Wednesday, January 23, 2013

BIG GAME PREPARATION

Here some more "process-oriented" thinking to share with your team.  We are heading into a game with Mississippi State on Thursday night and their head coach was a long-time assistant coach here for the Aggies.  We want to make sure that we "remove all clutter" during our preparation and focus on being consistent and relentless in our execution.  We actually gave the following to our team today as a passout.

The athlete’s mind should be on doing all the things she always does to prepare and to perform — without changing any aspect of that mental routine. She doesn’t plan to “try harder,” because this game “really matters.” She doesn’t entertain a win-or-else approach. She stays balanced and focused on the task, as always. Consistently and relentlessly. That should be the goal for an athlete, and intrusive points of view — such as the “urgency” and special meaning of an upcoming event — are likely to be counterproductive.


From “Coaching The Mental Game” by H.A. Dorfman