THINGS WE HAVE TO LEARN EVERY YEAR (PART II)

Your Team Is Never As Tough As They Can Be And You Can Never Assume They Are Tough Enough

When looking in the dictionary you see descriptions for toughness such as: hard to break but not necessarily hard to bend, difficult to get the better of, apt to be aggressive, able to resist, etc. When we think of toughness we immediately think of mental toughness and then physical toughness.

LET ME SAY AT THE OUTSET THAT A TEAM WILL NEVER BE TOUGH WHEN THEY ARE COACHED BY A STAFF OF COACHES WHO ARE NOT.

The hardest thing we have to do each day as coaches is saddle up and face the day with the attitude we want our players and team to adopt.

WE CANNOT SELL THEM SOMETHING THAT WE DO NOT OWN.

My most difficult task as coach is to be tougher on myself and more demanding than I was the day before.

THIS IS ESPECIALLY IMPORTANT WHEN YOUR PROGRAM IS WINNING GAMES.

For every 100 who can handle failure, there is but one who can handle success. Winning can weaken the resolve of those who worship winning and do not plan, practice, play and coach to a higher standard.

THE BEHAVIOR OF YOUR PLAYERS IN THEIR ACCEPTANCE OF FATIGUE, BAD CALLS, TURNOVERS, MISSED SHOTS, BEING OPEN AND NOT GETTING THE BALL, HARRASSMENT FROM THE OPPOSING FANS, TRASH TALK FROM OPPONENTS, AND THEIR TEAMMATES' FAILURES AND SUCCESSES will tell you all you need to know about how well you are teaching the life long lessons of toughness.