Robert Price, CEO at Elite Minds LLC, has worked with hundreds of athletes in a diverse variety of sports to set goals, problem solve and create lifelong success strategies.
Price has only been working with junior tennis phenom Brady Gober for a few months, but the 15-year-old rising star and his parents have already seen a difference in Brady’s attitude and performance. Brady rose to a top 50 ranking in the country in the Under 14 age category, but his practice performance was considerably better than his performance during competition. Entering the highly competitive next phase of junior tennis, his parent, Brad and Kerry, decided to seek help for Brady to unlock his full potential.
“We couldn’t understand why he seemed to be putting so much pressure on himself,” said Brady’s father, Brad Gober, who played basketball and tennis in college. “It seemed like he wasn’t playing to his full potential because he was scared to lose. In practice he was beating college kids, and we felt we would be failing him as parents if we didn’t get him some help.”
Price said after he spent some time getting familiar with Brady’s game, they worked hard on identifying his strengths as a tennis player and helping him develop strategies to showcase those advantages. Price frequently helps athletes understand confidence stemming from prior experience, being physically fit, vicarious experience and, most importantly, self-talk.
“Self-talk can actually increase or decrease our other three sources of confidence,” Price said. “With Brady, we’ve really honed in on effective self-talk and what he sees and feels during practice. We are creating strategy around an evidence-based conversation, so he can pre-script a conversation with himself as he is competing.”
The result has been Brady feeling and playing more free during matches, including a recent run to the semi-finals in a highly competitive 16-under tournament.
“Working with (Price) I feel like I’m getting a lot of help with mental game, which is most important part of tennis,” Brady said. “I’ve been able to block out the negative stuff and think of (the negative stuff) as a learning experience. I’m seeing things from a different perspective, so when I miss a shot I can now say I know that I won’t miss it again because now I know.”
Junior tennis is a highly pressurized, highly competitive environment, and Brady’s work with Price has prepared him to approach the pressure in a healthier, more productive way. Talking to Price for an hour once per week and after matches, Brady gained invaluable insight and his parents have seen a distinct difference in their son.
“(Brady) is loosening up, and after working with (Price) I’ve seen a difference in his attitude,” said Brady Gober. “He’s more focused and we are seeing more of his personality on the tennis court. Brady is one of these kids who is funny, smart and witty, and we are starting to see him not be so uptight when he’s playing matches.”
Price, who played football at the University of Pittsburgh and holds Masters degrees from both the University of Maryland and Johns Hopkins University, founded Elite Minds in 2000 and has since worked with a wide range of athletes that includes collegiate and professional kickers, amateur tennis players, golfers of all levels, basketball players, gymnasts, hockey players, lacrosse players, soccer players, ice skaters, field hockey players and track and field athletes.
Elite Minds is a mental performance coaching and consulting service that works with athletes to help them reach and exceed their potential on and off the field. Through proven mental skill techniques, athletes are led to more consistent performances even in the face of adversity.
Price has received training in Mindfulness Meditation at the University of Miami under Dr. Amishi Jha and achieved a Level III Master Resilience Trainer from the University of Pennsylvania. He is also a certified therapist using Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) certified by EMDRIA and a licensed clinical professional counselor in the state of Maryland and Georgia.
Visit the Elite Minds website to learn more about Elite Minds LLC and Robert Price or schedule a consultation.
