I totally agree that it is 90% mental. I spent the entire afternoon and early evening with Lenzi in 2001 trying to convince him that he was the chosen one that year. Finally after hours of telling him the same thing over and over he finally understood what I was telling him. When he won that year his manager Paulo ran over and hugged me and said I was responsible for him being World Champion. I don't know if that was totally true. But I do know that when Mrs. Malone was alive she used to tell me to give Eric "The Talk" before he went out to perform. The fastest boat doesn't always win!! And, Freestyle is more in your mind than you can believe. If you start out hot you stay hot. One missed move and your entire program can go down the big black hole. Joe Eckert is another great example. Before he went out in Havasu last year he was beating himself up real bad. We had "The Talk" and he got his head right and went on to be #3 in the world.
