COPING WITH ADVERSITY: How to Instill a Sense of Grit in Your Athlete
I wanted to spend some time this AM doing a deep dive into the sports psychology of developing a sense of mental toughness, or grit, within your young athlete. The discussion talked about the essential positive feedback that every parent has to provide to their youngster when they are first starting out in sports, and then as they get a little older into their teenage years, how to learn from the two basic formulae of grit.
Dr. Angela Duckworth of the Univ. of Pennsylvania, wrote the best-selling book entitled GRIT a few years ago, and in short, she has theorized the following:
Talent x effort = skill. I don’t think there’s any question about that. And you can certainly teach your young athlete about that. But only if they practice and practice a lot, will they develop real skill.
And the second part of Duckworth’s formula is: 2. skill x effort = achievement.
If they truly want to become proficient at their sport and become competitive, they will need to expend a great deal of effort (practice) on their skill in order to achieve and make real progress. And even they never turn pro or receive a D-1 athletic scholarship, they will at least benefit from the life-lesson of being gritty. That will prepare your youngster for whatever profession they choose to pursue in life.
The callers were excellent this AM. Please take a listen. I think this is a vitally important topic.
https://www.audacy.com/wfan/podcasts/rick-wolff-the-sports-edge-209/the-sports-edge-with-rick-wolff-365814721?
DISCIPLINE ISSUES: HS Football Coach Forces Player to Eat a Pepperoni Pizza in Violation of His Religous Beliefs
I’ve discussed a lot of bizarre and unexpected cases over the years, but the one that made headlines this past week is really just hard to fathom.This is one of those stories that, in this day and age of increased cultural sensitivity, it’s difficult to understand what the head football coach and his five assistants were thinking.
A couple of weeks ago, at McKinley HS in Canton OH, one of the school’s top football players – a junior who is not named since he’s a minor – missed a voluntary weight lifting session because his shoulder was injured.
According to media reports, the head coach felt that the kid needed a little “discipline” to stay focused. Apparently, the youngster is already receiving interest from D-1 programs. In other words, the coach and his staff thought the kid was beginning to get a bit lax in his dedication.
So the coach, a fellow named Marcus Wattley, along with several of his assistant coaches, came up with what they thought was an appropriate bit of discipline. During the following week’s team practice, they had the junior come in, sit in a chair in the gym, and in front of his teammates, was instructed to eat a pepperoni pizza….or else.
Now, it was not totally detailed as to what the consequences would be if the kid refused, but it was assumed that if he didn’t eat the pizza, then his teammates would have to pay the price on his behalf in terms of extra running and more conditioning work.
The youngster protested numerous times about not being allowed to eat the pepperoni pizza because it was made of pork, and his family keeps a Kosher diet. One report says the kid then removed the pepperoni from the pizza, and ate the pie reluctantly, only because he feared reprisals from the coaching staff.
When the kid’s parents, of course, heard about this “disciplinary” move, they contacted their attorney, and are now considering filing a lawsuit regarding their son being persecuted for his religious beliefs. Meanwhile, the school board got together a few days ago, reviewed all the evidence, and immediately fired the head coach and several of his assistants.
Take a listen to the show in the link below. As you’ll hear, a lot of callers were outraged by this coach’s truly outrageous behavior.
https://omny.fm/shows/rick-wolff-the-sports-edge/the-sports-edge-with-rick-wolff-60?
TRENDS IN SPORTS: Parents, What Life Lessons Do You Want Your Athletes to Learn from Sports?
We as coaches , educators, and as parents talk all the time about the important intangibles of sports — what we want our youngsters to take away from their playing experiences.
Sure, of course, sports offers fun and enjoyment and pleasure….sports are supposed to be about kids having fun….that’s a given.
But what about the other essential life lessons that come with competing? For many of us who played sports as a kid, and who follow sports today as grown-ups, many of these life-lessons are firmly ingrained into us. They have become baked into our hard-wiring.
Yet there was a time in our lives in which we had to first learn the lessons. And as such, my question is what were the key lessons you learned along the way that you want your own athletes to learn?
I’m talking about coping with adversity….of learning how to work hard and master a skill….of learning how win with a sense of sportsmanship, or learning how to lose with dignity….how to learn how to stand on your own two feet and communicate with your coach…lessons like this. About learning how that winning only feels good if you play fair, and don’t cheat.
In short, on today’s, I wanted to do a kind of impromptu public forum as to what are the most important lessons we want our kids to learn when it comes to sports…lessons that will have an guiding impact on them for their entire life.
The calls and comments were superb. Take a listen and see what you think:
https://omny.fm/shows/rick-wolff-the-sports-edge/the-sports-edge-with-rick-wolff-61
