Email Campaign Archive

When You Need It the Most

-By Mike Tully
 

I recently finished moving from an apartment to a
condo. If you've ever moved or been part of a
move, you know the stress, the fatigue and the
general craziness involved.

Now that it's over, I just realized that my diet
is getting back to healthy, after two weeks of
eating junk. It seems that the stress of the
packing and the paperwork led me to eat on the go,
with little regard for health.

Think about what this means: When I MOST needed to
be healthy, I neglected the very things that would
make me healthy.

It's a thought that applies to every other aspect
of life, including volleyball. For instance, when
your players are at game point, will they remember
the "Yes, I Can!" techniques that you've taught
them? Or will they be too excited to think about
that?

The "Yes, I Can!" education - ranging from the
book "Volleyball Cybernetics" to the overnight camp to
special team camps conducted by Dave Cross -
offers several techniques to help our athletes get
through the challenges of competition. They
include clearing, affirmations, goal-setting,
anchoring, team-building, etc. The key question
is: When our athletes need these techniques the
most, will they use them?

It's our job as coaches to do more than simply
teach these techniques. We can't be like the coach
or teacher who throws up their hands and says, "I
taught it. It's their fault if they're not getting
it."

It's our job to help them get it. If athletes
don't see the value, they won't invest time, or
energy, or thought. So as coaches we must work
hard to help them see how visualization or
breathing can help.

Some techniques suit an athlete better that
others. We must help our athletes select what
works the most for them. We must look for
opportunities to point out: "Hey, this is a chance
for you to use clearing." Some drills lend
themselves beautifully to breathing practice, or
to anchoring or to visualization.

In writing this piece, I think to my 2007-08
off-season quest, which is to learn more about
confidence. Somehow, we must give our athletes
more than just the mental and physical skills to
play volleyball. We must give them the tools to
use them when it means the most.  
 

-Mike Tully is a member of the "Yes, I Can!"
coaching staff. You can hear him now on his "Pep
Talk" hotline at (973) 696-6743.