Play With Poise

"What Hurley had begun to instill in his team on that first day was poise - the constant theme in his teaching. And poise for a St. Anthony player was never reacting to a referee, an opponent, and most of all, a trying circumstance. St. Anthony players didn't argue with officials. They didn't get into trash-talking with opponents."   Adrian Wojnarowski - The Miracle of St. Anthony: A Season With Coach Bob Hurley and Basketball's Most Improbable Dynasty

"When we lose control of our emotions, we aren't thinking anymore, we are worrying...When we worry, our minds are not paying attention to the reality of the moment, and making good decisions can be very difficult, since important information is not being recognized and considered..."    Craig Manning - The Fearless Mind: 5 Essential Steps to Higher Performance

"Successful athletes are able to control their emotions and behavior. They focus on what they can control and don't allow things that are out of their control to affect them."  Gary Mack - Mind Gym: An Athlete's Guide to Inner Excellence

When you worry about what you can't control, you lose control. 

Upon arriving for a game, you look across the field or court and see the other team. They are taller, bigger and maybe have more players. When you look at the other players, you begin telling yourself that they must be a better team and you start worrying about how you are going to be competitive and not lose the game. Or a ref calls two penalties on your team and you start thinking about how the ref is stealing the game from your team. In these two different situations, you are worried about elements of the game that you don't fully understand and have control over. And by projecting negative thoughts and images in your mind, you have lost your focus and ability to concentrate on what you do control - your attitude, thoughts, beliefs and actions. When you only concentrate on yourself, you will become more composed. You will play with poise.

 

If you are interested in playing with poise, and reaching your mental peak, drop me an email at risson1954@gmail.com. 

Play With Purpose

"I wanted every drill to have a mental purpose to it. I made it mandatory for the players to have a clear objective and a plan to achieve the objective before every match."  Craig Manning - The Fearless Mind: 5 Essential Steps to Higher Performance

"Every ride I've done for the last 20 years has had a purpose..."    Robbie McEwen - One Way Road

"Your life is only enriched when you live it for a purpose bigger than yourself. That's why we talk about playing for each other...You perform at a higher level."   David Thomas - Remember Why You Play

"Without purpose, we can do nothing truly meaningful; our actions have no real point to them."   Jim Loehr - The Only Way to Win

Know why you're doing what you're doing.

Think about everything that you do to become a better athlete. Do you know why you do each of these things? Whether you are stretching or exercising, practicing with your team, watching game film, reading the playbook, participating in a scrimmage, preparing for an upcoming game or lifting weights, know why you are doing each one. Know the purpose of each activity and how it helps you getting closer to your daily, weekly, monthly or seasonal goals. 

If you play with purpose, you will become a more disciplined, determined and driven player. If you want to learn how to play with purpose, and reach your mental peak, drop me an email at risson1954@gmail.com.