Sports Mastery

What does it mean to have a growth mindset? You must believe that you most basic abilities can be developed through dedication and hard work—brains and talent are just the starting point. Having this view creates a love of learning and a resilience that is essential for great accomplishment. Below are 10 strategies to develop a growth mindset. 1. Acknowledge and embrace imperfections. Hiding from your weaknesses means you’ll never overcome them. 2. View challenges as opportunities. Having a growth mindset means relishing opportunities for self-improvement. Learn more about how to fail well. 3. Try different learning tactics. There’s no one-size-fits-all model for learning. What works for one person may not work for you. Learn about learning strategies. 4. Follow the research on brain plasticity. The brain isn’t fixed; the mind shouldn’t be either. 5. Replace the word “failing” with the word “learning.” When you make a mistake or fall short of a goal, you haven’t failed; you’ve learned. 6. Stop seeking approva

MAKE THE MOST OF SETBACKS   E (event) + R (response) = O (outcome) The basic idea is that every outcome you experience in life (whether it is success or failure, wealth or poverty, health or illness, intimacy or estrangement, joy or frustration) is the result of how you have responded to an earlier event or events in your life. IF YOU DON’T LIKE THE OUTCOMES YOU ARE CURRENTLY GETTING, THERE ARE TWO BASIC CHOICES YOU CAN MAKE. 1. You can blame the event (E) for your lack of results (O). In other words, you can blame the referee, the weather, a teammate, your parents, the coaching staff, racism, gender bias, the lack of support, the political climate, the system, and so on. If you’re a golfer, you’ve probably even blamed your clubs and the course you played on. No doubt all these factors do exist, but if they were the deciding factor, nobody would ever succeed. Lots of people overcome these so-called limiting factors, so it can’t be the limiting factors that limit you. It is not the external conditions and circ

Alice Ruth "Ruthie" Bolton (born May 25, 1967), known as Ruthie Bolton, is an American former professional women's basketball player. Born in Lucedale, Mississippi, she played at the collegiate, Olympic and professional levels of women's basketball. Bolton played in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) from 1997 through 2004 with the Sacramento Monarchs. She played collegiately at Auburn University, teaming with her older sister, Mae Ola Bolton. Bolton has also served as a first lieutenant in the United States Army Reserves as a transportation officer. Ruthie Bolton is a published author with two books now available for sale (1) From Pain to Peace and (2) The Ride of a Lifetime. They can be purchased at her website https://mightyruthiebolton.com  In this episode, we were blessed to have a conversation with Ruthie and discuss: Playing in the SEC at Auburn Your experiences playing on the US National Team The mindset needed for recovering from a torn ACL Your journey & accomplishments playing

How To Overcome Adversity Travis Daugherty explains in his book, THE LENS that the ability to overcome adversity is a hidden talent. He further explains that the ability to overcome adversity can be taught, developed, and cultivated in a student-athlete. Listen in as we supply the sports parent with answers to help their student-athlete overcome adversity. Below are 5 ways to help you get through adverse situations in sport or life. 1. Have the right mindset Your thoughts are essential; they frame the triumphs or tragedies of your life. Getting past adversity requires a change in your belief about challenges. It is not what happens to you, but how you respond to it that is important here. 2. Stop making excuses Excuses are the lies we tell ourselves when we’re too afraid of the future. Whatever you tell your mind will become a self-fulfilling prophecy. If you don’t achieve your dreams, it will be because you made the decision to be detained by excuses. 3. Have faith It takes more energy to live a life f

WHAT IS FEAR? DEALING WITH YOUR FEARS Fear keeps us focused on the past or worried about the future. If we can acknowledge our fear, we can realize that we are okay. - Thich Nhat Hanh   FEAR - NOUN: FEAR; PLURAL NOUN: FEARS 1. an unpleasant emotion caused by the belief that someone or something is dangerous, likely to cause pain, or a threat.    "drivers are threatening to quit UBER in fear after a driver's murder" 2. discomfort caused by the perception that something has the potential and/or intent to detract from our life force. The greater the potential and/or threat perceived as harmful to life, the more urgent and intense is the desire for avoidance. *3. Recognize that the immediate need in dealing with fear is to face FEAR with all your intelligence and sensory faculties so that the decision or course of action can be made with WISDOM. Listen in as several of my student-athletes share their thoughts on FEAR and it's different varieties. They provide insight and truth to what they are experiencing emotio

There's an exercise where we say SUPERSTAR. Those that wanna do the exercise, we're gonna say SUPERSTAR to ourselves without opening our mouths, without saying anything out loud. We're gonna say this to ourselves. We're gonna say SUPERSTAR to ourselves. Don't say it out loud at the count of three. One, two, three… Okay. Now the question to ask, if you've said SUPERSTAR in your mind, the question to ask is what voice is that? What voice is that? What voice just spoke? You just said SUPERSTAR without moving your mouth at all. On top of that, on top of saying SUPERSTAR, you heard yourself say SUPERSTAR. How can you hear yourself say SUPERSTAR and no vibration of sound has happened? In this episode, we discuss: 1. Three dimensional space + Time 2. The mind's eye 3. Overcoming the illusion of DEATH and FEAR 4. Defining superstar, soul, and spirit 5. How to command reality 6. How to apply samurai wisdom in sports This is a special episode that includes a number of athletes that I've been working with for several ye

The Warriors rep the entire Bay Area, but on a visceral, emotional level very much belong to Oakland. From Mosswood in the east to DeFremery Park in the west, where basketball greats Bill Russell, K.C. Jones and Paul Silas plied their trade 60 years ago, from the ground floor of playground hero-worship to Oracle Arena and the Dubs, Oakland ‘ball is an essential part of the city’s identity. RYANT DIEW was born and bred in this Goldmine. Today, he has been proclaimed the Godfather of Oakland youth basketball by his peers and contemporaries.   In this conversation, Ryant shares his thoughts on:    1. Growing up in Oakland on the basketball court 2. The mentality needed to grow and flourish 3. His relationship with Leland Johnson growing up 4. The Oakland Rebels 5. His journey into coaching AAU basketball 6. The importance strength training in AAU basketball

N'Dea Flye discusses her first year basketball experience at University of New Mexico. In the this conversation, she expounds on: Communication between coach and athlete Advice for young female basketball athletes Pros & Cons of collegiate basketball life Her training/coach relation with Leland Johnson Why she decided to transfer Who's recruiting her now Future basketball aspirations "I want to first start off by saying, thank you UNM for a great freshman year...Thank you to my teammates for not just being there for me on the basketball court, but also off the court. You guys became my family. I also want to thank God for giving me the opportunity to play this sport and grow as a human being within this year, which has taught me a lot. With all that being said, I'd like to announce that I'll be transferring from UNM and re-opening my recruitment." Truly, Thank you New Mexico

A proper mission statement doesn't require that we pursue any single career or hobby or activity but rather is conceptually broad enough that any number of strategies would enable us to accomplish it. Yet it can also be narrow enough that it feels like the single most important thing we could spend our lives doing. Of course, we don't have to define a mission for ourselves. The pleasures life brings us will still remain pleasurable even if we don't. We can choose to view our job, our hobbies, major, sport, position or whatever we spend most of our time doing as just that: what we spend our time doing. Or as something we enjoy. Or as a necessary evil, a means to some other end, like making money. But if we embrace a mission--our mission as a provisional bodhisattva (a bodhisattva defined in Buddhism as a person who dedicates himself to the happiness of others)--we'll not only enjoy greater satisfaction in life, but also gain something that the joy we feel from fleeting pleasures can't provide, something that m

Dwayne Adams breaks down an extraordinarily diverse city with a storied history, and a long tradition of political and social justice activism. Oakland is also a city of contradictions: It's both loud and tranquil, crowded and desolate, beautiful and gritty. The grit that's ingrained in what's affectionately known as the "Town", has produced some of the best street ballers, AAU teams, and NBA athletes.  In this conversation, we discuss: Growing up in Oakland Playing ball with Leland Working with youth Today's basketball culture Dwayne's business ventures This is a podcast where we observe, examine, experiment, and explain the physical, mental, and social dynamics of the worlds best athletes and coaches. We examine their strengths, weaknesses, character, and personality traits; to explain what works and what doesn't according to our situation and circumstance in space and time. WORKBOOK Now In Hard-Copy! Includes spaces to write in answers. The Sports Mastery Workbook is your Athlete’s Blueprint for Success!

This episode was inspired by the Netflix football documentary LAST CHANCE U. It features several collegiate athletes that have been removed from Division I rosters due to academic or disciplinary issues. Our conversation is focused on all aspects of personal development, leadership, social intelligence, and overcoming setbacks. We begin this conversation discussing season 3; which explores Independence Community College in Independence, Kansas. The first two seasons were filmed at East Mississippi Community College. As a game against rival Coffeyville caps off the regular season, the ICC players and coaches reflect on the season and weigh their next moves. In this episode, we particularly discuss: The 24 hour rule Sports-parents Sports Mastery Intimidating opponents The best psych-job ever Ms. Pinkard's effectiveness as a mentor Leadership development This is a great listen to understand why certain athletes have success and why others fail who are equally talented. It also enlightens the listener with stra

This episode was inspired by the Netflix football documentary LAST CHANCE U. It features several collegiate athletes that have been removed from Division I rosters due to academic or disciplinary issues. Our conversation is focused on all aspects of personal development, leadership, social intelligence, and overcoming setbacks. We begin this conversation discussing season 3; which explores Independence Community College in Independence, Kansas. The first two seasons were filmed at East Mississippi Community College. The highlights of this conversation include: The relationship between Frank Diaz and JB Brown The mentorship efforts on Ms. Pinkard Looking beyond athletics Team camaraderie  This is a great listen to understand why certain athletes have success and why others fail who are equally talented. It also enlightens the listener with strategies to overcome set-backs. The student-athlete and sports parent will benefit tremendously by working through the Sports Mastery Workbook together. Click here to le

Chris Dennis was one of Lebron James early mentors.  He played a significant role in Lebron's development between ages 10 and 13. As Lebron began to ascend as an NBA star, Chris became the content manager for LebronJames.com. It was actually Chris who acquired the domain name for the James family during LeBron's high school years to ensure ownership.

* Later Chris worked with the Board of Directors, as Executive Director  for the James Family Foundation. He was responsible for developing and implementing a Strategic Vision and focus for the foundation. Chris also managed the planning and administration of all financial and budgeting activities related to program operations. He says LeBron always dreamed of going to the NBA, and once that dream became a reality, he wanted to give something back. “They always talked about what they would do if they were in a better position,” says Dennis. “The foundation is really a combination of how LeBron and his mom show their love for the community.” Expect Chris to share

Here's an authentic conversation that gives you the clarity to help your student-athlete reach their full potential on the playing field and in life. It provides a powerful vision for who your student-athlete can become, and a meaningful purpose for navigating today's myopic (short-sighted or narrow-minded) youth sports culture. This episode will help you see clearly what matters and what doesn't. It focuses on developing the talents of a champion athlete, hidden from the average sports parent in our world today. Regardless of age or physical ability, you'll learn how these talents can be developed in your student-athlete. You'll also see how they change who your student-athlete becomes, and how they separate him/her from others in sports and in life. In a world of youth sports where rising costs, increased investment, and unhealthy pressure have become the norm, it's time to give your sports parent experience the meaning and purpose it deserves. It's time to choose a new perspective. It's time to become a ch

This episode was inspired by the Netflix football documentary LAST CHANCE U. It features several collegiate athletes that have been removed from Division I rosters due to academic or disciplinary issues. Our conversation is focused on all aspects of personal development, leadership, social intelligence, and overcoming setbacks. We begin this conversation discussing season 3; which explores Independence Community College in Independence, Kansas. The first two seasons were filmed at East Mississippi Community College. Despite being invited back to EMCC for a third season, producers decided to move the show to Independence Community College of Kansas. The new location is different in that ICC has historically had much lower expectations than EMCC; in 2016, it ended the season 5–4, its first winning season in ten years. The ICC Pirates had a very successful recruiting campaign for the 2017 season, landing many acclaimed players who began at NCAA Division I schools. This conversation highlights the following bul

This episode was inspired by the Netflix football documentary LAST CHANCE U. It features several collegiate athletes that have been removed from Division I rosters due to academic or disciplinary issues. Our conversation is focused on all aspects of personal development, leadership, social intelligence, and overcoming setbacks. We begin this conversation discussing season 3; which explores Independence Community College in Independence, Kansas. The first two seasons were filmed at East Mississippi Community College. Despite being invited back to EMCC for a third season, producers decided to move the show to Independence Community College of Kansas. The new location is different in that ICC has historically had much lower expectations than EMCC; in 2016, it ended the season 5–4, its first winning season in ten years. The ICC Pirates had a very successful recruiting campaign for the 2017 season, landing many acclaimed players who began at NCAA Division I schools. This is a great listen to understand why certai

This episode was inspired by the Netflix football documentary LAST CHANCE U. It features several collegiate athletes that have been removed from Division I rosters due to academic or disciplinary issues. Our conversation is focused on all aspects of personal development, leadership, social intelligence, and overcoming setbacks. We begin this conversation discussing season 3; which explores Independence Community College in Independence, Kansas. The first two seasons were filmed at East Mississippi Community College.  We also address an email inquiry: Hi DeShawn,   I hope you're well. Just wanted to say I've enjoyed your last 2 podcasts on Last Chance U Season 3, which is by far my favorite season of the show. Will you be doing a separate podcast on each of the 8 episodes?   I'm fascinated by sports performance and psychology and found Malik Henry's story particularly compelling. The podcast's breakdown of his behavior in the first 2 episodes make a lot of sense. Malik has all of the physical talents to be a s

This episode was inspired by the Netflix football documentary LAST CHANCE U. It features several collegiate athletes that have been removed from Division I rosters due to academic or disciplinary issues. Our conversation is focused on all aspects of personal development, leadership, social intelligence, and overcoming setbacks. We begin this conversation discussing season 3; which explores Independence Community College in Independence, Kansas. The first two seasons were filmed at East Mississippi Community College. Despite being invited back to EMCC for a third season, producers decided to move the show to Independence Community College of Kansas. The new location is different in that ICC has historically had much lower expectations than EMCC; in 2016, it ended the season 5–4, its first winning season in ten years. The ICC Pirates had a very successful recruiting campaign for the 2017 season, landing many acclaimed players who began at NCAA Division I schools. This is a great listen to understand why certain

This episode was inspired by the Netflix football documentary LAST CHANCE U. It features several collegiate athletes that have been removed from Division I rosters due to academic or disciplinary issues. Our conversation is focused on all aspects of personal development, leadership, social intelligence, and overcoming setbacks. We begin this conversation discussing season 3; which explores Independence Community College in Independence, Kansas. The first two seasons were filmed at East Mississippi Community College. Despite being invited back to EMCC for a third season, producers decided to move the show to Independence Community College of Kansas. The new location is different in that ICC has historically had much lower expectations than EMCC; in 2016, it ended the season 5–4, its first winning season in ten years. The ICC Pirates had a very successful recruiting campaign for the 2017 season, landing many acclaimed players who began at NCAA Division I schools. This is a great listen to understand why certain

Welcome to The Science of Sports Mastery. Today's guest is Mike Joachim. Mike is the host of Pit Lane Parley podcast. Pit Lane Parley is an Indy Car Racing show that features interviews with fan favorite IndyCar drivers, news, and debates about IndyCar racing. Growing the IndyCar fanbase is Mike's main goal! In today's episode, Mike shares his thoughts on:   What does it take to be a race car driver? What are the challenges & unique obstacles? What does it take to be a winner? What separates champions from the rest? Odds of getting to professional race car status What do racers enjoy about winning? Discuss over coming set backs and frustration How do you learn from making mistakes? What are rivalries like? How important is the ability to concentrate/focus in the car? Explain the importance of working out. What are the strategies used to manage stress? Advice to the 14 yr old who wants to be a professional race car driver.   To learn more  http://pitlaneparley.com/