Mistakes are inevitable, even with the most accomplished athletes make mistakes. Great athletes and great teams have a common mindset about mistakes: they don’t fear them, they put mistakes immediately behind them, and they learn from them. To help your athletes develop this mindset, adopt a simple concept popularized by the Positive Coaching Alliance, known as the “mistake rituals” (see ideas below). This simple action normalizes mistakes and allows players to quickly “reset” for the next play. Teams that play without fear of mistakes are more assertive and instinctive, and that translates to winning more.

Here’s a comment I received from a coach yesterday:

“Kathy, I downloaded your book via US Lacrosse.  I could not help but be struck by the connection between what I saw yesterday in Boston at the NCAA LAX finals and the material in your book.  Syracuse was down by 3 with 5 minutes to go. They were down by one with 5 seconds to go.  They tied and then won in overtime.  The last five minutes of that game were a living example of  what should and should not be done inbetween plays – the mental toughness.  The game demonstrated beautifully the value of haivng a mistake ritual. If only Cornell had read your book!

Timothy Donley
GHS High School Lacrosse
Bowling Green, KY

 

Develop rituals that allow players to quickly move on after making mistakes.

You’ve seen this scene countless times during school competitions: a player makes a mistake, and the coach reacts with exasperation or disgust. The player, acutely aware of the coach’s reaction, immediately becomes tentative and ineffective, afraid to make another mistake.

Now imagine a similar circumstance with a different team: a player makes a mistake, and she quickly wipes her hand across her forehead and glances to the bench, where her coach and several teammates also wipe their brow. Then the athlete confidently moves on to the next play with the same focus and intensity she had before making the mistake.

What’s the difference? In the second scenario, the coach had developed a simple ritual, used in practice and in games, to remind her players to bounce back from mistakes. In this case, the tactile mnemonic of wiping her forehead with her hand symbolizes how the team quickly “wipes off” a mistake, forgets about it, and moves on to the next play. The “wipe off,” or “no sweat,” symbol is used whenever players need to be reminded to put a mistake behind them.

In addition to the “wipe off,” here are other variations of the mistake ritual:

• Flushing (basketball, baseball, softball): This originated with Mike Legarza, formerly the men’s basketball coach at Canada College in Redwood City, California. When a player makes a mistake, his teammates and even the coach make the motion of flushing a toilet (symbolizing that mistakes stink and you need to get rid of them). Many other teams, including the 2004 College World Series Champions, Cal State Fullerton, successfully use variations of the “flush” ritual.
• Walk Away (tennis, volleyball, baseball, softball, golf): In the first few seconds following a mistake, the player turns their back on the mistake and “walks away” from it. It’s important to maintain a strong, confident posture while walking away.
• Bounce Up (football): Anytime a player finds themselves on the ground (tackled, tripped, missed a catch, and so on) they immediately “bounce up” off the ground as quickly as they can. This signals them to get up, move on quickly, and get ready for the next play, as opposed to languishing on the ground and lamenting the mistake.
• Double Clap (football, basketball): Often when athletes make a mistake, they slap their hands together in frustration and say “shoot” or an expletive. A “double clap” ritual punctuated with a “Come on!” helps them keep their head up and focus on what’s next.
• Throw it Away (soccer, lacrosse): The athlete actually mimics the motion of throwing the mistake away. In soccer, it’s usually a low throw on the side as they are hustling back. In lacrosse, a player may make a quick over-the-shoulder throwing motion with their stick.
• Snap (All sport): Athletes wear a rubber band on their wrist that they snap after a mistake, which reminds them to “snap back” into action and prepare for the next play.

Remember – it’s not the mistake that matters, it’s how you respond to it!

When someone walks into your office (or gym, locker room, etc.) what is his or her first impression of you and you’re program? What’s the impact on prospective athletes, parents, professors or teachers? Does your “space” accurately reflect what you stand for as a coach?

 

Successful coaches take responsibility for their immediate surroundings and its influence on others. They intentionally structure their coaching environment in ways to reinforce what they stand for. They customize and care for the places that support them: office, gym, locker room, car and home.

 

I recently interviewed Eric Reveno, men’s basketball coach at the University of Portland. In just his third season with the Pilots, Reveno has helped revive the program. During our conversation in his office, Coach Reveno discussed some of the changes he made after arriving on campus. One of the first changes occurred in his office. Out went the couch, coffee table and the mini refrigerator. In came the round conference table and chairs. Coach Reveno wanted a space for his players to work on their studies and receive help if they needed it. His office is not a place to hang out on the couch and snack!

 

What does your space say about you? Look around your office, your gym, your field and your locker room. Imagine you are seeing them for the first time. If you’ve been there a long time and can’t objectively see it anymore, ask a trusted friend for feedback. If your office isn’t saying what you want it to say, note what’s missing and brainstorm ways to bring it into alignment.

Coach, speaking from over twenty years of experience, I know that we expect our athletes to show up for both competition and practice with their Game Face on. We want them to maintain their Game Face on the playing field no matter what. Do we hold ourselves to the same standard? The great ones do.

I believe the saying “A team is a reflection of its coach.” The best coaches lead by example, so if you want your athletes to have great Game Faces, you need one, too.

What does your Game Face Routine look like on the sidelines? How do you:

1. react to things that happen on the playing field?

2. recover between plays and during time outs, penalties, and intermissions?

3. get ready mentally for the action to resume?

4. use rituals to stay focused during the action?

I told you how I learned about my coaching Game Face the hard way. For a refresher check out the post “Caught On Tape” posted on 4-8-09.

What your athletes see when they look toward the sideline during competition. Do they see Game Face, or do they see upset, frustration, and negativity? You set the tone for your players. Be sure to reflect back to them what you want to see on the playing field.

I just finished my first book, Get Your Game Face On! The book teaches athletes (and coaches) how the get their Game Face on and keep it on under pressure. My vision is that “Game Face” training becomes a normal, everyday part of sport training.  Although I will be publishing the book in paperback, I am making the e-book version available free to all coaches for a limited time as a way of giving back and contributing to the overall coaching body of knowledge.

Watch for the email announcement coming soon to get your FREE copy of Get Your Game Face On!

Crowd noise. Cameras. Tricks by the opponent. Fans. Family. These are just a few of the distractions athletes face during competition – especially post season play. Maintaining focus and concentration for the entire contest is a huge task. Peak performance occurs when you are thinking in the here-and-now. Thinking about the past can lead to distractions, while thinking about the future can lead to choking.

Introduce your athletes to the three-second rule to deal with distractions in the moment. Train them to deal with distraction in three seconds or less. Some athletes use trigger words to bring them right back to the action. Examples include “Right back,” “Right here – right now,” “Focus,” and “Snap back.” In addition, have them try a quick visualization where they see themselves effectively dealing with the distraction in the moment.

An off-field process for dealing with distractions involves having your team list all the possible things that might distract them. Once each person has their list, then brainstorm in small groups ways to deal with each one. If they get stuck, encourage them to seek input from you or more experienced teammates. Then have your athletes visualize their new rituals.

 

The following chart summarizes antidotes to distractions:

 

On field	Off field
· Use the three-second rule.	· List all possible distractions.
· Use trigger words.	· Brainstorm responses.
· Visualize your responses.	· Visualize your new rituals.

 

Building and maintaining confidence is a daily practice. Here are some suggestions that apply to you as a coach AND can help your athletes build their confidence:

 

1. Be prepared! The more prepared you feel, the higher and more stable your confidence level. Make everything more precise: your practice plans, your diet, your game-day preparation and your sleep schedule.

 

2. Tune into your confidence formula. What kinds of practices make you feel the most confident? What drills? Is there a particular person whose advice gives you confidence?

 

3. Set realistic yet challenging goals. Have daily, weekly and monthly performance goals and keep a record of your results. These should be goals you have full control over – as opposed to winning and losing – which are not in your control.

 

4. Get fit! Top performers know the connection between feeling confident and being physically fit.

 

5. Build strong, supportive self-talk. Do this in the same way you build physical strength: through repetition.. Confidence is a FEELING – as such it is powerfully influenced by what you think, what you say to yourself and how you act! Negative or sloppy thinking tears away at precious confidence levels.

 

6. Learn from failures, then dump them. If you have a bad loss or practice, face it, take away whatever positive lessons you can, then forget about it. Leave the past failures behind. Don’t carry mistakes with you – correct them, then move on.

 

Remember:

“Success is never permanent. Failure is never failure. The only thing that really counts is to never, never, never give up”

- Winston Churchill