athletes

Best Quotes from Athletes

October 1, 2010 By Deb Chitwood 18 Comments

Top athletes have learned from experience what it takes to succeed in sports. While their quotes are great as sports quotes, I find them equally valuable for success in life. Following are some of the best quotes from athletes. There are even some quotes about what’s more important than external success.

“I’ve missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. Twenty-six times, I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.” Michael Jordan, basketball

“Just play. Have fun. Enjoy the game.” Michael Jordan, basketball

“You are never really playing an opponent. You are playing yourself, your own highest standards, and when you reach your limits, that is real joy.” Arthur Ashe, tennis

“Failing to prepare is preparing to fail.” Wayne Gretzky, hockey

“You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.” Wayne Gretzky, hockey

“Talent is never enough. With few exceptions the best players are the hardest workers.” Magic Johnson, basketball

“You’re the only one who can make the difference. Whatever your dream is, go for it.” Magic Johnson, basketball

“It’s all about the journey, not the outcome.” Carl Lewis, track and field

“The moment of victory is much too short to live for that and nothing else.” Martina Navratilova, tennis

“Sports create a bond between contemporaries that lasts a lifetime. It also gives your life structure, discipline, and a genuine, sincere, pure fulfillment that few other areas of endeavor provide.” Bob Cousy, basketball

“If all I’m remembered for is being a good basketball player, then I’ve done a bad job with the rest of my life.” Isiah Thomas, basketball

“The harder you work, the luckier you get.” Gary Player, golf

“Somebody will always break your records. It is how you live that counts.” Earl Campbell, football

“With confidence, you have won even before you have started.” Marcus Garvey, Jamaican nationalist

“Don’t ever forget that you play with your soul as well as your body.” Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, basketball

“Excellence is not a singular act but a habit. You are what you do repeatedly.” Shaquille O’Neal, basketball

“Set your goals high, and don’t stop till you get there.” Bo Jackson, football

“The only disability in life is a bad attitude.” Scott Hamilton, figure skating

“If everything seems under control, you’re not going fast enough.” Mario Andretti, race-car driver

“Goals determine what you’re going to be.” Julius Erving, basketball

“When you have fun, it changes all the pressure into pleasure.” Ken Griffey Sr. and Ken Griffey Jr., baseball

“Each of us has a fire in our hearts for something. It’s our goal in life to find it and keep it lit.” Mary Lou Retton, gymnastics

“When the game is over I just want to look at myself in the mirror, win or lose, and know I gave it everything I had.” Joe Montana, football

“The values learned on the playing field — how to set goals, endure, take criticism and risks, become team players, use our beliefs, stay healthy, and deal with stress — prepare us for life.” Donna de Varona, Olympic swimmer

“For me, losing a tennis match isn’t failure, it’s research.” Billie Jean King, tennis

“If you win through bad sportsmanship, that’s no real victory.” Babe Zaharias

“As you walk down the fairway of life you must smell the roses, for you only get to play one round.” Ben Hogan, golf

“I may win and I may lose, but I will never be defeated.” Emmitt Smith, football

“Winning isn’t getting ahead of others, it is getting ahead of yourself.” Roger Staubach, football

“Confidence is the result of hours and days and weeks and years of constant work and dedication.” Roger Staubach, football

“I think it’s the mark of a great player to be confident in tough situations.” John McEnroe, tennis

“Champions aren’t made in the gyms. Champions are made from something they have deep inside them – a desire, a dream, a vision.” Muhammad Ali, boxing

“The man who has no imagination has no wings.” Muhammad Ali, boxing

“I’ve got a theory that if you give 100% all of the time, somehow things will work out in the end.” Larry Bird, basketball

“Don’t let winning make you soft. Don’t let losing make you quit. Don’t let your teammates down in any situation.” Larry Bird, basketball

“Sometimes the biggest problem is in your head. You’ve got to believe.” Jack Nicklaus, golf

“The successful warrior is the average man, with laser-like focus.” Bruce Lee, martial arts

“Concentration is the ability to think about absolutely nothing when it is absolutely necessary.” Ray Knight, baseball

“You find that you have peace of mind and can enjoy yourself, get more sleep, and rest when you know that it was a one hundred percent effort that you gave — win or lose.” Gordie Howe, hockey

“You have to train your mind like you train your body.” Bruce Jenner, track and field

“The most important attribute a player must have is mental toughness.” Mia Hamm, soccer

“Sports can do so much. It’s given me confidence, self-esteem, discipline, and motivation.” Mia Hamm, soccer

“Competitive toughness is an acquired skill and not an inherited gift.” Chris Evert, tennis

“When I’m in my groove there is no thinking. Everything just happens.” Ozzie Smith, baseball

“What has benefited me the most is learning I can’t control what happens outside of my pitching.” Greg Maddux, baseball

“I’m proof that great things can happen to ordinary people if they work hard and never give up.” Orel Hershiser, baseball

“Set your goals high, and don’t stop till you get there.” Bo Jackson, baseball and football

“Love never fails. Character never quits. And with patience and persistence, dreams do come true.” Pete Maravich, basketball

What is your favorite quote from an athlete?

Photo Credit: Photo by Möller Marco-Ken

Filed Under: Best Quotes Tagged With: athletes, best quotes, best quotes from athletes, Motivational Quotes, sports quotes, success

Make a Back-to-School Resolution

September 10, 2010 By Deb Chitwood 4 Comments

It’s not too late to make a back-to-school resolution. Even though I’m not a coach, I’ve followed Positive Coaching Alliance for quite awhile now. I love the site for its positive orientation and great slogan: “Transforming Youth Sports So Sports Can Transform Youth.” Positive Coaching Alliance has great tips and tools for coaches, sports parents, athletes, and youth sports leaders.

In the September 8 Positive Coaching Alliance Connector newsletter, there was an interesting article called “What Is Your Back-to-School Resolution?” In the article, David Jacobson says:

Reading advance copy from Jim Thompson’s upcoming book for high school athletes — Elevating Your Game: Becoming a Triple-Impact CompetitorTM — which emphasizes the importance of having a “teachable spirit,” I personally am inspired to add to my coaching education.

Writes Jim: “Someone with a Teachable Spirit is a sponge. A sponge seems like a lowly thing, but what gives sponges a form of nobility is how they soak stuff up and grow in the process. Triple-Impact Competitors are sponge-like, ever hungry to learn, constantly on the lookout for ideas, tools, inspirational quotes, anything that will make them better.”

To have a “teachable spirit” would be a great back-to-school resolution for an athlete. Jacobson gives his back-to-school resolution at the Youth Sports Spotlight.

Even though my skaters have already graduated from college and aren’t skating competitively, I like to think of the beginning of the school year as a great time for new resolutions for anyone.

It does not matter how many times you get knocked down, but how many times you get up.

– Vince Lombardi

My back-to-school resolution is to follow renowned football coach Vince Lombardi’s advice and persevere with developing my blogs and writing projects even if there are obstacles. And I always want to have a “teachable spirit.”

What is your back-to-school resolution?

Photo Credit: Photo by orvalrochefort.

Filed Under: Making a Difference, Motivation Tagged With: athletes, back-to-school, coaches, motivation, Positive Coaching Alliance, resolution, sports parents, teachable spirit, Triple Impact Competitor, Vince Lombardi, youth sports leaders

In Student Athlete, Student Comes First

August 13, 2010 By Deb Chitwood 6 Comments

For families with athletes, it’s easy for sports to become a primary focus. I think involvement in sports is wonderful. Figure skating was obviously a huge part of my family’s life. Yet, it’s important to remember the words from the movie Coach Carter:

These…are student athletes. “Student” comes first.

As much as athletes would like to compete in the Olympics and be at the top of their sport, that may or may not happen. Injuries could stop or hinder an athletic career – or the highest level of success just may not be in the cards. And no matter what happens, there is life at the end of a competitive sports career.

My Family of Student Athletes

I was happy that my children, Will and Chrissy, kept up their studies throughout their competitive careers. They have never regretted it either. Even though Will only attended college part-time while he was competing in pairs, he still completed his BA with a 4.0 grade point average at age 24.

Chrissy had to go to school full-time to get a student visa to live in England. Attending university full-time while training and competing in senior ice-dance was a bit much. But it definitely paid off when Chrissy got her BA with First Class Honours at age 19. And the character traits Will and Chrissy developed by being successful student athletes were priceless.

Rachael Flatt

One of the best examples of a student athlete is the 2010 U.S. National Ladies Figure Skating Champion, Rachael Flatt. Rachael has been an inspiration for student athletes everywhere by training and competing at such a high level while maintaining straight As and taking a heavy course load of AP classes at Cheyenne Mountain High School in Colorado Springs.

Rachael graduated from high school in May and was accepted into a number of top-level universities. She is deferring college this year but plans to attend Stanford University in the fall of 2011.

As the school year starts, help your athlete be a true student athlete.

Here’s a lovely and appropriate video by Rachael and RIF:

What has worked for your family in keeping the proper balance between student and athlete?

Filed Under: Encouragement Tagged With: athletes, Coach Carter, families, figure skating, Olympics, Rachael Flatt, RIF, sports, student athlete, student athletes

Let Gratitude Carry You through the Competition Season

July 2, 2010 By Deb Chitwood 3 Comments

Will and Christina in Montreal during a Family Trip after the 2003 Lake Placid Ice Dance Championships

Will (18) and Christina (13) in Montreal during a family trip after the 2003 Lake Placid Ice Dance Championships.

It’s often said that competitions are harder on parents than on the athletes competing. That’s true in too many ways. But competitions can be made easier for everyone, thanks to gratitude.

“Gratitude is the memory of the heart.”

-Jean Baptiste Massieu

I’ve talked about gratitude and the Gratitude Community before. I truly believe that gratitude is a key to happily surviving your child’s competitions, regardless of the outcomes.

Rather than worrying about the competition outcome, adding to my list of 1000 gifts throughout a skating competition is one of the best things I’ve done to enjoy the experience. It always helped to make an extra effort to find—and create—things to be grateful for. This works well both during and right after a competition.

Attaching a mini trip to the end of a competition especially added numerous “gifts” to my gratitude list. Some of our most disappointing competitions actually had some of our most memorable trips at the end. By focusing on gratitude, my family could thoroughly enjoy the trip and forget about the competition outcome.

Have you found ways to use gratitude to make competitions better for you and your family?

Filed Under: Competition Help, Gratitude Tagged With: 1000 gifts, athletes, competition, gratitude, gratitude community, Jean Baptiste Massieu

Don’t Forget These Two Words before a Competition Performance

June 18, 2010 By Deb Chitwood 10 Comments

Over the years, my husband and I came to realize the importance of two words before any competition performance (or any performance, for that matter). The words work for your own athletes and are a good thing to say to anyone right before their performance.

Those two words are

Have fun!

Chrissy and Mark having fun performing at the 2009 European Championships. (Photo by Liz Chastney)

I remember reading in a book a number of years ago that athletes perform best if they don’t think too much and just stay out of their heads. After all their training, muscular memory will take over anyway.

Skaters already know the importance of doing well if it’s a high-stakes competition. They don’t need to be reminded.

Focusing on having fun is a great way for skaters to stay out of their heads. And it keeps things in perspective. The hard work is done, and it’s time to enjoy performing. Sometimes, after I say, “Have fun!” I might add, “Enjoy performing!” or, “Enjoy performing for the audience!”

Before your athlete competes, do you say, “Have fun,” or something similar?

Filed Under: Competition Help Tagged With: athletes, competition, fun, performance, skaters

Imagine

May 14, 2010 By Deb Chitwood Leave a Comment

If you’ve been following my posts, you’ve probably noticed I love inspirational quotes. For good reason, inspirational quotes are a popular tool for athletes. Here’s a simple but inspiring video with quotes set to music from one of my favorite songs: “Imagine” by John Lennon.

Filed Under: Encouragement Tagged With: athletes, Imagine, inspirational quotes, John Lennon

What if My Child Doesn’t Win the Olympics? Is It Alright to Dream?

April 30, 2010 By Deb Chitwood 3 Comments

It’s the start of a new Winter Olympic cycle, and athletes of all ages are renewing their Olympic dreams. But how many athletes actually win the Olympics? Is it alright for your child to have such dreams even if they don’t come true?

I think the Olympic-dream question could be answered with Randy Pausch’s words: “Dream big. Dream without fear.” Pausch, who was a computer-science professor at Carnegie Mellon University and an award-winning teacher and researcher, would seem an unlikely choice to answer a question about having Olympic dreams.

Yet, Randy Pausch is probably the perfect choice. Before he died from pancreatic cancer in July 2008, Pausch inspired millions of people with the YouTube video of his last lecture as well as The Last Lecture book, which came after and added to the actual lecture given at Carnegie Mellon.

Randy Pausch became a hero to millions for his optimistic fight against terminal cancer, his work promoting pancreatic-cancer research, and his message about living each day and living your dreams. I think Pausch also answered the Olympic-dreams question with this quote:

Give yourself permission to dream. Fuel your kids’ dreams, too.

Paush talked a lot about fulfilling his childhood dreams. Although there’s wisdom throughout his lecture and book, I think one of my favorite chapters in the book is the one about a dream he never fulfilled: “I Never Made It to the NFL.”

Pausch said:

. . . even though I did not reach the National Football League, I sometimes think I got more from pursuing that dream, and not accomplishing it, than I did from many of the ones I did accomplish.

Pausch emphasized the life lessons, skills, and character development he gained from pursuing his dream of making it to the NFL. He talked about what he learned from his youth-league coach. Pausch said:

Coach Graham worked in a no-coddling zone. Self-esteem? He knew there was really only one way to teach kids how to develop it: You give them something they can’t do, they work hard until they find they can do it, and you just keep repeating the process. . . . he made me realize that if I work hard enough, there will be things I can do tomorrow that I can’t do today.

Pausch also discussed something necessary in any sport—working on fundamentals. He said:

Fundamentals. That was a great gift Coach Graham gave us. Fundamentals, fundamentals, fundamentals. As a college professor, I’ve seen this as one lesson so many kids ignore, always to their detriment. You’ve got to get the fundamentals down, because otherwise the fancy stuff is not going to work.

Probably the following quote about why we as parents encourage our children in sports also answers the question of whether our children actually need to have the best objective result in the end:

What we really want them [our children] to learn is . . . teamwork, perseverance, sportsmanship, the value of hard work, an ability to deal with adversity.

And that may be the best answer. It’s the intangible results and the character development that come from following Olympic dreams that are the most important. Whether or not the dreams come true in the end, the benefits of sincerely pursuing dreams make it all worthwhile.

Here’s the famous YouTube video of The Last Lecture: Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams, presented in September 2007. The YouTube video has had over 11 million views. If you haven’t had the opportunity to see the video, it will be an inspiring hour and 16 minutes of your time.

Filed Under: Encouragement, Inspiration Tagged With: athletes, Olympic dreams, Olympics, Randy Pausch, The Last Lecture

Inspiration for Everyone

April 15, 2010 By Deb Chitwood 5 Comments

Record-setting college basketball coach John Wooden is an inspiring teacher for many athletes. A famous quote of his is:

Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do.

One of the very best examples of someone who lives John Wooden’s words isn’t known as an athlete. Nick Vujicic, though, is inspiring for athletes and everyone else.

I get more out of that video every time I watch it. I love Nick Vujicic’s celebration of life, attitude of gratitude, emphasis on strength rather than limitations, and never-give-up focus. I also love this quote from the video: