BRUCE BOLT BLOG

In last month’s article, I asked you to pay attention to the way language is used in your system and your head through the self-talk challenge. This month I’ll add texture to the challenge by explaining how self-talk influences EVERYthing. Sports, life, and what you have for lunch are all managed through self-talk. A refresher: Self-talk is how we “hear” our thoughts. It is a collection of statements, phrases, and cue words that direct our actions and provide a running commentary on our experiences.  Self-talk starts from the way our primary caregiver talked to us as we were figuring out...

When The Bronx burned with anger last summer, Harrison Bader kept his head down and worked. Now, having worked hard enough to turn down the heat, he shrugs and smiles. “I thought he was traded for a pretty good player, so he should be dominating,” Harrison said recently of Jordan Montgomery, the pitcher the Yankees surrendered to acquire Harrison from the Cardinals on August 2. “He should be having success, which he did. And it wasn’t something I was surprised to see.  “If they traded me for a stiff, I would've said, ‘Well, damn, what are we doing here?’” Stay...

*****  Stay in the know BRUCE BOLT Ambassador, Tommy Morrissey (@onearmgolfer), has become known for hitting more home runs with one arm than most players ever could with two. He's a public figure, incredible athlete, and an even better person. Founder & CEO, Bear Mayer, caught up with Tommy on our podcast this week. Subscribe and listen to the full interview via podcast on Spotify and Apple Podcasts as well.

My favorite Chinese proverb is: "The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second-best time is now." This blog is about being better. To be better at anything, all you have to do is start now. The offseason is a great time to start training mental skills! Stay in the know The Off-Season Challenge This off season I want you to become aware of your self-talk. It is one of the fundamental pillars of sport and performance psychology. Self-talk is a collection of statements, phrases, and cue words that direct our actions and provide a running commentary...

“It’s funny how this game works,” Anthony Herrera likes to say. Oh, baseball can be funny, all right. For instance, Anthony, a five-year veteran of professional independent ball, got to smile plenty the last two seasons at the theatrics of his Toros de Tijuana teammate Fernando Rodney, the former big-league All-Star who still performs his bow-and-arrow routine upon notching a save. “La Flecha. The Arrow,” Anthony noted with a grin of the beloved Rodney. “He calls himself that.” Stay in the know But then there’s the sport’s “funny” nature that can throw you for a loop like a well-executed knuckleball....

An elite athlete and his parents came to see me because the athlete doesn’t “hustle.” The dad played pro ball, and hustle was his thing, so it’s creating heat around baseball. Dad said his son is killing it in practice, but in the game, he comes up short. He offered examples while the mom nodded along. The kid slumped in his seat and listened quietly. I asked the player if what his parents said sounded about right. He shrugged. I asked what he thought. He said his performance suffered because he was playing safe, pulling back, and tightening up. He...