A coach's main job is to reawaken a spirit in which the players can blend together effortlessly.
As I see it, a successful story of any kind should be almost like hypnosis: You fascinate the reader with your first sentence, draw them in further with your second sentence and have them in a mild trance by the third. Then, being careful not to wake them, you carry them away up the back alley of your narrative and when they are hopelessly lost within the story, having surrendered themselves to it, you do them terrible violence with a softball bag and then lead them whimpering to the exit on the last page. Believe me, they'll thank you for it.
You don't win on emotion. You win on execution.
You can't depend on other people, you have to run your own race.
In sport, part of the game is accepting the umpire's call, no matter how hard that might be. Sometimes the calls go your way, and sometimes they don't.
A good athlete always mentally replays a competition over and over, even in victory, to see what might be done to improve the performance the next time.
This is the highest wisdom that I own; freedom and life are earned by those alone who conquer them each day anew.
You only fail if you don't finish the game. If you finish you win. You have to measure what you started out with by what you overcome.
Regardless of where you're pitching, regardless of what goes on before or after your game, you still have to be ready.
I started taekwondo at 5 or 6 years old and did a bunch of kick-boxing later, too. Eventually I became a black belt and coached as well. I did some basketball and softball growing up, but most of my activity was martial arts.
I don't want to give anyone an edge in my mind. Every time I walk out on the court, I have to feel I'm the best so I can compete well. A lot of times, my chief rival is just me.
My mom would never let us quit. She always taught us the importance of sticking with it, even when times are tough. We didn't just hear her, we watched her. I know what to do because she led the way. She showed us that if you put your mind to it, you can accomplish the world. No matter where you're from and what you're up against.
Success isn't winning every time. A lot of different factors go into every race, and you can't control all of them. Success means doing as excellent a job as you can on that particular day. The people I admire most aren't necessarily the most wonderful athletes. I admire the ones who keep coming back and doing it, time after time.
The key is that I control my life; my life doesn't control me.
I drew my strength from fear. Fear of losing. I don't remember the games I won, only the games I lost.
Winning is great, but it's the l9ong road to get there that makes it worthwhile.
It's not so much what you accomplish in life that really matters, but what you overcome that proves who you are, what you are, and whether you are a champion.
Pressure bursts pipes. I thank God for giving me peace of mind to overcome pressure. The difference between winning and losing is when pressure hits.
Success shouldn't be measured by how much you have but by how much you give back.
Every single day I wake up and commit myself to becoming a better player. Some days it happens, and some days it doesn't. Sure, there are games I'm going to dominate and there are going to be games when I struggle. But it doesn't mean I give up.
I think competing is more important than winning. There have been a lot of times when I've teed it up and I didn't win but I felt like I competed. I felt like this was not my day, but I never gave up, and I tried on every shot, and then next week I'd go get them.
Set goals for things you can control. In my case, I can't control the marks from the judges, but I can control how I train every day, and I can control my performance.
You have to be extreme to be exceptional. I couldn't revel in being number one. I had to get to zero. When my fitness was at its peak, I was intimidating. I made guys cave in. They'd be dejected in the locker room after matches, and I'd go out for a run, as if it wasn't enough. I'd rub it in their faces. I meant to do that.
I don't think you ever will yourself to win. I think you prepare yourself the best you can, get yourself in the best mindset you can get in, and go after it.
I'd rather have more heart than talent any day.
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