Locker Room Power

Whether you are the coach, teacher, or learner the following will help. As a learner try find environments and coaches who tick these boxes and if you are a teacher then this has worked for me on both sides of the fence.  In my experience how well we learn boils down to the simple practice of: There must be a want, curiosity, or interest in order to learn anything. Learning something in which we h...

5 Simple Ways to Kill Impostor Syndrome We often hear people talking about ‘imposter syndrome.’ This phrase refers to a feeling of being an impostor, unable to take credit for your own success and believing that you are a fake. Impostor syndrome is commonly experienced by high-achieving individuals, especially those who have recently experienced a great deal of personal success or recognition. It’...

Expectations are a close cousin to comparison. Both will eat away at you and hurt you if you apply them wrongly, not only as a person, but in whatever you're trying to accomplish. The key takeaway is to remember that all expectations are future based and therefore subject to assumptions. Under normal circumstances we can assume but history is littered with black swan events that blow away expectat...

We can put a goal out in the universe and focus on it, but there is no guarantee we will achieve it. What is guaranteed is we will learn and to come out with more experience. Life is a series of destinations, some of which we will have the pleasure of reaching and some not but every goal that we work hard for is worth it’s weight in gold in self worth. An important distinction is to forever unders...

Have you ever noticed that if you're looking to buy a certain car, how you suddenly notice how many they are on the roads, and they seem to be popping up everywhere? Equally, when you focus on a project that's been hanging over your head and you've been procrastinating and when you finally settle down and really start working at it, how the focus you suddenly bring to the project brings you answer...

The word gift means that you're given something for nothing. It is a blessing that requires no work, and you don't have to earn it. It is simply a gift. Talent is a gift! When people are gifted in any field, whether it be in sport, acting, plumber, electrician, looks, anything that we value in any field, it has been freely given to us and most of us are talented at something, often not that notice...

How to deal with nerves: Before we perform as an athlete, actor, presenting, a job interview or in any given situation where there is pressure to do well, even if it is a small audience of one, like a first date, as humans, we will have nerves. The best of the best in the world will all all say that before a big event or match that they are nervous. It is part of the human condition. So what deter...

The fact that “How we undervalue ourselves Part 1” is the most listened to of all my podcasts is an indication that many of us fall into the trap of undervaluing ourselves. I'm a big believer that much of undervaluing ourselves comes from overthinking and believing that other people think more about us than they actually do! Athletes are often very aware of who is watching them and get distracted...

Reflections. I grew up in South Africa with two very unorthodox parents who for example adopted six children to make a total of 10 of us. They had a strong belief that rules are man-made and needed to be tested until proven to be valid, valuable and not harmful to the greater good. This stayed with me, and I would say that I've always been a risk taker who challenged authority. Inexperience meant...

Today I want to talk about owning your own space. There is a big difference between respecting other people for what they've done and what they've achieved and owning your own space. In other words, is when you encounter an impressive person, remember that he or she is only another person. The fact that they've mastered their art, maybe exceptional in their field or happen to be in a high position...

Good morning. Good afternoon, good evening, wherever in the world you are, this is David Sammel, with another nugget. I'm going to talk today about how you can really help yourself to feel good. Think of your brain as a well-trained and highly tuned athlete that needs the right stuff to perform at its best. To do that, your brain needs to not only be in great shape but operate in a way that helps...

Good morning, good afternoon. Good evening, wherever in the world you are. This is David Sammel with another nugget. I'm coming to you from the mini paradise of Riverside, Connecticut, where I've been enjoying some family time which has been a a bonus. The downside being that Liam couldn’t qualify for the US Open, which was somewhat disappointing. But it gives me this family time, which is highly...

Good morning, good day, good evening, wherever in the world you are. This is David coming to you from New York after a disappointing tournament for Liam, and that's the subject of this week's nugget. Basically, how to get over terrible disappointment. Disappointment happens to everybody. And whilst it's easy to say think positive and just carrying on, I think it's important to actually acknowledge...

Good morning, good day, good evening, wherever in the world you are, this is David Sammel with a new nugget. Today I'm going to talk about the fact that everything passes. Nothing is permanent. Think about it in your history, the good things, and the bad things. Nothing lasts forever. So, you can have some wonderful things happen to you, and they pass. And then you can have some negative things ha...

Good morning, good day, good afternoon, wherever in the world you are. Today, I'm going to talk to you about poise, poise for thought. If somebody has good poise, it means that they're basically look calm under pressure. How do people with poise do this? Well, one of the important things, I believe, is that we need to resist the urge to reply immediately to a question or say something immediately...

Egos can make us think we are so fucking clever! Whilst my nuggets are intended to offer insights I’m well aware that sometimes I may stray into telling and therefore coming across as being clever. I apologise for these lapses because I know coaching is more about offering perspectives, allowing others to reflect, consider and then choose their own path. The fact is we are not that great at giving...

Good morning, good day, good evening, wherever in the world you are. This is Dave with another episode of my Nuggets, you'll be happy to hear that feeling a lot better a week on. I'm still here in Connecticut, I fly to Chicago next Friday. Today I'm going to talk about how we just cannot read minds. So we need to ask the question, What am I talking about here? Well, we all tend to waste a lot of e...

Good morning, good afternoon, good evening, wherever in the world you are, you might notice this week that my voice is a little different. That's because I'm struggling a bit with a sore throat and a little bit under the weather. Luckily, it's coincided with a two week break from the tour which I'm spending it with the family in Connecticut, which is very beautiful and extremely hot, like many par...

Good morning, good afternoon, good evening wherever in the world you are. Today I'm coming to you from a Shake Shack in Indianapolis. My bags didn't make it through yesterday on the flight, so I had to pick them up from the airport today. It's a usual travel story as to why it wasn't delivered to my hotel, but I took advantage of the trip on my way back to stop and check out a little if Indianapol...

Good morning good day good evening wherever you are this is David Sammel with another nugget. Today I’m going to talk to you about insecurity which is very pertinent to Liam after a very good Wimbledon. I have purposely planned a quick turnaround because after the highs and loss in the 3rd round of Wimbledon, it is a sign of confidence and maturity to put that all aside and focus on the next step...

Good morning. Good day. Good evening, wherever in the world you are. I’m coming to you from Wimbledon where we've had a pretty successful week with Liam Broady making the third round and taking out the number 12 seed in the process. My reflections on the tournament come down to what we can teach and what we have to learn through experience. Liam played back-to-back five set matches. Whilst he had...

Good morning. Good day. Good evening, wherever in the world you are. I'm back this week. I hope you enjoyed my ATP podcast from last week. I didn't send out a nugget because I'd already done a podcast with ATPmedia and sent that out instead. But back to the nuggets this week. This week I'm going to talk about how to prepare for something huge, like Wimbledon. Obviously, this is the pinnacle of the...

Good morning, good day, good evening, wherever in the world you are, this is David Sammel with another nugget. What is success? Everyone talks about success. Usually, it means what can be shown to others as a success. money, status, power, things. And there are 1000s of people and organisations all over the world getting rich, by teaching us all, how to get these symbols of success. What I propose...

This is Dave Sammel coming to you from Great Britain, and the grass court season. So, the grass court season has just kicked off and it's an exciting time of the year for all British players and coaches. I'm looking forward to seeing how the whole season plays out and then on to the hardcourt season in America. But keeping that aside, today, I'm going to talk to you about letting people down and h...

LISTEN TO YOUR INTUITION I can’t think of a better way to start a podcast than with a quote from one of, if not the greatest mind in history. "The only real valuable thing is intuition." Albert Einstein . We all need to learn to listen to their inner alarm system often referred to as intuition or gut instinct. We are all aware of the little inner alarm that makes us uneasy about a situation or per...