Helpful Perspectives

Here are a few articles that every player and coach can benefit from. The first is from Dr. Rick McGuire, it's about managing your focus during competition. We have posted some work by McGuire before and we are still big fans of his work.  Click Here 

The second article is by on of McGuire’s students and it is about goal setting. This is a great read for an athlete and his comments are really on point. We strive to get 1% better with each skill we perform at each practice. The article by Rich has a similar theme and it explains the benefits of this approach nicely. Click Here

Lastly, on the subject of perspective, here is a video clip about making mistakes. All too often coaches find that their efforts aimed at improving results, teaching productive work habits, and advancing learning becomes derailed by defensiveness. This defensiveness is often rooted in the athletes fear of "being wrong". "Being wrong" is the moment you realize you have been making a mistake. For some, the only thing worse than knowing they were wrong, is realizing everyone else is aware of their error as well. Many players have been socialized to have a "fixed mindset" and their perception of mistakes becomes destructive to learning. One of the goals of our staff is to help players learn to love corrections and to see the opportunity for change once our errors are understood. We will all make mistakes and our focus must be on improvement. To keep making progress at a high rate we must be willing to face our messy reality and learn from our mistakes, for as the saying goes " to error is human". I hope that this clip will improve some perspectives and allow players to open up to the potential for change that exist in learning when we were wrong.

A Great Read

Recently I  had the opportunity to read the book "Leadership and Self Deception" and I cannot recommend it enough! For everyone who leads and or participates in a competitive environment I can really improve how you navigate the inherent challenges of your situation. Here is a clip from you tube that will give a partial preview of one of the books topic. Our need to be justified and our need to protect our self image/ego can really impact teams dynamics. Players, parents, and coaches can all benefit from this books conflict resolution information. The book also contains information can help us make clearer choices and teaches us to put our own distractions aside and focus on results. 

The most difficult opponent:

           Helping players and coaches see the light about the benefits of a growth mind set at some point will run into the opponent of growth, which is egotism.  While every person has an ego, not every person has the same need to defend, feed, fear, and obey the thoughts generated by our egos. The literature on the fixed mindset does a great job of address the aspects of our persona that is viewable to the public. Often there is discussion about how the public image is the motivator, but I am starting to believe that ego (self image) is the motivator and the fixed mind set is the protector and fuel of the ego.

A story: Working with a player the other day I told her that another kid from our club would be joining us to work on some hitting. This player immediately replied “Oh! Great now I can look like crap hitting next to her”. She and I have worked together for a while and she knows the difference between a fixed and growth mind set. I looked at her and said, “repeat that again”. She repeated the statement and got a touch embarrassed. Then, she started to defend the beliefs that she created with the statement. Sadly, her defense was based on a self-defeating prophecy that in her mind was certainly going to become the reality. The player’s defense sounded something like “She is better than I am and I will look lame hitting next to her.”   After listening to her and telling her that anyone can accomplish anything, I was left to wonder whose judgment she is so concerned about. This player also knows that I am not going to judge her and that I am know she can work and become as accomplished as the other player.  The other player coming in is a nice kid and supportive of everyone, so, she should not be worried about her.  What was going on here?  Ultimately, she was putting her own ego in danger and she was trying to cope with the stress. Her private thoughts of inferiority lead to her thoughts of public humiliation.

Often in the “mindset community” of coaches, I hear that public perceptions are the motivation for everything. However, I am personally stating to believe that our ego or ones “private self” is the real perpetrator.  Here is a quote to make the point, African proverb: “When there is no enemy within, the enemies outside cannot hurt you.” Ego is the greatest opponent and it is really hard to tell the difference between our ego and our own internal voice of reason. How often has a player or coach given a weak effort, rationalized excuses, blamed, and avoided a situation that they felt endangered their own sense of self worth? We all do it too often is the answer. Figuring out how to help players over come the egos voice of fear needs to be part of our goal.

Self-image has a private and public component. How we see ourselves (private), and how we want to be seen (public), are the forces behind our ego.  The Jahori Window Theory gives a great diagram of how this plays out. Under the column, “know to self” you will see Open (public knowledge/image) and Hidden (private knowledge/self-image) these are the two areas in which our ego makes decisions that are designed to keep us feeling good about ourselves. What seems to be key here is the power of the open self to feed the needs of the hidden self. The Blind area on the chart are things about our self that other extrapolate from our actions and this are can yield positive and negative behaviors. This “Blind Spot” creates some fear and anxiety for our ego. The blind spot is where as a coach things often go wrong. When, person hears feedback that is out of line with their self-image/intentions there is usually a defensive reaction. This ego defense can greatly hamper learning and progress. When this situation persists, the egos defense goes on the offense and at that point, coach ability and cooperation are dead.

Helping players see what is really in their blind spot is a tricky thing, and a principal that can help us understand how people see themselves is the understanding that “we judge others by their actions, but we judge ourselves by our intentions”. To understand a person’s motivating thoughts you cannot simply look at their actions. Even when we believe, we understand their attitudes their actions may not be consistent with their overt attitude. According to the Theory of Reasoned Action (Fishbein and Ajzen) we must first understand a person’s “intentions” to predict their actions. Our personal beliefs about the need actions and outcome of our actions, is balanced against the pressure we feel from others and what society tells us about our actions and their results. This all turns into a reaffirming message to our ego, if I do this in this way for these reasons I will believe I am this “X” kind of person. X is the intention by which we judge our self, and the public will see I am person “X” also. Can it be that ego plays a larger role in our intentions? Do we intent to win at all costs (because I am a winner), or do we want to beat others down to lift ourselves up? Do I, intent to do my best and learn from the experience?  

The other day I watched a movie by director Guy Richie titled “Revolver”.  It turns out to be just as good as his other work and this movies twist is that it deals with the human ego.  At the end of the movie, you reflect and understand how ego has driven every characters actions good or bad. There is also interview footage with professionals in the psychologically field. Here is a clip that explains the battle of ego that is played out in the movie.
In the clip the actor Jason Statham is being taught a lesson about his ego and he doesn't know it, you will see that he thinks he is in control but infact Vince Pastore & Andre Benjamin are helping him understand that the real  "opponent"  he is fighting is his own ego.

 

Teaching for learners: We must move at their pace

            I have often heard coaches talking about how they have to get to work and put their mark on the team. People say you have to take what you have learned and make it your own. To that, we say coach it is not about you. You do not need to try to reinvent the wheel when it comes to principals, methods, and systems. The strengths and weakness of the participants (coach and players) will stamp the team with an identity. The team will develop part of its identity because you are the leader and teacher.  The other part should come to life as you teach at the pace of your learners. The ability to learn and perform is the most powerful forces and this is controlled by the players. For coaches the trick to getting ahead is making the best use of our time and the kids effort. 

Being on the same page with the players and presenting the player the right challenge is the key.  Here is where we start:

#1 We need to find out where they are? Stage 1, 2, 3, or 4

#2 We need to assess their ability to self-correct or do they need to earn how?

#3 We need to organize the feed backs focus and the volume of feedback; to work with the stage of learning/competency and their ability to self-correct.

To address these issue we have two testing methods and few recommendations from Ron and Tom. This is information we learned at our coaching work shop.

Our Staff Cheat Sheet:

Tom’s Method:

This is one of the fundamental challenges of coaching and the process of improvement. Because of this, the issue of “what practice activities transfer the most?” is a central question to our practice planning and training environment. We know a few things:

-          If the athlete does it right, and knows they did it right, without feedback, they have come very close to having successfully learned it.

-          If the athlete does it right, repeatedly, without feedback or even awareness, then it has been implicitly learned and is an ingrained motor pattern. This is the goal. We want our athletes to have great mechanics they can rely upon under pressure.

Through extensive work with various coaches, as well as Dr. Richard Schmidt, author of the “Schema Theory” one of the prevailing motor learning works of the past thirty years, we have created a process for this challenge of transfer.

Tutor the Task: This is a small group setting with high reps and high feedback. This is where the athlete learns and thoroughly understands the task we will be working on. The transfer rate is low at this point, but the cognitive phase of learning is being taken care of.

Evaluate the Task: Now, we are playing volleyball. We provide lots of reps and keep score. Every 3 reps, we ask the player “Did you do it?” They can reply “yes” or “no” and we record “opportunities to respond” with “successful opportunities”. We are “extending the leash” at this point. We are allowing for lots of questions, but we are making the athlete process whether or not they are performing the task, and thus increasing their own knowledge of performance within a competitive, game-like setting. The rate of transfer is becoming very high at this point.



Ron going the extra mile to explain a block move
when there was no floor space 

Ron’s Method: 

Now we are playing volleyball and providing no feedback on the task we are tutoring. We are however, recording “opportunities to respond” with “successful opportunities” and at the end of the match, we have our players tell us how they did.

Yes/No 1. Give kid a specific key 2. Have them perform a skill 3. Ask y/n (you’re tracking the progress too) There response will reflect if they understanding of the concept and their awareness in performance. I don’t know works too because it can tell us the kid is not being mindful on the actual key they were asked to focus on. Use in small group tutoring, then use in drills, eventually to games.  Decrease your feedback and increase the kids’ participation.  We are creating mindfulness and mindfulness leads to self-correction.  Change, choice, and principle are the three constants in life according to Stephen Covey

Directing Feed Back: 

Also knowing how direct a players conscious/explicit thoughts is of great importance and knowing when to step back and let them process naturally is of equal importance.

Not everyone responses to the way you would like, learn to say things that work for them.

Here are few notes that will help you work from some different angle on kids you are having a hard time getting through to. Here is the approach of Robert Nideffer

External Focus: A focus on the information that is the result of an action – e.g., the flight of the ball or top spin on the ball

Internal Focus: A focus on the information associated with the movement of the body’s movement in producing the actions – e.g., kinesthetic stimuli –how it feels to swing over the ball

Narrow Focus: Attention is focused narrow range of information sources – e.g., see the hitters shoulder or see the setters angle of release or feel the bend of your knee

Broad Focus: A wide range of information is observed and processed implicitly e.g., see the defenders shift or feel the power of a swing

For more on the work of Nideffer click here  

Teams

It’s hard to be on a team

A social action group or a "team" is constructed when individual’s form a group to achieve a result that could not be accomplished alone. Individual membership in the action group creates several paradoxical situations for the individual.

3 Common Issues:

Often immediate sacrifice is required by the individual to benefit the group.The benefit to the individual is delayed and the benefit is proportionate to the sum benefit of the group. The rising tide lifts all the boats". The cost to the individuals is not bore equally and the benefit to the individual is not always immediately proportionate to the level of individual sacrifice, yet any benefit requires membership in the group.

Individuals can also experience the benefits of the group without making a full contribution or baring the required sacrifices. When individuals try to reduce their sacrifice there is friction with coaches and teammates. 

There may be an immediate incentive to the individual who acts in manner that this is detrimental to the collective good. Individuals can gain a benefit from actions that come with an immediate or delayed expense to the group.

Figure1. Individual agenda’s compete with the good of the group, and these actions are caused by rejecting the sacrfices required (this occures from time to time with indivduals, but is often the same people) 

Figure 2.The manner in which individuals are required to participate to achieve the greatest collective good (how we manage the team and expect individuals to participate)

Figure 3. The reality of being on a team, the common good requires something from everyone and the strain of sacrifice is an under lying current, but this is not a static sistuation the group moves forward on the sacrfices made by the individuals.

Ultimately on a competitive team the coaches will have to make choices that they believe will benefit the greater good. There is natural friction for the individual but players and parents can not let emotions or short term thinking prevail. The logical action in  the game of volleyball dictates that to achieve the maximum benefit you must willingly sacrifice with your team. Ask question in a productive manner when you don't understand the sacrifices being made. You will catch more bee's with honey than vinegar