As we role into the Word Series of D1 NCAA softball there’s plenty of opportunity to watch elite athlete’s succeed and fail in the face of pressure. It’s make it or break it time; it’s win or go home. Athletes are facing some of the most difficult situations of their careers, everything is on the line, and they can taste that world series championship.
An Article was recently published with the title: “How butterflies and TED talks boosted Georgia’s Alyssa DiCarol”. The article sheds lights on the pressures faced by successful athletes and how they effectively keep them at bay. (Read it here: 2019 NCAA softball tournament: How butterflies and TED Talks boosted Georgia’s Alyssa DiCarlo)
Alex Scarborough quotes DiCarol’s experience growing up, “Earlier in her career, she sometimes let nerves get the best of her. She had devoted everything to the sport — “It’s my life,” she said. “I didn’t go to prom, didn’t go to homecoming. I didn’t do anything but softball” — and the idea of not living up to expectations made her timid on the diamond.” As she points out, athletes who reach the collegiate level often miss out on other social opportunities along the way. Due to this their evaluation of their self is purely based in sport. When they fail in sport they feel like a failure overall. Sports are their entire life, so they when fail in sport they feel as though they are failing as a person. They aren’t just failing on the field, it’s much bigger than that to them. For this reason it’s crucial to give our young athletes a healthy sport-life balance. Especially when they are young, they need the opportunity to grow all aspects of who they are. They need room to discover their talents in music, school, friendships, and hobbies. They need to feel that they have value in a variety of atmospheres so when they fail in one they have other confidences to fall back on. If kids had these opportunities throughout their athletic careers the pressure to perform would be far less. (I wrote a blog recounting my experience in having a healthy sport-life balance a while back, you can read it here: Keep a Sport-Life Balance)
In the article DiCarol is also quoted with commenting on how her mental game has helped her succeed; “Being mentally tough,” she said, “keeping your emotions at bay is something I’ve had to work on a lot.” The mental game is often over looked, especially by coaches of youth athletes. They don’t have the training or the experience to teach young athletes how to use their mind to excel. Even more important than excelling, having an effective mental game can help athletes of all ages experience more joy while playing the game. Having the tools to deal with the high pressure demands that come with being an athlete keeps the negative emotions at bay and allows more room for the positive ones to flourish.
Teaching athletes mental game strategies and giving them the room to explore their other talents can help to keep the game in check. Keeping the game in check has the potential to give athletes the best opportunity to fully develop into themselves, both as a an athlete and a person.
This post is for all those parent-coaches who aren’t sure where to start and may be wondering what in the world they got themselves into. Let me start by saying, we appreciate you stepping up and “taking one for the team” so all of our kiddos have a place to play and fall in love with the game! I know how hard the position of coach can be, especially if you have little to no experience with the game.
Coaches move right into hitting fly balls or turning double plays in the first few practices without covering the basics of what they’re looking for. I remember watching a coach, run a fly ball drill, and each athlete wasn’t performing as the coach had expected them to. A majority of their players weren’t using the correct footwork to move to the ball. At this particular practice, they had a college player as a guest. This player was executing the drill properly, dropping her hips and crossing over to move to the ball. She was eventually highlighted to the other girls, and immediately everyone’s performances improved. The rest of the team suddenly understood what was expected of them, and they were then able to perform properly.
As the coach is going through this checklist, they should also be demonstrating each aspect so the athletes know exactly how to execute the drill. This is beneficial even for the things that seem simple. For instance, there are multiple ways to break down after hitting the bag. Be explicit with your instruction and demonstration. Make sure your athletes know that you want their hips to drop while their head turns sharply to the right after hitting the bag allowing them to stop in an athletic position just a few feet past the bag. Go through each objective and make them repeat it out loud:
I learned to push my skill level by keeping the mindset that the team’s success was more important than my own.
loved most. Creating that unique bond with your teammates is something I haven’t found in any other environment in my life. When you know that the people around you care just as much or more about your success then they do about theirs is an indescribable feeling. It’s why teams become families and create bonds that last a lifetime. With so much focus on individual success and college scholarships a lot of athletes are missing out on what it feels like to be a true teammate.
One Game, One Love. 