It is that time of the year.
Over the next few weeks of the high school season we all will have the pleasure of seeing players (and teams) competing at a high level.
I have written often about competing in this blog… I just did a search to see how many of my posts contained the words “compete”, “competing” and “competitor” and stopped counting after 50.
My catch phrase (my very domain name) “You Can Do More” is an entreat to compete!
I have not written about competing at a high level… and there is a difference.
Competing… and learning how to compete… is really ALL mental … as the rest of my phrase indicates… “your brain is lying to you… Don’t Believe It!”
To compete you don’t have to be a skilled athlete… or really an athlete at all.
You don’t have to be in great shape… or have learned good technique… you just need to give your best… a great… effort. We all have seen… and probably coached players (and teams) that were not the most skilled… the most athletic… but still competed well.
But competing at a high level requires much more…. and the teams that continue to advance through the playoffs over the next few weeks will be doing, and will have done the “much more” that it takes to compete at a high level.
To me, for an individual to compete at a high level means that they have done everything in their power to make themselves mentally AND physically into the best player they can be…. a team competing at a high level means that the coach has engineered the same preparation to the bulk of the athletes (and coaches) on that squad.
The individuals competing at a high level will be in shape, strong, fast, use great technique, will be mentally prepared and confident in their training… they will reach down and Do More!
Teams that advance these next weeks will exhibit the same characteristics… great team speed and strength… mentally sharp, focused, confident and making few mistakes…. these teams will find a way to Do More… find a way to get it done.
Over the next month it will be fun following individual players and teams that have put the work in required to compete at a high level… good luck to you all.
“Big time players make big time plays in big time games”…. “The cream will rise to the top”…
Related Posts:
- Learning How to Compete
- What Your Athletes Really Want From You
- You Can Do This
- Achieving True Confidence
Remember – You Can Do More… your brain is lying to you…. Don’t Believe It!
Jeff Floyd – youcandomore1@yahoo.com