationships. It works. I get a lot of free lunches and dinners. And I get a lot of free coffee. Don’t get me wrong. I like it. And I will continue to do it, a lot.

When I am lucky, I get real business that way. I get hired. I get involved in projects, I provide services and products to my customers. I write proposals. I submit contracts. I have billable hours. I have fees. I send out invoices. I get paid for those things.

But in the Information Age and with the Economy 3.0, that sometimes isn’t enough. For many people in my shoes, it really isn’t enough. Sometimes there aren’t enough projects or enough billable hours. Much of my value is not easily billable. More troubling, much of what I do others do not see as billable. They seek me out. They see the value. They thank me. They say “I owe you one.” They say “I will try to bring you business.” I appreciate that so much. Sometimes the cash does not come with it.

What am I doing about it? What should I do? What should you do. Well, I am going to keep adding value, giving away information for free, and building deep relationships. Also, with my customers, clients, and valued relationships I am asking them for something in return. I am asking for them to keep my lights on and bills paid for a few days or a few weeks. Whatever they can afford, whatever they thing I am worth to keep in business.

You can call it what you want: donations, sponsorships, retainers, pay-per-click, pay-per-view, a service fee. I don’t care. I don’t think they will care. If they feel I add value, they will want to keep me going. They will want me available to them. They want my blog alive, they want my Facebook, my Tweet. They want to be LinkedIn with me. They will want me to send them my newletter. They will want to continue calling or e-mailing me. They will want me to have place to work, a fast computer, a smart phone, and a way to test the next new thing in my field or theirs. They will want my advise, my information, my counsel. I will be there for them. But I will need their support, their sponsorship. They will be there for me. I will thrive.

If I am lucky, I will be able to break even, stay in the black. If I am even luckier, I will be able to go to camp with the rest of the kids (actually my kids will get to go to camp). If I am really good, I will be able to put something in the bank for a rainy day.

And, that is the beginning of the new economy. Malcolm, Mark, Chris, Seth, Chris: There is free and there is value. It will all work.

Doh?! Geez, did I just give that away for free? If you liked the song, put your coins in the cup.

Michael Jackson (1958-2009)

For more Michael Jackson videos, click on: http://myplay.com/video-player/michael-jackson/

Gisela Dulko: Relaxes and Wins at Wimbledon

"I definitely got a bit nervous at 5-4. I could feel my legs shaking, and I just said to myself, 'Tranquila'. I knew that it was a vital game."

--Gisela Dulko, upset winner at Wimbledon, against former champion Maria Sharapova.

.

WIMBLEDON, England — Unseeded Argentine Gisela Dulko upset former champion Maria Sharapova in a suspenseful 6-2 3-6 6-4 victory in the second round at Wimbledon on Wednesday.

Sharapova, ranked 60, was still suffering with a shoulder injury. Gisela Dulko, ranked 45th, a slender 24-year-old Argentine veteran, was the latest second-tier player to seize the opportunity and beat Sharapova.

In her first match on Centre Court, Dulko jumped out to a 6-2, 3-0 lead. To her credit, she then managed to shake off the loss of seven straight games and recover early in the third set and then hold on through the final game, finally managing to serve out the victory on her fifth match point.

Dulko called the victory, the most important of her career.

"It's the biggest win of my career because she's a great champion and on Centre Court in the most important tournament in the world. It's a dream day. I played a poor second set but I kept fighting in the third. I was really nervous at the end. I didn't want it to go to 5-5 because she competes right to the very end."

Ricky Rubio: Basketball Prodigy with a Dream

“It’s my dream.”

--Ricky Rubio, 18-year old Spainiard, who is widely considered the second best propspect available in the 2009 NBA draft, discussing his desire to succeed in the NBA.

Though Rubio has yet to prove his worth as an NBA player, he is off to a good mental start. Successful athletes have been found to be successful due in part to their personality characteristics, including: their vision (the ability to focus on a dream), their drive (ability identify specific goals and work hard toward them), their resilience; and their ability to find personal meaning in their mission.

“I don’t think about what they say about me,” Rubio said. “I only think about my objective. I have my own dreams and I don’t listen to people who say you’re going to be in the top or you’re going to be all hype. I don’t care. We’re going to see what they can do on the court. I talk on the court.”

Rubio is a 6-foot, 5-inch point guard who has been playing in the Spain's top professional league since the age of 14. He played well against NBA talent in the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. He has been rumored to be coveted by some teams but not others. It is unknown where he will actually land in the draft due to his age or the perception of his potential skills.

European basketball players are known for their hunger to prove themselves and their preparation in basketball skills and fundamentals.

And, at least, he has his head on straight.

For more on Rubio and other European NBA players, go to http://peakperformancetheblog.blogspot.com/2009/06/european-nba-players-fundamentals.html

Excerpts from the New York Times (June 25, 2009)

Key to Peak Performance: Preparation & Practice

The Importance Of Offseason Workouts Posted by Mike Florio on June 18, 2009, 3:14 p.m. EDT on ProFootballTalk.com.

We’ve been saying for years that, during the offseason voluntary underwear practices, much of the offensive and defensive playbooks for the coming season are installed.On Thursday, Saints coach Sean Payton gave a glimpse into how much preparation is actually accomplished during the offseason workouts.

“We could play a game today,” Payton told reporters. “All of our goal-line, short-yardage, two-minute, third down, red zone – all that stuff is in offensively and the kicking game. In training camp we’ll have a chance to go right from the beginning and obviously get more reps at it.”

In all, Payton said that two thirds, or maybe a little less, of the entire playbook has been installed during the offseason.

“The difference between now and training camp is that now you’re installing it and you may only get to rep a play three times, where in training camp you install it and you might get to rep it 13 times,” Payton said.

So that’s why NFL coaches begin to turn various shades of blue and purple when players opt not to attend optional workouts. They’re not doing jumping jacks and tossing medicine balls; they’re preparing in earnest for the coming 17-week grind.

What are you doing to prepare and practice your craft?

from ProFootballTalk.com on Twitter- Payton Illustrates The Importance Of Offseason Workouts

You Gotta Wanna Hear It

I found this fascinating quote today:

Sometimes listening is hard. It opens up the door to things that you might not have wanted to hear. It points to weaknesses or shortcomings. It can also open your eyes to huge opportunities to embrace positive momentum, learn from successes, and understand what your community and customer base is asking of you.You Gotta Wanna Hear It, Jun 2009

You should read the whole article.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: Peak Performance Case Study

Watching the NBA playoffs this week, I had a question. Why doesn't anyone in the NBA use the hookshot anymore? It is a lost art. Long ago, however, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar perfected the shot (called "the Skyhook") which became his signature shot. He was so good with it that he became the NBA's leading career scorer before his retirement.

Below is an ESPN.com outstanding video featuring the development of the Skyhook and NBA Hall of Famer, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

Enjoy!!



For more on Peak Performance, click on The Handbook of Peak Performance.

European NBA Players: Fundamentals, Skills and Footwork

How are you encouraging the development of skills and fundamentals in your organization?

The Europeans in the NBA, which now number 75, have had a great influence on the league. Many people had taken notice of their work habits and ability to compete with American NBA players, including Phil Jackson and Stan Van Gundy, opposing head coaches in this year's NBA finals.

"When you watch them in international events and you see them play against our best players -- and obviously we won [the Olympics last summer] pretty handily -- what you notice about our team is our athleticism is on a very high level, but [the Europeans] are able to compete because of their skills.

"If you look around the league, it becomes pretty evident that the Europeans are quite a bit ahead of us in terms of skill development for players, especially [if you look] at the bigger players -- Dirk Nowitzki, Hedo Turkoglu, Peja Stojakovic. We tend to take our big guys and stick them all around the basket. From a very young age, our coaches say, 'Get it to a guard' -- they get upset if our [big] guys even try to dribble the ball.

"The way we develop our players from a young age is just inferior to what they do there. They spend a lot more time on skill development. We want all our young kids here to play as many games as possible, to play in AAU tournaments from the time they're 8. You'll run into people who will tell you their son's team won the 8-and-under state AAU tournament -- like, who cares? But we're really into that for our kids, we want our kids to get recognition for being the best at a young age.

"In Europe, I think it's so much different. Their club teams practice a couple of times a day. One of those practices, I think, is just skills development. And then I think the other thing that helps them is, from a young age, when they're good, they move up."

"So they're always having to work and get better. What we want to do is take our young [American] kids and put them on the covers of magazines and tell them how great they are and fill them up with adulation, instead of them having to work and get better.

"Think about what goes on in our youth sports. We cheat. We want to say the guy who is 13 is only 12, so he can play down [at an easier age level], whether it's Danny Almonte or whatever, so we can glorify them and win our championship. Instead of that, why not play the guy up with 16-year-olds if he's that good and let him learn that I can't throw the fastball down the middle, I can't overpower this kid? But that's not us. Our system is to do just the opposite. And why is a kid going to take two hours a day in a gym by himself, when he can go play in an AAU tournament and have somebody hand him a trophy and say he's the ninth-ranked sixth-grader in America and stuff like that? It's ridiculous, our system. Who cares who the top 10 sixth-graders in America are? Why would that even matter to anyone? It's certainly not going to aid their skill development as time goes on.

"The whole thing in our basketball is that the system is not conducive to developing players. You get a guy like Hedo growing up over there, and for them, what they're thinking of is the end in mind. They're thinking of the national team down the road and how do we make this guy better. But we're not thinking that way here.

"Over here, my team has probably eight to 15 [junior] teams underneath it, so you have kids running around here at the age of 6 who are working on skills that you don't teach in America until you get to middle school," Karl said. "So that's where you begin to understand why Ricky is as good as he is and why some of these younger guys on my team in Europe are as good as they are. It's because they learn these skills from when they could start walking and dribbling a ball, and that's a distinct advantage the European player has. They can work on their game from the age of 6 with a coach who knows what he's talking about in a proven way."

--Stan Van Gundy, head coach of the NBA Orlando Magic, finalists in the this year's NBA championship series after beating the Cleveland Cavaliers, discussing the development of European players versus the American system.

The European System

"I've seen some of the ball-handling drills they do and some of the pick-and-roll situations they go over with the middle-school kids. They do the slow European one-two change of direction like Sarunas Marciulionis used to do, or like Manu Ginobili or Ricky [Rubio]."

"They're teaching this to young kids here. Some of the younger guys have been practicing with us from the [junior] team, so these guys are developing into players as the season goes along. They might be playing games [at their own age level], but they're also here in practice with us playing against top professionals, as well as practicing with their younger team in the same day. And they might have an individual workout on top of that. I mean, you could have a kid who's 18 years old having an individual workout at 10 a.m., going to practice with his team at 2 p.m., and then coming to practice with Joventut at 6 p.m.. It doesn't give much time for anything else, but you can definitely develop as a basketball player."

"The way they drill situations is far superior to any coaching system in middle school and high school that we have in America.

"A lot of that stuff has been taught. So it's not just him being a creative mind -- they teach the Steve Nash scoop layup, they teach the slow one-two. They teach a lot of these things from a young age, and those are things I want to improve on this summer, the use of pivots or the use of your two steps after you pick up the ball. Those are things I want to work on and use because they're very crafty things, and I think I already have a lot of that in my game but I want to have more.

"But they don't have a choice. When you only have three hours a day to practice, you have to make everything team-oriented -- to work on your team defenses and those aspects of the game. But over here you have multiple hours in the day to work on individual and team."

--Coby Karl, American professional basketball player and former NBA player, now playing in Europe, referring to the "Euro step" -- the move in which Ginobili, of the San Antonio Spurs, sidesteps a defender by making a 90-degree detour before resuming his momentum toward the basket.

Inferiority Complex

One reason for the development: the European players are also hungry and motivated and see themselves as underdogs to the American players. With an inferiority complex, they work doubly hard to try to match the best of the NBA.

The same motivation and anxiety helps to drive European coaches. They are drivent to study the technical aspects of the game and learn the finer points through clinics and textbooks and videos. To many of them, basketball becomes an academic, technical exercise, something to be learned step-by-step.

"You see an occasional LeBron James, but for the most part who are the great, highly skilled American 6-9 and 6-10 guys?" Van Gundy said. "I wish we would get to their system, because we still have the best athletes -- we've got people that have the potential to do all of those things.

"I look at a Dirk Nowitzki, and I find it hard to believe that we'll ever have guys of that size with those kinds of skills here. Because we don't take the time to develop them. We'll never have those guys.

"That doesn't mean we don't have highly skilled athletes, because we do," Van Gundy acknowledged. "But I think those guys have to somehow do it on their own. There's certainly not a system that's set up for us here to develop skills. It doesn't mean there aren't certain guys who just go in the gym and make themselves highly skilled guys, but we don't have a system to develop skills here."

Kobe Bryant

Even Kobe Bryant, considered one of the two best players in the world, developed his footwork in another country (Italy) and in another sport (soccer).

Cousins in the United States sent him videos of N.B.A. games, so Bryant studied the feet of Hakeem Olajuwon, Michael Jordan and Charles Barkley.

“I’ve always worked on it, always worked on it since I was a kid. I just watched different players — Olajuwon, Michael, Charles — and just all kinds of footwork and just tried to emulate them. Playing soccer, I think, had a lot to do with it as well. It’s just growing up overseas.”

--Kobe Bryant, Los Angeles Lakers.

Eventually, Bryant teamed with Lakers Coach Phil Jackson, who also coached the Chicago Bulls featuring Michael Jordan. Jackson saw the Bulls teammate work with each other on fundamentals.

"Because Scottie could make the footwork and dunk with his left hand, and Michael always envied that.”

--Phil Jackson said of Bulls teammate Scottie Pippen tutoring Michael Jordan on skills development.

Jackson also appreciated the value of other sports. Before the draft, he used to ask prospects about their athletic experiences.

“Basketball is a very skilled sport,” Jackson said. “But we need guys that can throw the basketball like a baseball and we like guys that have footwork like in soccer.”

As Bryant’s career and game advanced, he seldom goes anywhere without a DVD player so he could study highlights and the tendencies of opponents.

“There’s some things that we’ve always worked with him on, particularly where he gets his shots from and how he got his shots,” Jackson said. “Footwork has always been something he’s worked at on his own.”

“He has great footwork; he has great body control. He has great everything. Compared to LeBron, he’s very different because he’s moving a lot and he knows how to get you unbalanced to make his shot. He’s Kobe Bryant, so I’m not surprised.”

--Mickeal Pietrus, Orlando Magic forward, who defended against Bryant in Game 1 of the finals and also guarded LeBron James in the Eastern Conference finals.


Although Bryant and Jordan were originally known for their athleticism, acrobatic dunking high-flying theatrical moves, as their careers advanced, their footwork helped maintain the high quality of their game.


“All good players have the same DNA in that regards. If you’re going to start building a foundation, footwork is part of it. It’s part of being athletic. Michael, I would throw right up there at the top with anybody I’ve ever been associated with. Same with Kobe.”

--Lakers assistant Jim Cleamons, who had the same role with Jordan’s Bulls.


Bryant is intuitive in his abilities. He senses when a defender is vulnerable and responds quickly.

“Just depends on what he’s doing and what I feel,” Bryant says. “I just react instinctively.”

However, at the end of the day, Bryant is also Jordanesque in one other way, his mental mindset.

“It’s his mind frame. That’s what sets him apart. There are guys with, I wouldn’t say equal skill, but there are really skilled guys. What sets him apart is his relentlessness. He never quits. Never quits. That’s his biggest strength.”

--Shane Battier, Houston Rockets forward.

What do you think? Is the development of skills and fundamentals being fostered on your team?

Excerpts taken from si.com, June 5, 2009, and the New York Times, June 7, 2009.

For more on Peak Performance, click on The Handbook of Peak Performance.

Dinara Safina: Too Much Pressure in French Open Championship Loss

"The pressure I put on myself because I really wanted to win.

"I just didn't handle it. I was a little bit desperate on the court, and didn't do the things that I had to do. I didn't stay tough mentally. I lost myself."

--Dinara Safina, the world's number one ranked women's tennis player, after losing 6-4 6-2 to fellow Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova on Saturday, June 6, 2009.

In a clue as to her pre-match mental mindset Safina had said before the final, "How much proof do I need to give to people that I deserve to be number one?" Safina had been irritated about criticism concerning whether she deserved to be ranked at the top. Perhaps that was where the excessive pressure came from.

Kuznetsova took advantage of the No. 1-ranked Safina's nerves and frequent errors and won the French Open final, a 74-minute match which ended with Safina's seventh double-fault.

"She was too tight. She had so much pressure on her. I just played the match. It was just one more match. ... Definitely it was a lot of emotions inside of me, but I control it."

--Svetlana Kutnetsova, 2004 U.S. Open champion.


So, what has Safina learned having now funished runner-up in the season's opening two majors?

"Not to put so much pressure on myself."

Excerpts from Reuters and Yahoo.com (June 7, 2009)

For more on Peak Performance, click on The Handbook of Peak Performance.

Kobe Bryant: Hungry Leader of the Los Angeles Lakers

"I just want it so bad, that's all. I just want it really bad. You just put everything you have into the game and your emotions kind of flow out of you."

--Kobe Bryant, discussing his burning desire to win an NBA championship this year.

Bryant scored 40 points and had 8 rebounds and 8 assists in a game one blowout of the Orlando Magic in the NBA championship finals.


"It's been a long haul to get back here for all of us," Bryant said. "It makes you hungry and it wasn't just me, it was everybody on our team. They want to have that feeling in the NBA. I've had it three times already. Once you've had that celebration and that feeling of winning and accomplishment, you want to have it again."

"I admire his hunger as a player," Pao Gasol, his teammate, said.

"He's a great leader and somebody you look up to," another Laker teammate, Sasha Vujacic, says. "There are no words to describe him."



Excerpts taken from NBA.com (June 6, 2009)

For more on Peak Performance, click on The Handbook of Peak Performance.

Execution is the Key to the Lakers Return to the NBA Finals

"We had the effort and the execution to match. It took us a while to really get a feel for the team, just how to take advantage of the defense. We saw something how they were playing us and we executed extremely well."

--Kobe Bryant, discussing the importance of execution, following the Los Angeles Lakers' Western Conference finals series victory over a very talented and tough Denver Nuggets team in the 2009 playoffs.

The Lakers are playing in their second straight NBA Championship finals as a result of their victory. Bryant led the Lakers with 35 points and 10 assists.

Excerpts from ESPN.com.

For more on Peak Performance, go to The Handbook of Peak Performance.

The Cleveland Cavaliers Stay Alive in the 2009 NBA Playoffs

"I was attacking anyone in the way, no matter who it was. There's always a sense of urgency when you are on the brink of elimination."

--LeBron James, Cleveland Cavaliers, following a 112 to 102 victory in a must-win game five against the Orlando Magic in the NBA playoffs.

James, in a well-rounded, versatile fashion, had 37 points, 14 rebounds and 12 assists.

"The mood is win or go home. It's simple at this point," James, the regular season MVP, said in his pre-game press conference. "I have a lot of faith in my teammates. Hopefully, they accept the challenge."

"Some star players just put their head down and attack the basket. They put blinders on. But he sees the whole floor, he's aware of what's going on out there, and he can pass over defenders. That's what makes him who he is."

--Ben Wallace, Cleveland Cavaliers' center, talking about LeBron James' vision on the court.

"His intensity and his passion are out of this world. We will follow him. When he gets it going, there is nothing you can do."

--Daniel Gibson, Cavaliers' guard, pointing out James' leadership.

"I don't care what the numbers are. I'll never waver from the trust I have in those guys."

--Mike Brown, Cleveland head coach, expressing his trust in the entire team.

The Cavaliers are still down three games to two to the Orlando Magic. They must continue to display teamwork, leadership, and the intensity they had in game 5 to force a game seven, win and advance to the NBA finals.

Excerpts from ESPN.com (May 29, 2009)

For more on peak performance, go to The Handbook of Peak Performance.

Los Angeles Lakers: Pulling it Together at the Right Time

"We have to stay focused and poised and try to cut them up. Be cold-blooded, go out there and execute."

--Kobe Bryant, Los Angeles Lakers, after a 103-94 victory Wednesday night, May, 28,2009 that gave them a 3 to 2 game lead in the NBA Western Conference finals.

"This Lakers group is really connected. They're driven and they're motivated to get to where we were last year to give us a chance to win."

--Phil Jackson, Lakers' head coach.

The Los Angeles Lakers, the top seed in the West, are one win away from a second consecutive trip to the NBA finals. It is no coincidence that their mental mindset is coming together as they move toward their goal of an NBA championship.

Their mindset is about being in the right competitive frame of mind. The Lakers appear focused on executing a game plan that fits the game situation. In game five, it required Kobe Bryant's flexibility in getting his teammates involved and playing the decoy role. To do so required the proper mindset and a focus on the ultimate vision: the championship and a commitment to teamwork.

All peak performance involves confidence, commitment, and alignment of behaviors with the selected vision or desired outcome. "Mindsetting" creates the inner conditions for success and innoculates against excessive stress and anxiety, the enemies of peak performance. Attention to one's mindset is necessary for peak performance. It helps deal with pressure, stress, unexpected situations and conditions. It provides a weapon against unwanted emotional states that can destroy our potential and capacity for achievement. It creates mental toughness, a necessary aid in dealing with fatigue, competition, and stress.

However, peak performance also requires execution. This step involves putting the game plan in place. If the game plan is good, then the execution should move forward flawlessly. This execution step requires the full buy-in, commitment and alignment of all the team members that are involved.

Mental mindset and execution are two crucial steps in the Peak Performance System.

In sports and business, the same peak performance principles apply.

Excerpts taken from ESPN.com (May 28, 2009)

For more information about Peak Performance, go to The Handbook of Peak Performance.

Confidence Builder: LeBron James Hits a Game Winner for the Ages

“That’s a shot you’ll see for a long time. We’re confident. I know I am as an individual. I make sure our team is.”

--LeBron James, after winning Game 2 in the NBA playoffs against the Orlando Magic to prevent the Cleveland Cavaliers from going down 0-2 in the conference finals series.

“They are a good team. But we are the best team in basketball. I don’t feel that they’ve had to adjust to us one time in the series.”

“Guarantee we’re going to win the series? Yeah, yeah. We are down 2-1. But there is nobody on this team and definitely not myself that says we are not going to win this series. Yeah, it is going to be tough. We know that. We get this game tomorrow, go home, still got home-court advantage."

--Mo Williams, Cleveland Cavaliers' guard.

Despite the Game 2 heroics, the Cleveland Cavaliers find themselves down 2-1 in the NBA Eastern Conference finals.

LeBron James Keeps the Cleveland Cavaliers In A Zone

"It's unexplainable, honestly. There's only a few guys in this league that can get into a zone like that, and I'm blessed to have the ability to be one of those guys.

"You just feel like you can make pretty much every shot you take."

--LeBron James, after scoring 47 point to help the Cleveland take a commanding 3-0 lead in the NBA playoff series.

James was 15 of 25 from the field and went 5 of 10 on 3-point shots, and made 12 of 16 free throws.

"He's not the MVP for nothing. He's the best player in the league. He knows when to push the gas. That's what he did."

--Zaza Pachulia, Atlanta Hawks' center.

Athletes refer to the state of being in the zone when everything comes together, when one does great things, and when mind and body are able to stretch to the limit to accomplish greatness. This state involves total immersion and focus, such that distractions and "noise" are absent. Often, at times of peak performance, athletes find themselves "in the zone." For basketball players the basket seems bigger and wider. They can't miss. For baseball players, they report being able to see the baseball bigger, more clearly and in great detail. Football players describe a feeling of being invincible with the ability to run all day through their opponents without being touched. In the zone, your confidence is high, worry is non-existent.

Flow is the term coined by University of Chicago Psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, (1990) to refer to this psychological dimension described by thousands of individuals during his 25 years of researching this universal phenomenon. In sports, athletes often refer to this state as the "zone". Eastern philosophers experience similar meditative states when practicing Zen Buddhism.

During flow, consciousness becomes harmoniously ordered. According to Daniel Goleman (1995), author of Emotional Intelligence, the ability to enter a state of flow represents emotional intelligence at its best, because it is incompatible with emotional discord or strain. Flow is considered an autotelic, or intrinsically rewarding experience. Since it feels so good, this optimal experience becomes not just a means, but an end in itself.

People attain a state of flow and perform at their best when they are engaged in a task where the challenge is slightly above their ability. Too much challenge will produce anxiety, overload the psyche, and sabotage any chance of having a peak experience. On the other hand, too little challenge will inevitably lead to boredom. Flow occurs in the narrow zone between these two opposites.

For more on LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers, go to LeBron James, Peak Performance Case Study.

LeBron James and Cleveland Cavaliers Charge into the Playoffs

"We're just a really good team. We're really confident and we believe in each other.

"We're ready for anything. We don't go into a game saying, 'win by 20' or 'win by double digits.' We go into a game to execute and take one possession at a time and try to get better. If that causes us to win by 20 or causes us to win by two, we're ready for that challenge.''

--LeBron James, Cleveland Cavaliers, after a 105-85 win over the Atlanta Hawks to take a 2-0 lead in the 2009 NBA Eastern Conference playoffs.

Now a perfect 6-0 in the 2009 NBA postseason, the Cavaliers tied a league record by winning their sixth consecutive playoff game by double digits. The only other team to do it was the 2004 Indiana Pacers. Cleveland also matched the 1986 Los Angeles Lakers by winning three straight games by at least 20 points in a postseason.

After 6 games, James’ playoff averages are 31.5 points, 9.7 rebounds and 6.3 assists per game.

Excerpts from ESPN.com (May 8. 2009)

For more check out LeBron James: Peak Performance Case Study on Squidoo.com.

NBA Playoff Rewind: "Michael Jordan Wants the Ball" (YouTube video)

The NBA Playoffs are gaining speed and intensity. Here is a video rewind honoring Michael Jordan.

2009 NBA Playoffs: Denver Nuggets' Carmelo Anthony Matures

"Foul trouble didn't bother him, it didn't freak him out, it didn't take him to a dark side that we had to worry about. He trusted the team, the team did great and he came out in the second half and was a leader for us.

"His maturity, his mental involvement now is team and not individual ... I don't know who's given him that wisdom. Is it Chauncey [Billups]? Is it a gold medal? Is it the coaching staff? I don't care, I think he's doing a fantastic job."

--George Karl, Denver Nuggets head coach, discussing the Nuggets' Carmelo Anthony, an Olympic basketball gold medal winner in 2008, who is showing more emotional maturity.

Anthony he was in early foul trouble for what he considered questionable calls, in a opening, second round game win over the Dallas Mavericks. In the past, Anthony might have verbally attacked the referees, been thrown out, or pouted on the bench. Instead, 'Melo maintained his composure and scored 14 of his 23 points in the fourth quarter, including a dunk off J.R. Smith's behind-the-back assist that drove the Denver crowd crazy.

Excerpts from ESPN.com and Associated Press (May 3, 2009)

For more about Peak Performance, click on The Handbook of Peak Performance.

Are You Afraid to Suffer for Success?

"The man who can drive himself further once the effort gets painful is the man who will win."

--Roger Bannister, first man to run a mile under 4 minutes.

Is your performance less that what you expect or desire? Are you under-performing because you avoid pain? Are you unsure that the pain of preparation, discipline, and practice will be worth it? Is your lack of focus a lack of commitment and need for a guaranteed outcome?

Peak performers in every field of endeavor understand the value of sacrifice and pain. Success, though not guaranteed, follows those who prepare.

Make sure that you are in a position to succeed. Push yourself to practice and prepare. Success may follow.

For more, click on The Handbook of Peak Performance.

Tyler Hansbrough, University of North Carolina: Fulfilling a Championship Dream

"Nothing beats this feeling right here. This is the best way to go out. I couldn't picture it any other way."

--Tyler Hansbrough, North Carolina All-American, after he and his Tar Heels teammates soundly beat the Michigan State Spartans, 89-72, in the NCAA championship game. The final score was the largest title-game margin in 17 years.

"This is the culmination of a dream he's had since he was old enough to know what a basketball is. This is something he's had in his mind since he was a little boy, to be a national champion. All the individual awards are nice, but this is a team sport. It's always meant more for him to win as a team."

--Gene Hansbrough, Tyler Hansbrough's father, discussing a championship mindset.

Hansbrough turned down an opportunity for NBA money and glory last year for a shot at leading North Carolina to the NCAA basketball title.

In his last college game, Hansbrough had a typically solid game with 18 points and seven rebounds. He is one of the most successful and decorated college basketball players in history. He is a three-time consensus All-American. He is also the fourth all-time leading scorer in NCAA tournament play with 325 points, the Atlantic Coast Conference all-time leading scorer and the first player in conference history to lead his team in scoring and rebounding in each of his four years.

Watch the ESPN.com highlights of the game below.

Michigan State's Tom Izzo: Master of the Game Plan

"We're confident he's going to come out with a game plan and have something ready for us. That's why he's coach Izzo, and why he's a Hall of Famer one day. With one preparation day, the things he does are amazing."

--Travis Walton, Michigan State player, describing the Spartans' head coach, Tom Izzo, and his emphasis on the importance of preparing a solid game plan.

For more on Tom Izzo's preparation, click on King of the Quick Turnaround by Pat Forde at ESPN.com.

Michael Jordan, University of North Carolina Tar Heel Legend, Makes Hall of Fame

Watch the ESPN video above to hear about Jordan's legacy as described by current players.

Michael Jordan was elected to the Class of 2009 Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame along with David Robinson, John Stockton, Utah Jazz coach Jerry Sloan and Rutgers women's coach C. Vivian Stringer.

The announcement was made today in Detroit, site of the men's Final Four. Induction is Sept. 10-12 in Springfield, Mass., home of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

Jordan's Hall of Fame selection was no surprise after he retired as perhaps the greatest player in basketball history.

For more about Michael Jordan and Peak Performance, click on The Handbook of Peak Performance.