Change Their Focus . . .
Change Their Season

Have you ever struggled with how to get your team to focus on their own performance instead of paying attention to their opponents? Or how to help a young team become mentally tough? These are great questions that many coaches face in their seasons and this article shares the approach of one coach that turned out a State Championship season.

This is the story of Lutheran High School, coached by Don Peitz, a 1A school from Indianapolis, Indiana whose team just won the 2007 1A Indiana State Championship by learning how to become mentally tough and changing their focus from worrying about their opponents to concentrating on themselves and the things they could control.

Earlier this year I received an Ask Cindy email from coach Peitz that went something like this:

I think we have the makings of a state championship team. But they are very young. Very talented, but very young. Mental toughness might be and issue so how would you approach this issue. I know this team will compete. It has to happen in practice so should I Practice them hard? I know I can push them so should I use pressure drills and competition drills?

I answered as follows:

In regards to your team and their "potential", every team has "potential" since it's nothing more than what you can do and usually has NOTHING to do with what you will do, or more importantly what you end up doing. You can work them hard because in your mind and experience they have the "potential" to be state champions…but, if they don't want to work that hard then what looks like a great season now could end up in ruins near the middle and end.

What I'd do is sit them all down, hand them each a piece of paper and a pen and ask them each to answer 2 questions. No names on the paper so answer honestly (for yourself and your teammates):

1. Question: How good do you want this team to be this year?
2. Question: On a scale from 1 to 10 (10 is the maximum and highest amount) tell me how hard you are willing to practice EVERY DAY to get #1? (answer should be in a number from 1 to 10)

Then, on a big piece of paper or a board, draw a line down the middle. On one side list everyone's responses to question 1, and then on the other side of the line list all of the number answers to question 2 (no names attached to answers so they should be honest)

This will not only allow everyone to see what everyone wants for the season, but more importantly, what they're willing to work for.

You'll then see how hard you can push them and how much they will still be there with you when you do. The answer to what you should do in practice is yes, more competitive drills. Put competition in as much of your practice as possible and always ask them - what number are you working at right now? (effort level out of a maximum effort of 10) And what number did you write down??? $#040:For ideas on how to put more competition into your practice check out my book, The Ultimate Softball Practice Guide)

In our next issue we'll take a closer look at what some of the players said about their new approach and also some examples of just how they created positive competition within the team.

For more great ideas on improving your teams mental game check out my Creating Team Chemistry Book. This book has all the tools you need to develop a successful team built on solid team chemistry!