Losing
 
I have received this particular question from over 50 of my followers.  I decided that it was time to answer it.  This week, Luis Sergio Chavez wrote, “It would be great if you could cover also the mental strength aspects or techniques to mentally recover from 0-4 where you are the one who made 4 mistakes in a row.  I would love to learn from your experience and knowledge on how to get back on track.”
 

 
 
 
 
 
“Everybody is a winner”
“Good job my little champions”
“All the kids here get ribbons”
“No one loses”
 
These are some of the common statements that I hear from kids classes, preschool groups, and sports camps.  For young children, many teachers just want to encourage kids and make them feel nice but this approach does create some problems.
 

I am playing a very important match in a tournament; I am losing 2-0 in games and now losing 5-0 in the third game. What should I do?
 
The first thing is… Never give up! I have won many matches because of a third-game comeback. My opponent starts crying to himself that he should have finished the match and the momentum swings to me.
 
The second thing is… Call time out. A friend or coach might be able to give me tips, insights, or encouragement which could really help.