[Bing Holmes]

ÿþDo you set expectations about where you should finish nike running shoes the race based on lap times and who you are racing against? One of the huge mistakes I see racers committing is what I call placing themselves on the start line. This means that you mentally have a finish position you think you shouldachieve. This only works well if you think you should finish First in the moto or race. However, many racers place themselves in third, fourth, fifth and beyond depending on lap times in practice and other factors such as the reputation of other racers. You are as fast as you think you are, and if you limit yourself with practice lap times, you will finish where you think you shouldfinish in the race.

So how do you harness confidence and make it stick lap after lap? Racers get confidence from many sources: past experience, training, equipment, believing in their ability, and quality coaching. I talked with Indy 500 Champ Dan Wheldon on the importance of confidence for successful racing. He said that self-belief and confidence are the two keys to winning races and championships. The main idea is that you need to harness nike react element 87 the power of confidence to race at the limit and make confident decisions. Some racers just ooze confidence while other racers have to work at harnessing the power of confidence. How well would you perform if you had a full tank of confidence every race you strapped in the car or jumped on the bike?

Maybe Tiger is successful because of his ability to come from nike slides behind and close better than anyone. Maybe Tiger is so good because he can achieve a zone focus on command under extreme pressure. Maybe Tiger is so successful because he simply thinks he can win every time he plays. Likely, it is all of the above! However, what really separates champions, such as Tiger Woods, Maria Sharapova, and Brett Favre, from the rest of the competitors is unwavering self-confidence. Tiger has tons of confidence that developed from hours and hours of training, superior coaching, and much past success. But he also thinks in ways that support his confidence. You may not have the luxury of Tiger-like success to bolster your confidence, but you can get the best coaching and train harder than anyone else in your sport.

Over the last nike shoes running 15 years, I have worked with athletes who possess both high and low levels of confidence. What allows one athlete to have a brick wall of confidence and another athlete to have a Lego wall of confidence?One explanation is self-image. Confident athletes have a positive athletic self-image. For example, when I asked Masters' Champion Larry Mize about what makes a great putter great, he said that great putters believe they are the best putters in the world. The most confident athletes in sports do not just have tons of confidence. They also have sturdy levels of confidence built on years of success, instead of fragile confidence based only on the last failed or successful performance.

But the good news is that you can learn to control your mind and use it to help you race your best. Trying too hard is the number one mental breakdown that will cause you to ride tense on the track. What would cause you to stress your muscles if you are in good physical shape? My answer would be mental tension, which then causes physical tension in your arms, shoulders, and hands. If you have tension on the track (mental or physical), your muscles are not working together, they are fighting each other. In the practice you do every week, no one knows what you did and no comparisons are made to other racers, so it is easier to ride up to your ability. In competition, it's a different story. You badly want to do well for your family, friends, and sponsors.

This can cause a lot of pressure for some racers to excel. "I need to impress the manufacturers so I can get sponsorship," you think to yourself. The reality is that nike blazer you want to do well for everyone involved, including yourself! However, this state of mind often causes you to try too hard, tense up, and even get arm pump. You must approach each race with a relaxed and carefree mindset, just like you do in practice. Many athletes who want to reach their peak potential are always in search of secrets to hop into the 'zone. But the zone is really not that complicated or hard to achieve when the right mental game strategies are put into place. It is [img]http://www.mikeybustos.ca/images/c/nike blazer-656aea.jpg[/img] difficult to enter a zonestate every time you compete.