Wed, October 22, 2008
Producers of ABC's Dancing with the Stars have enlisted Austin Peay State University professor and sports psychologist Gregg Steinberg to help contestants reach the next level of the competition.
Steinberg, author of "Mental Rules for Golf," "Flying Lessons" and the upcoming "Slam-Dunk Sales," works with professional football, basketball and baseball players as well as college athletes. He served as a Fox commentator during the Olympics and has appeared on CNN and the Golf Channel.
"I'm analyzing the mental game of the stars on the show," says Steinberg, who will be on the show Oct. 28. "Then I'm going to basically describe what they do, what some of the problems are, what they are excelling at, and I'll give them some recommendations."
It's not a coincidence that professional athletes have won the past four seasons. "They know how to be comfortable in the uncomfortable, which means everybody feels pressure," he says of pro athletes. "They feel pressure; Tiger Woods feels pressure.
"The difference is the great athletes know how their body responds under pressure. They know how to deal with pressure and channel it into a positive direction."
