David Sammel Nuggets David Sammel

Are nerves an inevitable part of the game?Part 2 of our special episode with John Silk, where we dive into the world of nerves in sports. We'll explore the significance of nerves in the game and discuss some unforgettable meltdowns in various sports. Discover valuable insights, practical tips, and helpful strategies on how to effectively deal with mental challenges. Whether you're an athlete, coach, or simply interested in the psychological aspect of sports, this episode is packed with useful information. Don't miss out! Tune in to gain a deeper understanding of nerves and mental resilience in sports. Connect with David: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mindset_college/ Stay Updated: Sign up for our Weekly Newsletter: https://www.mindsetcollege.co.uk/#two-step Explore more resources on our Website: https://www.mindsetcollege.co.uk/

I discuss what happened at the French Open and what comes next. Bouncing back is how anyone succeeds because "moping" or feeling sorry for oneself never helps. It feels cosy in the short term but is devastating to a winning mindset.

Today is my 100th podcast and I can say that I’m really proud of myself for never missing a week – for showing up as promised  and delivering a message that I talk about which is in order to build trust in yourself you have to do what you say you will do most of the time – the old 80/20 rule comes to mind. The human condition means we will never be perfect but walking the talk is a big deal. 
Anyway onto today's chat. I'm going to talk about blame and how I think we lose power when we blame other people, the government, the Prime Minister, the president, the economy and anything or everything that we can pick on to explain the things in our life that have gone wrong or mistakes we have made.Fundamentally, when we blame,we are basically saying that we are not responsible for what is happening when in fact if we calmly dissect what is happening, we will realise the part we played intentionally or inadvertently which becomes a valuable learning opportunity. 
Whilst it is not always true that we are totally responsible for what has happened when we blame we are giving the responsibility away for fixing it to someone or something else. We may not have the power to change something but we sure as hell have the power to decide how we will react to it and what we will do about it. Blame takes away energy and fuels apathy.
If you care about someone yet blame them for a mistake it in no way helps them and only negative emotions will flow from blame such as guilt, resentment, anger, frustration, or in some circumstances lead to an unnecessary breakdown of a relationship. 
In another situation, you may say that not only do you blame someone else but you are extremely angry or even hate someone for putting you in a bad position. However, It is unlikely this person is going to turn around and say “I'm really sorry! I did this and you are right to blame me and I'm going to make it right. This is a fantasy. When you focus so heavily on blaming someone so much energy is invested unnecessarily in trying to make you feel better because you are not responsible when it does nothing to help you get out of whatever negative situation you find yourself. 
There is no point in wallowing in shit saying I can't believe this person put me here and it is their fault that I’m in the shit! I think giving up the power to change things is folly and surrendering to blame. Ultimately blame is a waste of energy. I genuinely believe that some people are more obsessed with surrounding themselves with others taking great pleasure from all agreeing as to who’s at fault rather than focusing on who or what can help them move forward and change things.
Whatever the position you're in you are going to have to help yourself to move forward. Whenever we point the finger of blame is also where the power lies. When you blame the world in whatever form you must remember that there are billions of people living in this world and people in a similar situation who are choosing not to blame the world and are seeing things from a different perspective, seeing opportunity where you see fault.
It is hard to think of a situation where blame is helpful. Mostly it is finding a way to let ourselves off the hook, but in letting ourselves off the hook we're giving away the power to do something about it. 
As always thanks for listening and if you enjoy and have gotten a few nuggets from my first 100 episodes please share with others and help inspire me to my next 100.

John: Well, 2023, let's talk about that as a whole, to begin with Dave, it's been a bit of an up-and-down year. Is that fair for you and Liam?
David: I think it's really been mostly an up year; I think the down part is the fact that he got injured. So in the final of Biel the wrist, which had been hurting him all week, in the final really broke down. And he took three weeks to try and, you know, get it ready for Banjo, Luka, in Bosnia. We went there and pretty much held it held up for two matches. And then, in the third match, it started to hurt again. Plus, he started to feel his abs a little bit there. So we took a longer time out a month and came back this week to Tunisia. And, yeah, I mean, the conditions were very difficult as it was very windy, with a lot of rain. And, yeah, it really was, not one of his best matches for sure.
John: So, how is the wrist right now
David: Basically, he has the same problem as Emma Raducanu. The surgeon has said with a situation like this, it's all about whether you can manage it and the level of pain that you can manage pain or discomfort. And if you can keep it at a level where you can play with it, you're not going to do any further damage. You just can either play on it or you can't. And right now, Liam feels that he you know, he's doing a lot of different wrist exercises and managing it. And the discomfort level is easily manageable for him. It's not affecting his play. It's not perfect, but it's not stopping him from playing full-out. Obviously, whilst Tunisia was not a good match and has been out for weeks, the good thing is the body came through intact.
John: Does the timing of this have an impact on decisions regarding the injury, for example, we've got the French Open Qualifiers at the beginning of next week. And we've also got Wimbledon not that far away. You know, home territory, also familiar territory in terms of success last year of beating Schwartzman among others, does that have an impact in terms of the physical situation with Liam right now?
David: I mean, certainly, it's not a time of year that he wants to miss. And I think the other thing that's even more prevalent, is the fact that he's not defending a lot of points, and he wasn't on the clay and unfortunately, basically he’s going to have played three tournaments on clay, that's it, which is a shame, because after Biel he was in a very, very good position to move his ranking forward towards, you know, top 100. And, you know, through the whole summer, he really has an opportunity. So, in terms of timing of when this has happened, it's never a good time to have an injury. But for the window of opportunity that he has had for the clay, but now for the rest of the clay, the French and grass and the hard courts in America, is quite a big opportunity. So, if he can manage it throughout the summer, that would be advantageous. He might be able to manage it for the rest of his career. But it's, you know, if it does break down again, then then we're gonna have to look at wrist surgery.
John: Yeah. What's the situation when is Liam going to be playing his first round? Monday or Tuesday?
David: That's correct. It’s a split draw so it depends on where he comes out in the draw, top or bottom which is at three o'clock Sunday.
John: In terms of other big names or familiar names in the qualifying draw, of course, Jan-Leonard Struff is someone that would immediately spring to mind but because he shot up the rankings is a barrier if you'd like that won't be in Liam's potential way, which is I'm sure the relief to everyone just in terms of how well he's been playing recently. What other names should we look out for in the qualifiers?
David: I think, Riedi if he plays well, Liam played him earlier in the year in Australia. I would say, really and truthfully, any player rank between 110 and 230, which is the cut-off, maybe 240 I don't think anybody there can be termed as an easy match. I don't think an easy match really exists. I th

John: The mental side of tennis from my perspective as a fan, if you like, the two things that strike me in tennis compared to lots of other sports that I think make it a bigger mental challenge. First of all, it's an individual sport. But secondly, so there's nowhere to hide, like in football, when a team sport you can just give the ball to another teammate. You can call for it if you like, but there's nowhere to hide. The other thing that in tennis is, again, in something like football, you can be really nervous, but you can get a bit lucky. And of course, that can be the case in tennis, but basically, you know your body could be shaking when you're about to take a penalty, okay, and you can still score because you can just put your foot through it right,  and actually probably you will still score because the odds on that are high whereas in sports such as darts, snooker, tennis, where you need to be pretty calm, and you need to have a pretty steady hand. There's just nowhere to hide. Is there anything I'm missing? Or am I underplaying something, or not?
David: No, I think you're 100% Correct. I think the really tough thing about sport and in tennis in particular, because of how physical it is, as well, is the relentlessness of effort point after point. And if you're nervous, you must fight through those nerves sometimes for an hour. And, and they might disappear for a while, but then suddenly you're five all, and it's tight again, and you are feeling very tight. And you have to manage it over and over again. And I think you know, the best players in the world, use their tools and remember to use that tools in the big moments. Because once you get to pro level, it's not like any player doesn't kind of know what they must do. But it's in the heat of that moment that they either don't remember because the brain is frying a little bit, or they don't have the courage to use them. For us sitting here, remember Roger Federer's two match points serving for the match against Novak at Wimbledon. I’m thinking he must serve and volley both points. Surely Novak's not gonna make a great return on both. Now, I don't know whether that’s what Roger was thinking or maybe he knew something more than me but that was my thinking. But he didn't, and they slipped through his hands. Now, you know, to do that, though, at that moment, takes a huge amount of courage. First to make the decision, and then secondly, to follow through with the decision like that. But then you've always got, and this is what is so tough for players the other thought, "its match point, so just make the person play. Don't serve and give them a quick point and a target to beat." And that's another school of thought. But I think deep down, players get to a place where they have an instinct and have to choose whether to be brave enough to follow it.
David: I say this repeatedly, the best players in the world are the most relaxed and the bravest. Because in those moments, when their instinct is telling them something, they are brave enough to follow it which is why they are great. Again, it doesn't guarantee you're going to win but I do think it starts to push the odds more in your favour. I just say one other thing "I don't know if anybody's ever been go-karting or any kind of motor racing or watches motor racing. But when a driver gets in the groove, they lap, within point one of a second, every lap in this unbelievable groove. When they're in that groove, it seems so easy. Just do it. No hassle. But if they lose that groove, if they go a little too fast, then you know that they slide out of a corner, they lose time, they go a little too slow, then that's not effective."
And the margins are so small to stay on that groove and for tennis players as well. When you go into something like the French Open or any tournament, but especially the big ones you hope that you can get through that first match and find a groove and if you get in that groove, then that gives you yo

Good morning. Good afternoon. Good evening. This is David Sammel with another nugget. My podcast is a way of expressing my life experience with others to offer you different perceptions and reflections that hopefully can help you in some area of your life. 
Today is a special day because we're going to have a doubleheader. I'm going to talk to you about my job as a tennis coach preparing Liam for the French Open, which is the most important clay court event in the world. I'll also be uploading a segment from a Q&A with John Silk from the Talking Tennis podcast, which goes into more depth in preparing for Paris. 
Anyway, on Tuesday Liam begins his quest to qualify for a Roland Garros for the 2nd time in his career. A tennis coach, at the pro level, is primarily to prepare the player to play their best tennis when it matters most and of course, the Grand Slams are the biggest tournaments in the world. You are especially needed for the situation when players are apprehensive, anxious, nervous, and a little afraid of what will happen. Liam has been out injured for six of the past eight weeks through injury, so he's coming into the French a little undercooked. Naturally, there's a bit of anxiety. Today after practice, we needed to sit down and for me to remind him of all the things that he does well, and that he cannot think beyond one day, and that day is either Monday or Tuesday when he plays and not to worry about anything past that and to remember that all players no matter how well they're playing are coming into this tournament with their shit and apprehensions. Players need to be reminded that their feelings of anxiety are not unique. Liam is experienced and therefore must take pride in the fact that he can manage his anxiety and nerves better than most in the tournament. Equally, he must remember that to find his form, he's going to just have to work and fight very hard and not expect it to come easily to him. He must be patient with himself and be confident that he will find his range and his groove. The excitement of the sport is we will have to wait and see what happens. Nothing can be taken for granted and anything unexpected can and probably will happen. If you want to hear more about the French Open please download the 6-minute podcast on Big Moment Nerves.