FLUSH THE PAST, PLAY IN THE PRESENT

In 2004, Ken Ravizza, renowned sports psychologist, installed a miniature toilet in the Cal State Fullerton dugout so players could mentally flush their mistakes. The team was 15-16 before the toilet and 32-6 after. The Titans won the College World Series that year.

Baseball, it's often said, is a game of failure. The best hitters fail at least 60 percent of the time. The best pitchers still give up towering home runs. Keeping past failures from creeping into the present is what Ravizza's approach is all about.

"It's about being where you need to be when you need to be there," he said. "It's about getting to the next pitch. Confidence isn't swagger. Confidence is being prepared to win the next pitch. Swagger is overrated. You're not that crappy where you have to have swagger. Be ready for the next pitch."

From an article by Mark Saxon for ESPN.com

CHAMPIONS BELIEVE THEY LEARN AND GROW FROM ADVERSITY

"If it weren't for the dark days, we wouldn't

know what it is to walk in the light."

-Earl Campbell

Champions believe if you remove the adversity, you remove the victory.  As a result, they tend to view adversity as a challenge through which learning and growing occurs.  Their world view is evident in the way they describe the adversities they face. While average people choose the path of least resistance, world-class performers operate at a higher level of awareness.  They understand that stress and struggle are the key factors in becoming mentally tough.  While average people watch television and hang out at happy hour, the great ones continue to push themselves mentally and physically to the point of exhaustion.  Only then will you see them in rest and recovery situations.  Adversity to average people equals pain.  Adversity to world-class performers is their mental training ground.  It's how they become mentally tough.  Average people scorn adversity.  Those who are world class don't welcome adversity; yet they see it as the ultimate catalyst for mental growth, as well as the contrast needed to recognize the beauty of life.

From "177 Mental Toughness Secrets of the World Class" by Steve Siebold

LESSONS LEARNED FROM CHUCK TANNER

The first full spring training I was lucky enough to have Chuck Tanner, who'd just managed the Pittsburgh Pirates to victory in the 1979 World Series, mentoring me. Chuck laid out a three-pronged approach for me.

The first aspect was physical: make sure that everything about your players -- their legs, their core, their arms, their hands -- is in shape.  All the baseball activities -- taking ground balls and fly balls, batting practice, were a part of that conditioning. We sometimes had the guys take upward of two hundred swings a day, toughening their hands and their muscles.

The second of Chuck's keystones was the fundamentals.  All those "routine" plays, all those pieces that get executed hundreds of times over the course of a season -- they all needed to be practiced mercilessly.  The way you make those fundamentals sound is to do the right thing over and over to the point where it becomes automatic and you can make the plays by pushing that figurative button that allows you to execute them. As a result of that kind of preparation, you won't get bogged down by those routine plays.

The third and final preparation that Chuck convinced me was a crucial part of spring training was also the most important: you want to walk out of spring training mentally strong.  Part of this mental strength comes from players having a good baseball IQ.  If a player doesn't understand the rationale for, say, moving a runner over or guarding the line, he's not going to be as big of an asset to the club as someone who understands all parts of the game.  The litmus test is if you can look at the scoreboard and have it tell you what you should be thinking.

The second part of the mental side, the more critical aspect, is getting players to understand that "mental toughness" is something they can acquire.  If they decide to make something important, then they can make it happen.  It's all about making a choice -- you can be tough, you can play through a minor injury, you can get through a slump.  It's all about control and knowing that you possess it, but it's your choice whether or not you activate it

From "One Last Strike" by Tony La Russa

HAVING FUN IS DOING HARD THINGS WELL

Once, at the end of a hellacious, close, hard-fought game against archrival North Carolina, Coach K knelt down in our tense, pressure-packed huddle.  I think we all expected a fiery statement from him, loud and with veins popping out of his neck, on the raw intensity and toughness we needed to finish this game and win it.

Instead, Coach K surprised us.  He looked right at us, smiled and said, "Isn't this fun?"

His message was clear, and it had a relaxing effect in such a frenzied, tense and pressure-filled environment: This is important and we have a job to do, so play your ass off and play to win.  He was reminding us to embrace and enjoy the richness of the experience and to savor the journey, in both peaks and valleys.  This is a game that is supposed to be fun.  So let's make it fun.

Having fun is doing hard things well.

When I look back, none of my fondest memories are of easy games.  They are of the tough games, the games and practices when we had to lay it on the line, and things were the toughest.

From "Toughness" by Jay Bilas

TOUGHEST COMPETITORS REACT POSITIVELY TO PRESSURE

In anything important, there will be pressure.  Everybody feels it, but the toughest competitors react positively to that pressure.  Competitors want to be at their best under pressure, and but putting yourself in pressure situations as often as possibly, you are acclimating yourself to that pressure, and the pressure will be less likely to get in the way of your performance.

"We put our players in stressful situations all the time in practice, especially end-of-game situations," Tom Cream said.  "We put pressure on them, and we let them figure it out under great stress, together.  Did we work to get and take the right shot?  Did we do the tough necessary to get the right shot?"

From "Toughness" by Jay Bilas

THE NEXT PLAY MENTALITY

The first handout we gave to our team at the beginning of this season was on Coach K's "Next Play" mantra (you can see it at the bottom of this post).  We spoke to them not only in terms of having a Next Play Mentality in games, but in practice, in class and in life.  It was interesting to read Jay Bilas' thoughts on it in his book "Toughness."  The Next Play Mentality is part of understanding that process is more important than results because it is the process that leads to the result.  Here is what Bilas says about the Next Play:

When something happened in the game, positive or negative, we were conditioned by Coach K to immediately move on to the next play without concern over what had just taken place.  If we committed a turnover or made a costly mistake, he did not want us to react to the error.  If we lingered on the past play, perhaps we would miss an opportunity to get a stop or a steal or otherwise impact the game in a positive manner.  Essentially,by not moving on to the next play immediately, we would be compounding that mistake, either by making another or by missing an opportunity to make a great play.  Failing to move on to the next play was itself a mistake, because it took focus and concentration off of the current moment, the only point in time that we could do something positive to impact the game.

If we just reacted to the mistake by throwing up our hands, shaking our heads or cursing our failure, we would be making a bigger error -- one of omission.

For Krzyzewski, it is one of the best concepts in his coaching paradigm, and in his life.  "By moving on to the next play, concentrating and trying to move to the next thing, you have a better chance to be your best at that moment," Krzyzewski said.  "You have to be tough enough to move on, whether the last play was or crappy.  It takes real mental toughness."

COACH MEYER DICTAPHONE NOTES: SEGMENT #5

JORDAN: HE HATED TO LOSE

Here are some older post from our blog for athletes, Hoop Boost.  This was a 3-part series on Michael Jordan on how much he hated to lose.  These are great reads for your players.

JORDAN: He Hated to Lose (Part 3)

JORDAN: He Hated to Lose (Part 2)

JORDAN: He Hated to Lose (Part 1)

GET THE JOB DONE

You are there to "get the job done" -- not just merely to "do your best."  I recall the shock of recognition, many years later, when I tripped over a Churchill note that went like this: "It is not enough to do your best -- you must succeed in doing what is necessary."

From "The Little Big Things: 163 Ways to Pursue Excellence" by Tom Peters

IT'S ABOUT THE JOURNEY -- DON'T PASS IT UP

A popular activity for tourists in Switzerland is mountain climbing -- not the type of climbing that the world-class mountaineers do to scale the world's highest peaks.  Maybe it would be more accurate to call it high-altitude hiking.  Groups depart from a "base camp" early in the morning with the intention of making it to the top of the mountain by mid-afternoon.

I talked to a guide about his experiences with these groups and he described and interesting phenomenon.  He said that for most of those expeditions, the group stops at a halfway house where the climbers have lunch, catch their break, and prepare for the last leg of the rigorous climb.  In variable some members of the group opt for the warmth and comfort of the halfway house and decide not to climb to the top.  As the est of the group leaves, the ones who stay are happy and talkative.  It's a part. But when the shadows begin to lengthen, many make their way over to the window that looks up the mountain.  And the room gets quiet as they wait for the climbers to return.  Why is that?  They realize they've missed a special opportunity.  Most them will never be in that part of the world again.  They won't every have a chance to climb that mountain again.  They missed it.

That's what it's like when people don't make the most of their talent, when they don't believe in themselves and their potential, when they don't act on their belief and try to make the most of every opportunity.

From "Talent Is Never Enough" by John Maxwell

SUPREME PREPARATION

"The night before a game I lie down, close my eyes, relax my body and prepare myself for the game.  I go through the entire lineup of the other team, one batter at a time.  I visualize exactly how I am going to pitch to each hitter and I see and feel myself throwing exactly the pitches that I want to throw.  Before I ever begin to warm-up at the ballpark, I've faced all the opposition's hitters four times and I've gotten my body ready for exactly what it is I want to do."

-Nolan Ryan

NICK SABAN ON BEING A RELENTLESS COMPETITOR

As those who follow my blog know, I am a big believer in the teaching methods of Nick Saban. First hand following during his tenure at LSU and learning about his thoughts on being "process oriented" has had a strong impact on my coaching experience. Coach Don Meyer would always speak at clinics and tell us that all coaches should study John Wooden. I think always coaches today should study Nick Saban. And, as Coach Meyer would be the first to point out, studying a coach doesn't mean we do everything that coach does. Look for those things that will apply to your program and your philosophy.

Here is a video that I came across that we show our team next week before our first day of practice. I think it is simply incredible. The greatest of coaches are the great of communicators. They can hold an audience with their words and their actions. They can paint word pictures to help the audience visualize. You can sense the passion in their voices. They can take the complicated and communicate simply. Coach Saban is such a coach -- a teacher.

8 PRINCIPLES OF SUCCESSFUL LIVING

The following comes the LLABB blog written by my friend Sefu Benard.  Sefu's blog is incredible and one of my "must reads."  I especially like the following post he placed a few years ago but brought it back to life on his facebook page:

To achieve success and fulfillment in virtually any endeavour one wishes to undertake, there is a common set of conditions that must be met. Every great man and woman throughout the pages of history has been a living testament to the prerequisites of achievement, which I call the “Eight Principles of Successful Living.”

PRINCIPLE #1: A White Hot Desire
Nothing of any real consequence happens until a person becomes passionate about achieving a specific outcome or objective.

Lukewarm desire does not work! Passion stimulates power!

Tentative actions stem from tentative thoughts. Both lack the power to self motivate or influence others. Tentative thoughts produce weak emotions, which create a disappointing outcome or circumstance. People who ultimately achieve their dreams start with and sustain a powerful passion for doing so, regardless of the circumstances they meet along the way.

A white hot desire to have the things you want must be matched with an equal desire to develop the knowledge and skills necessary to justify having them. Understanding this premise is essential to all achievement. The lack of this understanding is the primary reason for most of our failures.

Remember: Desire breeds Determination, which is expressed in Dedication!

PRINCIPLE #2: Never Wait To “Feel” Motivated
One of the greatest misconceptions about becoming successful is the idea that you should “feel good” or “motivated” before you act. Motivation almost always follows action, but seldom precedes it. As Emerson said: “Do the thing and you shall have the power.” Champions commit to disciplined actions and pay very little attention to how they feel.

Remember: Champions don’t prime to perform they perform to prime

PRINCIPLE #3: Goals Are Essential To Success
A person’s power resources are largely invisible. They are housed in the mind and spirit of man. The door to release this power resides in the unconscious mind, but the key to that door is the conscious mind declaring with conviction and accuracy what I t wants.
Goals are absolutely indispensable to success. The unconscious mind demands specific intent, or a goal, in order to function as an optimum achievement mechanism. A conquering current always flows with a powerfully declared specific goal.

Remember: When setting goals, “what I want” will always be equal to “what I don’t want to do, struggle with or overcome to get it”!

PRINCIPLE #4: Total Commitment Is Paramount To Success
The dynamic expression and ultimate evidence of a person’s level of commitment is seen in a constant striving to become exceptional in performance. Thus, actions, not words, are the barometer with which you measure the level of one’s commitment. Total commitment also means that you must be able to accept or include whatever obstacles or roadblocks you might encounter along your road to eventual success.

Success, in reality, is seldom a sprint; most often it is a marathon. To finish, you cannot be content with mediocrity; true commitment won’t allow it.

Laziness and despondency are the saboteurs of commitment, but the ultimate slayers of your commitment will be the critics you listen to from within (“self talk”) or from without when the going gets tough. Self doubt, however imposed or accepted, will sap the strength of your commitment. When doubt comes, and it will, you need to abandon your emotions and rely almost entirely on your faith to be greater than your doubt.

Remember: What one actually does indicates with absolute clarity what one is committed to!

PRINCIPLE #5: Persistence
A determined human spirit is indomitable. Winning in life depends almost entirely on your ability to work hard and persevere. Excitement wears off, but persistence wears down the obstacles between you and success. The price of success is dedication, deprivation, lots of sustained effort and plenty of doubt and loneliness mixed in to test your resolve. Long hours of preparation are often required to hone the skills and develop the knowledge and techniques that will lead to efficiency and performance and ultimate victory.

To succeed greatly, you must sacrifice greatly. The best way to prepare for the sacrifice is to mentally include it as part of the price. “Surrender to purpose” creates an emotional cushion which softens the blow of negative emotions associated with disappointments that accompany striving for greatness.

Persistence is “falling in love” with the tedium of constant practice to become better. You have to be willing to do things over and over again. Consistency is the hallmark of all teachers. It is a quality which allows a person of average ability to be come a huge success. It is a concentrated patience. It deprives failure of the opportunity to become a permanent condition, but most of all, it is the one quality of spirit that transforms a person’s dreams into a loving, dynamic reality. To become a success at something, you must become a master at it. That takes practice and perseverance.

Remember: The house of Mastery sits at the end of Persistence Street!

PRINCIPLE #6: Set Your Mind To Station ‘Win’
It is absolutely amazing to see how many people today are still not aware of the interwoven relationship between the nature of their thoughts and the conditions in their lives. In spite of the fact that every great spiritual teacher, philosopher, poet an d psychologist has taught us about that exact relationship and its significance, most people are still in the dark on this pivotal truth. It is our thoughts that create our motivation to act or not act in any given situation. It is our thoughts about ourselves that determine our capabilities, limitations, “okayness” or “not okayness,” worthiness or unworthiness, lovability or unlovability.

Thus, we think our personal reality into existence. No one else thinks your thoughts but you. No one else is creating your life as it is perceived by you except you. Your thoughts are actually creating your experience of life.

It is your thoughts that trigger your emotions of love or hate, happiness or depression, guilt or serenity, and so it goes, on and on. The relationship between your thoughts, feelings and behaviours is reciprocal. You define yourself and your life by the thoughts you think. Everything you experience in your life is experienced in your mind. We are all trapped by our thoughts, our judgments and interpretations of the events in our lives. It is, therefore, essential that we take control of our thoughts.

Success begins in the mind and it is impossible to achieve while your private beliefs and thoughts are hostile to it. Be aware that any thought that serves to diminish you, your strength, your confidence, your intelligence or your security will produce anxiety and stress. You will deal with that stress and anxiety as your thoughts about them dictate. You will either choose to use the stress and anxiety to perform, or you will retreat into resignation which, in turn, must create more thoughts to perpetrate your misfortune. Thus, we become what we think about! “We reap what we sow” is never truer than in the domain of thought.

To change the conditions of your life you must be willing to correct the thinking that created those conditions. This is what Disraeli meant when he said, “Man is not the creature of circumstances. Circumstances are the creatures of man.” Thoughts, themselves unseen, nonetheless work their effects unerringly. Consequently, you receive what you think about most of the time.

Reveal your dominant thoughts and a person who understands this concept can write an accurate description of your life. Our lives as they are, therefore, are a perfect advertisement of our dominant thoughts. There is a constant creating dialogue between our thoughts and our conditions in life. Change the thoughts, and you eventually change the conditions.

This truth must be too simple to grasp, for too many people never catch on. The works of Dr. William James say it best: “You can alter the conditions of your life by altering your attitudes of mind!”

Remember: You may not always control what happens in your life, but you have absolute control over what you decide to think about what happens. Take control of your thoughts and you take control of your life!

PRINCIPLE #7: Have An Upbeat Vibration As You Work & Live
Enthusiasm is the least expensive yet most effective cosmetic in the world. It is beauty dancing for its own enjoyment. It is the fuel that propels great actions. It is an unequalled attention getter. It is life’s primary expression of appreciation of itself. When combined with sincerity, it is the most enduring of all positive personality traits. It compels us to look for the best in all situations. It makes you a human magnet, pulling close the people and circumstances you need to be involved with to reach your goals. It will transform a sincere wish into a vivid reality. You discover your real self and your talents when you are enthusiastic. As an added bonus, you feel truly alive.

Being “laid back” may be considered a cool attitude in some circles, but the people who get what they want in life are expressive and alive in their actions. They abandon pretense and get flat out excited about what they are doing.

True self expression flows from an enthusiastic spirit. When you are really fired up for the task at hand, you discover who you really are and what your powers to create can actually achieve. In the final analysis, there are only two types of people on the planet: Those who are inspired and those who are not! Uninspired people get what is easily available and not very satisfying.

Remember: Enthusiasm is an art. It must become a learned attitude, totally independent of favourable or unfavourable stimuli.

PRINCIPLE #8: Live Life Now
The achievement resources we have as humans are awesome powers when developed and directed toward specific objectives. The weaving, connecting and maturing influence is TIME. When understood as a limited resource wherein the virtually unlimited resources of our minds express themselves, it becomes crucial to develop a healthy relationship with time. Most people, since they are not specific with their intent, have a neurotic preoccupation with time and its apparent limitations. They are likely to squander it or struggle with not having enough of the stuff to accomplish what needs doing.

The crucial element of time is clearly its use. This is one area where we all unquestionably are created equal. We all get the same amount for doing the deeds of a day. How does one allocate time and on what activities does one spend or invest it? Time in this context becomes a critical factor in achievement. Choice becomes of critical import, as well.

When one chooses to do a particular thing, it requires time. That single choice eliminates all other choices for a specified number of minutes, hours, or days. Now it becomes clear that time is a limited and therefore precious resource which should be invested very wisely.

Would I put my money (resource) in a bank that paid no interest, or in a bond that had no history of positive performance? No! Why? Because it would be an unwise investment. Yet I will seldom audit my use of time, my most precious commodity my life expressing itself in the context of a limitation. Wow! I need to wake up!

Life is NOW experience and if I am to be blessed to be here tomorrow, all I’ll have is another NOW to make it happen.

In conclusion, life is about growth, about “become,” within a limited period of linear time called Earth life. If life is to have meaning, it must have purpose. Purpose on this planet is manifest in the context of time. Becoming all you can be, given y our unusual self, is the ultimate joy life offers. The journey is recorded in time. Its wise use is all you and I have with which to “become” our purpose.

This is a universe of laws and operating principles. Learning comes through concentrated study. Mastery, however, comes through tedious repetition of the principles and rules of the game you are playing. The game you’re playing is LIFE, and every day I s Super Bowl Sunday!

Remember: Life is the ride and Time is the train. Make the most of your trip and become all you can possibly become on your journey.

VALUES TO PLAYING THE GAME

The following comes from "Mental Toughness: Baseball’s Winning Edge" by Karl Kuehl, John Kuehl, and Casey Tefertiller.

Values related to playing the game include:
 
Work ethic. Natural talent can carry a player only so far before someone must learn the proper footwork or better throwing technique to play defense well. A player must ask himself if he is willing to devote the time necessary to improve to the next level.

Proper execution. The amount of value a player places on executing different skills and elements of his game will determine how much he focuses and works on them.

Fortitude. This is the strength of mind that allows one to endure adversity and stand up to difficult tests. Colloquially it can be called guys or backbone.

Tenacity. This means sticking through a task to completion. A player must ask himself if he is willing to fight through the frustration to learn a new skill or improve, or simple to remain motivated when things are going badly.

Taking responsibility. It is easy to avoid responsibility for flaws, errors, and mistakes by blaming others and making excuses. The big problem comes when you make those excuses to yourself. By taking responsibility for your actions, you assert control over what can be accomplished.

Enthusiasm. The player has an advantage if he can muster up the emotions to try to perform well in every game or workout. This is difficult.

Competitiveness. Some of the desire to compete and test one’s abilities against others may come naturally, but placing a high value on competitiveness increases the ability to compete.

Preparedness. This covers both body and mind. It means putting in practice time on the field and mental time off the field.

Rest. Different people require different amounts of rest and relaxation. It is sometimes essential to get away from the rigors of public life to spend a day fishing to recharge, or simply an evening vegging out in front of the TV to relax. There is a difference between necessary diversion and laziness, and that is a line the individual must assess for himself.

RANDOM THOUGHTS ON COACHING (PART IV)

LEADERSHIP

CHUCK NOLL: “We preached that everybody’s a leader. You’re either a negative leader or you’re a positive leader. But everybody contributes, and everybody has to be a part of it. And again, when someone may not be able to carry the load, someone else has to step up. That the whole idea of “whatever it takes.” You’re not always going to be a hundred percent healthy; you’re not always going to meet the same challenge...Everybody’s a leader. Now if you have someone who is a complainer, that guy’s not doing it, a finger-pointer, that’s negative leadership. Leadership comes from everybody.”

LOSING

WOODY HAYES: "There's nothing that cleanses your soul like getting the hell kicked out of you."

LOVE OF YOUR PLAYERS

BO SCHEMBECHLER: “Deep-down, your players must know you care about them. This is the most important thing. I could never get away with what I do f the players felt I didn’t care. They know, in the long run, I’m in their corner.”

LOYALTY

DALE BROWN: “Beware of the treacherous person who pledges loyalty in public then spreads discontent in private. Make every effort to identify and remove them. Leaders are often betrayed by those they trust most.”

MEETINGS

BO SCHEMBECHLER: “The most important meeting you will ever have with your people is your first one—because it is absolutely vital that everyone knows exactly what your values are, from Day One.”

MENTAL TOUGHNESS

PAT SUMMITT: “By doing things when you are too tired, by pushing yourself father than you thought you could -- like running the track after a two-hour practice -- you can become a competitor. Each time you go beyond your perceived limit, you become mentally stronger.”

MENTORING

JOHN WOODEN: “Mentoring is your true legacy. It is the greatest inheritance you can give to others. And it should never end. It is why you get up every day. To teach and be taught.”

MOTIVATION

MIKE KRZYZEWSKI: “My primary task is motivation. How can I get a group motivated, not only to be their individual best, but able to become a better team. I have always said that 'two are better than one, but only if two can act as one.'"

NOTETAKING

BOB KNIGHT: "Everyone remembers more when we write things down.”

ORGANIZATION

BILL WALSH: “The natural tendency for all of us is to major in minors and to give in to the temptation to clear up small things first. After all, small things are easier and they are often more fun than the big, important things that represent the most valuable use of your time. However, the self-discipline of organizing your work and focusing on your highest value tasks is the starting point of getting your time under control and lowering your stress levels.”

TOUGH TEAMS

The following is a passout from Coach Don Meyer.

TOUGH TEAMS…

Win on the road -- Not since 1980 has a collegiate team won a championship with a less than .500 winning percentage on the road. Tough teams win in tough places.

Never get blown out – Only 1 team over the past 25 years has suffered a loss by more than 25 points and gone on to win a championship. Tough teams always give themselves a chance to win.

Set the tone – Tough teams determine how games are played. Tough teams execute and control the tempo.

Always show toughness – When tough teams are down, they do not show frustration. If tough teams are hurt, they do not show pain. The opponent cannot read a tough team.

Are Consistent – Tough teams always show up to play every time they step on the floor. Practice is tougher than games so games become easy.

Respect every opponent – Tough teams understand that every game is important. Tough teams understand that every opponent, no matter what their record or reputation is, can beat them.

Dominate the boards – No team with a negative rebounding margin has won a NCAA Title in the post John Wooden era.

Are identified with toughness – Tough teams play great defense and take pride in it.

Tough teams take charges – Tough teams get on the floor. Tough teams do not turn the ball over. Tough teams believe in the little things.

A GREAT MESSAGE FROM A GREAT COACH

On January 4, Coach Don Meyer stopped by the UCF campus to address our women's basketball team.  He was at his best giving a tremendously enthusiastic message. Here are some of my notes:

Coach Meyer started his message to our team by quoting Doulas MacArthur: “Never give an order that can be understood; always give orders that cannot be misunderstood.”

Talked to our team about the “Foxhole Test.” He said he would give it to his team during the middle of the season after they had been given an opportunity to handle some success and some adversity. We have always done this with our team and it will give you as a coach and your players some great insight.

A player is to place her name in the top slot. She is in the foxhole and they are being fired upon. It’s a life and death situation. She then fills in the name in at the #3 slot which is directly behind her — this is the most important person in the foxhole. She is responsible for having your back. You are not looking to put a buddy or a pal in this slot. You are looking for someone with toughness who is trustworthy. The next slot in terms of importance is #2 because we tend to spend more time looking to our right. This again has to be a person that is tough and that you can count on. The same is true about the final spot — #1. Remember, you are fighting for your life — who do you want in there with you.

"There’s a big difference between playing and competing. Decide on being a competitor. It’s all about toughness. Learning to compete is a life a lesson. I used to lean down and tie my shoe. Now I lean down and put my leg on. I cried the first time I did it.  I’m glad I was taught how to compete."

Competition is also about your ability to think. Smart competitors know when to walk away. Coach Meyer mentioned the fight in the Nebraska-South Carolina bowl game and the Xavier-Cincinnati basketball game.

Your mindset has to be to “bring it everyday.” Coach Meyer mentioned Vanderbilt baseball coach Tim Corbin as an example in the coaching profession.

You can’t pick and choose when to bring it. You can’t just bring it on the days when you feel good. Coach Meyer asked our team if they knew when NBA players were healthy. He told them on the first day of the first practice. After that they had to play through soreness and pain — it’s comes with the territory.

Coach Meyer than went over the Beswick Scale talking about the combination of “Talent” and your “Mindset.”

For instance, if you have a player that gets an A grade in Talent and A grade in Mindset then you have a special player. This player is your hardest worker. He mentioned players like Peyton Manning and Albert Pujols. He explained to our team how precise Pujols is in his performance — locked into routines created by self-discipline. He told the team how much preparation was part of his success—looking at film of his own swing constantly as well as other pitchers.

“Don’t just show up — you have to have a sense of urgency.”

If you get an A grade in Talent but a B grade in Mindset than you are a player that has a poor attention span and doesn’t retain that which is important. He went back to Peyton Manning as an example (A Talent and A Mindset) — drafted with the 1st pick of the NFL draft in 1998. The second pick on that draft was Ryan Leaf (A Talent and A Mindset). The result is that Manning is a future Hall of Fame while Leaf went on to drive a grain truck for his brother.

If you get a B grade in Talent but an A grade in Mindset you’re going to make it over more talented players because of your ability to concentrate and learn.

“Don’t know you are going to win, you must know HOW you’re going to win.”

Coach than stopped and looked at Coach Williams and said “I would’ve wanted my daughter to play for your coach. She’s going to go beyond making you a better player. She cares and will make you a better person.”

He spoke to our team about the importance of “complimentary players” and how you must not only accept your role but embrace your role. It’s important that complimentary players play off the go-to-players. It’s important that the go-to-players know they succeed based on the level of the complimentary players.

Every year the team is different.

Coach talked to our team about the importance of roles. He said they must be clearly defined and that is the role of the coaches. It is important that the player completely understand their roles. It is also important for everyone to know that every part of the team is important.

He talked about players holding each accountable but then was quick to point out that you “can’t confront without credibility.”

He told the story of Mike Ditka calling a team-only meeting with the Cowboys and saying “we know that Coach Landry is not a butt-kicker but I’m here to tell you that I’m going to the Super Bowl this year and anyone that brings their absolute best everyday at practice is going to have to deal with me.” The Cowboys went to the Super Bowl that year.

It’s important that each team has a leader — you can’t replace “internal leadership.”

“Each player has to be his own captain.”

He explained that you make your own luck by playing hard. You’d better not count on luck. Luck might win a game but it will never win a championship.

HOW DO YOU HANDLE SETBACKS: IT'S ALL ABOUT ATTITUDE

Thomas Alva Edison invented the incandescent light bulb, the movie camera and the batteries that start our cars. Toward the autumn years of his life, he worked in a modest building that resembles a barn. There, with his son, Edison would often remain late into the night, laboring to perfect his inventions. One evening, in an attempt to improve the retention of a battery’s charge, an unfortunate combination of chemicals caused his latest experiment to burst into flames. The fire quickly spread through the old wooden structure, and what began as a minor chemical combustion exploded into a towering inferno.

Edison’s son quickly evacuated the building. Using his smock to shield him from the heat of the flames, he desperately called for his father, fearing Edison might still be in the barn trying to save his precious lifework. Running frantically, the young man circled the barn, hoping his father had escaped through another exit. On his second time around the building, he turned a corner and, to his great relief, there stood his legendary father. Edison’s hands were buried deep in his soot-speckled smock, his white hair blackened with ash. He was watching intently as flames devoured the structure.

“Father!” cried Edison’s son. “I was afraid you were still inside!” Without taking his eyes off the flames, Edison said, with a sense of urgency, “Son, go get your mother!”

“Why, dad?”

With a twinkle in his eyes his father replied, “Because your mother comes from a small town and she’s never seen a fire like this before!” When the flames had finished their work, leaving only ash and a twisted frame, Edison turned to his son. “You know anyone who has a tractor?”

“Yes, Dad, but why?”

Edison answered, “Because it’s time to rebuild, Boy. It’s time to rebuild.”

ATTITUDE CAN GIVE YOU A MENTAL EDGE

An attitude can give you the mental edge. It can be the edge over an opponent or a situation.

Emphasize positive experiences
Mentally reliving success helps build confidence that success can be repeated. Remember achievements and use them to create a framework of self-confidence. “I know I can do it because I’ve done it before.”

Commit to the attitude
Only by making a serious and sincere determination to believe in an attitude can it be effective. Attitudes are not about lip service; they demand dedication.

Visualize positive expectations
Sometimes a player needs to stop, shut his eyes, and see himself getting a hit off a tough pitch or pitcher; or a pitcher needs to see himself making a well-executed pitch. The more realistic the visualization, the more impact it will have.

Use self-talk to ingrain attitudes
The player speaks to himself with conviction and emotion until these attitudes become natural, ingrained in the subconscious mind. Understanding the situation and knowing yourself ill dictate the right emotional level for the task, and that level can be controlled by the speed and intensity of self-talk.

Commitment and repetitious affirmations of attitude
As with everything in athletics, attitudes demand practice and regular rededication. A player must reestablish his goals and renew his reasons for providing such intense dedication. The more these thoughts are repeated, the more ingrained they become. Discussing this with a friend or teammate will help affirm the attitude and hold the player accountable.

From "Mental Toughness: Baseball’s Winning Edge" by Karl Kuehl, John Kuehl, and Casey Tefertiller

HELP AN ATHLETE'S MENTAL GAME

The following comes from "Coaching the Mental Game" by H.A. Dorfman:

The coach addresses the mental game by helping the athlete:

To know first and foremose that fear of failure is very common in athletes, though very unpleasant.

To understand that fear of success is just a variation on the theme of fear of failure, and that, though they are situationally different, they are pscholocigally the same: a problem based on self-doubt and eventual failure.

To learn to be aware of irrational thoughts based on consequences of failure.

To define failure, the term, as a failure to reach a goal or accomplish a task, rather than attach to himself the personal label of being a failure.

To recognize what does and does not constitute failure in his performance, meaning that results do not indicate performance failure.  Porr behavior and esxecution do.

To understnad that fear impedes judgemnt.

To thoughtfully scripe out a list of rational thoughts to replace the traditional.

To remember that habit is powerful, and it is therefore important to create the good habit of acting fearless, despite feelings of fear.

To learn to focus on execution, regardless of physical symptoms of fear, thereby detaching himself from emotions and attacking himself to palnned behavior.

To develop a "will to bear discomfort" during competition by focusing on the next tast, rather than on his feeling.

To coach himself through adversity with positive, functional directives and appropriate arousal adjustments -- up or down, based on a whether the system is signaling fight or flight.

To reward himself for good behavior, despite the existence of bad feelings