Dr. Jim Loehr on Character, Mental Toughness, and the Whole Person in Tennis

Patrick McEnroe hosts an insightful conversation with world-renowned performance psychologist Dr. Jim Loehr on mental toughness and the whole person behind elite performance. Dr. Loehr, who started his career as a licensed psychologist before working with top athletes , discusses his transformative time at the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy, where he began focusing on the whole person—including physical, emotional, mental, and character health. He argues that improving a person's health in all dimensions, particularly character health, is the single most important dynamic in making them mentally tougher. Dr. Loehr emphasizes that the purpose of sport should be to use tennis to help athletes become extraordinary human beings. He advocates for focusing on the energy an athlete brings to their time rather than just time management and highlights the importance of resilience, with tennis as the ultimate sport for teaching resiliency to bounce back. The TennisWorthy Podcast is presented by the International Tennis Hall of Fame. For more information and full episode transcriptions, visit tennisfame.com/podcast.