Michael Finley Quotes

When you reach that competing point, when you reach that time when the gun is about to go off, everyone's level is pretty much the same. The one thing that's going to separate you from everybody else is how you deal with those pressures, how you stay relaxed.

During my first Olympics in 1980, at the age of 23, I was physically in great condition but mentally too inexperienced to cope comfortably in the pressure cooker of an Olympic year.

When it comes to Everest, psychologically, you have to be in the red. If you're not, it doesn't matter how fit you are. I've seen the fittest of people, who I thought would steam up the top of Everest, allow the pressure to take over their body.

I work better under pressure. I was the local badminton champion when I was a kid, and there was another girl who used to thrash me for the five days leading up to the tournament and then I would just nail her to the floor in the competition.

It's those moments when everything is on the line, and someone needs to show up in a big moment. I prepare my mind and I prepare my body to be ready for those moments. And I think it's just what I do. I live for those moments.

Doesnt matter what your skill and physical gifts are if you cant get your head right.

I'm a big believer that if you can have success in the playoffs, when it means the most and when the game is at its highest pace, it always carries into the next year and it gives a player confidence.

Anybody plays a good match, you can beat anybody on a given day.

From the very beginning, every time I trained for a fight, I didn't train to beat the guy I was fighting. I trained to beat Anderson Silva.

A bit of nervousness is essential as in a way it helps you deliver your best.

When I've trained as hard as I possibly can through training camp and I come to the end, where my body is worn out and I'm tired, I know I'm ready to peak.

I have no doubt in my abilities that I can beat any of the top ten guys. Once I'm focused I know I can beat them.

One of the biggest things I've worked on is how to play my best tennis every single time I walk on to the court.

It's in that moment - when millions of fans are holding their breath as the football hurtles towards me at 80 mph, and all I have is within 0.42 seconds to react - that I need to feel mentally and physically prepared.

The mental game is what separates the good players from the great players. So anything I can do to get that mental edge to help me stay my best, I'm gonna try and do it.

Nobody has ever had to get me ready for a game.

The last few weeks are always the hardest during any fight camp.

I used to hear other boxers talk about levels and it used to frustrate me. But now I understand: sometimes it doesn't matter how much you prepare, there are just people you can't beat.

The tennis calendar is incredibly long, so it's normal to go through ups and downs, and you want to keep the ups as long as possible and the downs as short as possible. You have to be realistic with what you're doing.

From a mental standpoint, you can't play this game unless you mentally are clocked in and that's, 'I'm willing to do everything to my body, my mind to put myself so that I can win.'

I don't put any extra pressure on myself for national team games.

At a track, it's different, there's pressure, things like this, so to be yourself is a bit different.

Some guys lock up when they hear the crowd. I feel the energy and take it with me into the fight. I've been in front of huge crowds and know to use that energy.

I've tried to play within myself but I need adrenaline and need to be pumped up to play well otherwise you will see snoring snooker like that.

There's always a little bit of anticipation - some people call it nerves - the night before, and although I always slept pretty well before big matches, you want to be on edge a little bit to get the best out of yourself.