Dr. Ken Ravizza, who many consider the father of sports psychology, had two very simple rules that served as the backbone of his teachings.

RULE #1: You have to be in control of yourself before you can control your performance.

RULE #2: You have very little control of what goes on around you but total control of how you choose to respond to it.

Athletes who are mentally tough are able to focus their attention on what is within their control. He also developed the acronym A.P.E. as a reminder of just what it is you have the ability to control.

A - Your ATTITUDE and APPEARANCE (body language)

P - Your PERSPECTIVE (how you see things), the PROCESS (how you choose to compete), your PREPARATION (nutrition, sleep, hydration, film, conditioning, etc.), your PRESENCE (focus), and POSITIVE SELF-TALK.

E - Your EFFORT, your ENERGY, and your EMOTIONS

JOURNAL ACTIVITY

For your journal activity this week I would like you to determine your “Control Your A.P.E.” GPA. Grade yourself (A = Elite, B = Above Average, C = Average, D = Below Average, or F = Extremely Weak) for each of the 10 items bolded in the A.P.E. acronym above. Explain why you gave yourself each grade. For any area that you graded a C or below, write about how a little improvement in that area would impact your performance.