I’d like to open this article with a brief story about Eric. He decided to join the wrestling team as a freshman in high school, without any experience or real understanding of the sport. But, to his credit, he was looking for a challenge; something that others described as hard, beyond his own experiences, and something he thought he could learn to be good at. In his first two years, he became “good” – he won more than he lost, had mastered a few techniques, and was developing a positive reputation around campus. As a junior, he set his sights on higher accomplishment. Eric decided he wanted to qualify for the California State Tournament. He worked tirelessly, committing himself to summer training, spring tournaments, and fall workouts, as well as rigorous intensity and discipline in the winter season. Soon after setting this lofty goal, he began to struggle. He was frustrated, and began to question if he could reach what he had set out to do. One specific frustration was a certain opponent he faced multiple times. Early in his junior year, the other kid beat him soundly and often. As time went on, Eric found himself in closer scoring matches with the other kid, but unable to win. In his senior season, they met five times with the other kid winning the first four. But in their last match, the state qualifying match, Eric ended up winning a one-point decision that was followed by an eruption of triumphant emotion. His goal was met by outperforming a long-time foe.
Though you may not know Eric personally, you likely know someone like Eric. An athlete, teammate, or opponent you have watched grow over time, and along the way gaining your respect and admiration. Many might explain his accomplishment as a simple result of “hard work”. But reality is that he needed to change his approach. What happened was Eric shifted his focus from “winning the right matches” to “how good can I wrestle (sic execute) in matches?” His approach in practice became one in which he competed with himself to be a little bit better than he was the day before.
Whether you are a coach or an athlete, there are a few things you can do to become more like Eric; to be focused on growth to increase the likelihood you will reach your outcome goals. The first step is to take a challenge approach. This is much different than using threats and punishment to force progress. Instead, ask for energy and high effort in practice and training. This includes sidestepping the temptation of praising the “winner” in drills and practice competitions, and instead praising the athletes who are giving their best. As an athlete, it means taking time to acknowledge when you have really given all you have regardless of the “score”, and recognizing improvements you have made in your execution.
A second approach is to adopt the “One More” philosophy. This should not be confused with the idea that you need to do one more repetition to prove your commitment (this can actually be dangerous). Rather, this is the intention of working to execute this time better than the last, whether that means in consecutive sequences of reps, or since the last time you executed the drill or play. What is important to note here is that you must also allow for mistakes while the focus is on the effort to improve. From a mental standpoint, the actual outcome of execution is far less important than the mental focus and attention given to how you are executing. This helps an athlete build higher self-awareness of correct execution, and confidence that he can perform in future competition while focusing on other cues in the environment.
Competing with yourself in practice and training has other benefits. Perhaps most importantly is higher motivation. Without the threat of having to compete with others for time or position, without having to “please the coach”, the athlete now is incentivized to give more. This also creates an environment of energy, passion, and intensity. Athletes begin to feed off of one another, share their enjoyment for doing something well, and begin to encourage each other for more. This also then breeds a culture of positive report. Athletes and coaches begin to build trust amongst themselves, and the end result is higher commitment to continued improvement.
So, where to start? Begin by identifying and communicating the goal and purpose of activity in practice. Provide the “why”, and then describe what the “next level” would look like or feel like as it won’t be the same for everyone involved. Help athletes understand objectively where their current ability is, as well as the next step up. Often this can be done by sharing stories like the one at the top of this article; a relevant example that highlights a relatable experience (aspirations and struggles), while describing how accomplishment occurred (productive focus and attitude). Once the work starts, coaches facilitate athlete a competitive environment by publicly recognizing effort and accuracy in execution (not wins). This encourages others to imitate the action as they also seek praise and self-improvement.
To summarize, help yourself or your team get better by building a competitive environment. Success in competition requires the courage to face adversity, without worry of failure, and confidence in what you can strive to do. By developing a culture that asks for best effort to improve what you do, you increase the likelihood you will perform at a high level when the stress of competition arrives. Should you find yourself wanting specific guidance in this area, why wait? Make the call, bring in an expert.