Sport Psychology Hour with Dr. Andrew Jacobs

4/7/24 - Dr. Jacobs Discusses Why You Need To Focus on Effort Instead of Results

·50 min·4 clips

A collegiate golfer hits one tee shot into the woods and declares his entire round is over.

Dr. Andrew Jacobs hosts his weekly Sports Psychology Hour on Sports Radio 810 WHB, opening with observations on changes in youth sports over the past 15 years. He introduces the core topic: the mental trap of focusing on results like scores versus focusing on effort and execution. Jacobs shares clinical examples, starting with several golfers he worked with that week, including a collegiate player whose round mentally ended after a single bad tee shot and a high school golfer who three-putted multiple holes due to negative self-talk. He contrasts this with positive examples, revealing that a Super Bowl-winning Chiefs player keeps 'FOE' (Focus on Effort) on his jersey. Jacobs recounts an anecdote about baseball Hall of Famer Joe Carter, who described his mindset before hitting a game-winning World Series home run as simply going up to swing and have fun. The host takes calls, including one from Andy, a former college baseball player turned coach, who shares his coach's advice about not letting one error compound into others. Producer Tristan contributes a personal story about his intramural soccer team shifting focus to effort and fun during a championship game. Jacobs expands the discussion to youth sports, criticizing the overemphasis on winning that drives high dropout rates. He shares more professional anecdotes, like Derek Jeter's meticulous pre-game fungos, pitcher Tom 'Flash' Gordon's 'next pitch' mentality during a 54-save streak, and working with a Royals player who improved by concentrating on quality at-bats rather than hits. The episode concludes with Jacobs reiterating his definition of winning as doing your best and encouraging listeners to adopt the FOE mindset.

As heard by us

A practical sports-psychology case for measuring progress by effort, especially after mistakes.

The episode makes a clear, useful case for FOE, or focus on effort rather than results, by putting mistakes at the heart of sports psychology. Dr.

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Why you'd press play

If one miss is still talking louder than your next move, Dr. Jacobs has a goldfish-sized reset for you.

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