A golfer who also happened to be a bass player from Syracuse traded bass lessons in exchange for some tips on lowering his handicap. In the process, Greene discovered that many of the same learning and performance issues he helped athletes tackle were also confronted by musicians in auditions and performance. He had his first chance to try them out on Syracuse Symphony members a few months later. But the intensity and hype surrounding the Olympics generates a level of energy in those athletes that is not present at other times. In fact, he says, success depends more on using that energy to stand out than on playing perfectly.
Risk is essential to success.
Of course, you're going to make mistakes-but plan on what you'll do to recover afterward. That's what people will remember. With consistent practice, they learn how to shift and focus their awareness at will, processing as much or as little of their surroundings as necessary. He finds that such skills don't necessarily facilitate his working in a particular area. After working on a major research project with Bruce Ogilvie in California and completing a manual for sports psychologists now used by many professional teams to assess rookies, Don Greene moved back to his native New York a few years ago to devote himself to working in the performing arts full-time.