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Be Sure to Align Your Expectations with Your Work Ethic
Fall is often the time of year when players get a new start. Maybe they joined a new team that plays at a higher level and has a great track record of success.
Maybe they finally started getting private instruction, or made a decision to try a new instructor who has a strong reputation for turning out champions.
Maybe they hired a trainer to help them get bigger, stronger, faster, and/or more agile than they’ve ever been. Maybe it’s some combination of those things, or even something else we haven’t already named.
Whatever it might be, the fact that they took an action to make a change might just be a sign of better days ahead.
Or it may not be. Because there is one other factor that has to be taken into consideration before any of those other changes take effect: whether your personal work ethic is in line with what you’re hoping to get out of those other changes.
Here’s why that’s so critical.
Let’s say we’re talking about changing teams, whether you joined a new travel team or went through the portal and are now with a new college team. On your previous team you were clearly one of the best players.
Part of the reason for that, though, was that your old team didn’t practice that much, and your teammates didn’t practice on their own. You were more athletic than your teammates – and maybe bigger and stronger – so you just naturally were better.
On this team, though, everyone is at your level athletically (or better), and both they and the team practice more. Suddenly this great team you joined because you wanted to play at a higher level is going to require a lot more work.
If you’re not willing to give up that much of your free time, or you want to still do a whole lot of other things (play other sports, be in a theater group, pursue time-intensive hobbies, etc.), you may have to lower your expectations for what your role will be on this team.
Then there’s getting in with that instructor who you’ve heard so many great things about. You walk in with a lot of anticipation, hoping to catch a little of that magic they seem to be dispensing to others.
After the first couple of lessons, however, you start to wonder when the magic part will come out. Because while your expectations for going to this coach were that you would become a superstar by association, the reality is the actual magic happens in-between the lessons when you work on your own.
And if you’re still more dabbling at it than dedicating yourself to making the changes that coach is asking you to make, you’re not going to see much difference. You will not only need to put in the time, but you’re probably going to have to do things differently than you’re used to doing them – no matter how much you liked doing them your way.
Basically, you’re going to have to get comfortable with being uncomfortable for a little while, even if the short-term results aren’t as good as they were before. If you’ve made a good decision about your coach, the results will come in time.
The thing people often don’t tell you is that highest performers in any field are dedicated to doing more. Not just in terms of volume, although that is often a factor. But in terms of precision.
They are constantly looking for ideas and adjustments that can help them get better. Even if it’s just 5% better.
And they don’t just try it once and, if it doesn’t help, go back to what they were doing before. They give it an honest chance, through multiple repetitions, constantly looking for feedback to make sure they’re doing what they’re supposed to be doing.
If it doesn’t, they don’t get disappointed. They simply look at it as learning one more way not to do whatever they’re trying to do so they can stay focused on what does work.
We’ve all heard the saying, “Winners train. Losers complain.” It is so true.
Winners don’t go out expecting to win because they are so great. They expect to win because they know they have put in the effort that will lead them to those wins.
It’s easy to daydream of greatness. We all love to do it.
But if you have ambitions of seeing those daydreams turn into reality, be sure your work ethic is aligned with your expectations. Otherwise, you’re just chasing rainbows.
Don’t Just Put In the Time – Put In the Effort
One of the most common questions coaches get at the end of a lesson or practice session is, “How long and how often should my daughter practice?”
While it’s a legitimate concern – parents want to their daughters get the full benefit and they get a better return on their investment – I tend to think they’re asking the wrong question. Here’s the reason: practicing is not actual time-based; it’s quality-based.
Take two players who are at the same skill level and have been assigned the same drill(s) as “homework:”
- One diligently does the homework, being mindful of her movements and attempting to execute the skill the way she has been taught. She does this for 20 minutes three times before she has her next lesson.
- The other goes out to practice for a half hour three days a week between lessons. But she doesn’t like doing drills because it’s “boring,” so she instead just decides to pitch from full distance or take full swings or field ground balls hit by a partner etc. the whole time.
Which one do you think will show improvement in the aspect that needs the most help as well as in the overall skill?
Player two put in more time – an extra half hour to be exact. If time were the only factor that counted she should do better at the next lesson.
But I will tell you from experience, and bet you dollars to donuts, that player two will be the one who is most likely ready to advance further at the next lesson. She may not have put in as much time, but she put in more effort to solve her biggest issues – the one that is most limiting her.
So if she’s a pitcher who was straightening out her arm on the back side of the circle, she is now far more likely to have a nice elbow bend or “hook” as her arm gets ready to throw the ball. If she is a hitter who was dropping her hands straight to her waist before swinging, she’s far more likely to be keeping them up and turning the bat over to get the ball.
That’s because she mindfully worked at changing what she was doing. She is serious about improving so she put in the effort to make those changes.
Player two, on the other hand, actually put herself further away from her goals by practicing as she did, because all she did was reinforce the poor mechanics she should be trying to move away from.
Yes, she put in the time and could mark it down on a practice sheet, but she didn’t put in the effort. Without the effort to improve, the time is pretty much meaningless.
She would have ended up in exactly the same place at best if she hadn’t practiced at all. And she may have ended up further behind because now those extra reps with the wrong techniques will make it that much more difficult to get her to the right path.
If your daughter is going to spend her valuable time on practicing her softball skills, or anything else for that matter, make sure it’s on something that will help her advance her abilities forward.
Have her make the effort to concentrate specifically on the areas that need improvement rather than spending all her time making full pitches, full swings, etc. and you’ll see faster progress that leads to greater softball success.
P.S. For any parents of my students who may think I’m talking about their daughter, don’t worry. I’m not. It’s a big club. But do keep it in mind as you work with your daughter anyway!
