Mental Toughness in Sports

While I have touched on the topic before, I feel that it is very important to mention as the new year begins. CONFIDENCE.

Confidence plays a huge role in success during athletic competition. It is almost on the same level as skill and natural ability. Think about yourself, when you believe something is possible and obtainable, and you believe in yourself, a lot of the time you are about to get it done. Now of course the goals you set must be realistic and be very personal. Sometimes you can not overcome environmental factors. However, all in all, confidence is mucho importante.

Confidence is one of those things that comes naturally to some. You know the person, the one with that swagger in their walk, the one who believes anything is possible. Some of us just don't have that natural confidence.  Don't despair, confidence can be built.

Positivity breeds confidence!

Any psychology book you read will mention POSITIVE SELF TALK. Taking the word CAN'T out of your vocabulary. This is a huge aspect of being confident and successful. If you start saying that things are possible, you will begin to believe that those same things are possible. Start with obtainable goals, then build on them once they are accomplished. The smallest boost resinates everywhere, into all aspects of life.

Remember, confidence extends past the playing field into life. Doctors, Salesmen, Lawyers, Coaches, Personal Trainers, Teachers, etc all believe in themselves, so others follow suit. Kind of a big part in being a leader, no?

I leave you with this final thought:
If you do not think you can, who will?

Wrestling

No one, I repeat, no one, will EVER convince me that their sport is the hardest going. I will not put down another sport and say that they don't work hard, but nothing compares to Wrestling.  I am not talking about the World Wrestling Federation (as I am a child of the 90s I can't call it the WWE). I am referring to real life, Folkstyle/Freestyle/Greco-Roman wrestling. 

Wrestling is the original sport, dating back to the Ancient Greeks. It has been around for thousands of years, evolving throughout the ages. It is not for the faint of heart. Ask anyone who has wrestled, it is not for everyone. While with most sports anyone can, more or less, participate in on some level, wrestling is different. A Wrestling Match pits two people against each other, mano a mano. 

You learn a lot about someone's character watching them compete in a wrestling match. 

• External Pressures - With all eyes gazing on you, watching your every move, analyzing and critiquing all that you do, will you crack? When you make a mistake, when you win, or when you lose, everyone knows, are you able to deal with the consequences? 
• Survival Instincts - Can you go the distance in a match, if necessary? Will you fight off of your back or just quit, giving up on yourself? Can you finish a move despite the pain or can you defend a move despite pain?
• Internal Battle - Do you have the will power to make weight? Do you have the self control to maintain your weight and watch what you put in your body? Are you willing to sacrifice the night out or your favorite foods?
• Forget the Past - Can you shut off the voices in your head? Can you focus on the here and now?
• Attitude/Toughness - Do you believe in yourself? Do you expect greatness? Are you able to settle and deal with being defeated? Are you willing to grind it out for months?

These questions are something that anyone who has wrestled is able to answer in a second. Like I said before, either you've got it or you don't. 

Gym Class Dodgeball - Bring It Back!!!

After reading a recent post, and taking a survey, I decided to post a modified version of my response to one of the questions listed in the survey:

In reference to dodgeball being banned in Schools: 

Personally, I do not believe dodgeball should be banned in our schools. Reason being, dodgeball requires eye hand coordination, agility, speed, and strength. These are things, that in the athletic realm, we try to improve in our athletes. 

• The lateral, and sometimes vertical, movement used in order to avoid a projectile will improve not only agility, but both an athlete's speed and proprioception. 
• The act of catching and throwing the ball improve both eye hand coordination and muscular strength. As well as, again, improving an individuals proprioception.
• Dodgeball can also be viewed as a strategic game. How does the team reach their goal of eliminating the other team's players? Do you take out the bigger/stronger player, the leader, or slowly take out the weak (see Darwin and natural selection).

The less scientific reason that dodgeball should be allowed is that kids today are becoming "soft". They have a lesser ability to handle physical feats, and mental problems. This is a direct result of how today's America Society acts and preaches. Apparently, we are more concerned with how children feel emotionally, then their physical health. Dodgeball, in essence, will force a sort of mental/physical toughness upon our youth. Getting hit with a dodgeball, 99.9% of the time, is not going to kill you. Most of the time it isn't even going to cause any real injury to a student/child. 

Bottom line, we need to stop worrying so much about the POSSIBILITY of a student getting injured. Kids do things all the time that cause them to get hurt. Most of the time, they just brush it off and move on. Should we remove all stairs because a student may fall down them? Honestly, where does it end? And let's be 100% honest, kids are going to go play dodgeball on their own even if it becomes banned from all schools.