Archive for the ‘Composure’ Category
Wednesday, November 16th, 2011
The Quote
“I enjoy winning, but there are benefits to losing, too. Before you can be a winner you have to learn to lose” – Isiah Thomas (NBA Hall of Famer)
The Lesson
No one really likes to lose, losing is uncomfortable, it can even be embarrassing. However there are always lessons to be learned from defeat. Mistakes or poor decisions can be rectified and improved upon. That can only however if you are honest with yourself in assessing a loss. Don’t look to blame look for reasons.
Learn to lose with good grace and humility, but make it a lesson that increases your determination to win next time around.
The Action
When I Lose, I will take a close look at the reasons why and work on them.
Tags: Mental toughness, rugby mental preparation, rugby mental qualities, rugby mental skills, rugby player confidence
Posted in A, Adult- Community, Age, Category, Coaches, Colts- U18-19, Composure, Concentration, Confidence, Game Preparation, Goal Setting, Mental, Mental toughness, Player, Role, Ruckipedia, Site Articles | View Comments
Tuesday, November 15th, 2011
The Quote
“Fear is probably the thing that limit performance more than anything – the fear of not doing well, of what people may say. You’ve got to acknowledge those fears, then release them” – Mark Allen (US Triathlete)
The Lesson
We have all at some stage felt a little self-conscious before a game. Worried ourselves about how we might play, or who is watching. This is normal but these feelings will not help or motivate us, they will paralyse us. They will prevent us from rising to the challenge.
Only once we recognise these feels can we then start to work through them by realising they are irrational. Focusing on the positive and past success will help us to reach a frame of mind without fear.
The Action
Today I will acknowledge my fears and work through them.
Tags: Mental toughness, rugby mental preparation, rugby mental qualities, rugby mental skills, rugby player confidence
Posted in A, Adult- Community, Age, Category, Coaches, Colts- U18-19, Composure, Concentration, Confidence, Game Preparation, Goal Setting, Mental, Mental toughness, Player, Role, Ruckipedia, Site Articles, rugby development | View Comments
Sunday, October 30th, 2011
The Quote
“I honestly believe it helps a pitcher not to let people know he’s upset. To me, it would give a batter the advantage. If I never change my expression, he doesn’t know if I feel good or bad” – Jimmy Key (Baseball Legend)
The Lesson
There will be times when we are playing that we could cry with frustration, curse in anger or confront our opponents. Conversely we want to jump for joy or shout in excitement. There will be times however when the best strategy is to do neither and give nothing away to our opponents. By maintaining our composure in the toughest our most triumphant moments we will be able to keep our concentration and focus and be ready for what happens next. Doing this also has an effect on our opponents who can become confused and frustrated themselves.
The Action
When the heat is on, I will keep a calm, cool attitude.
Tags: Composure, Mental toughness, rugby mental preparation, rugby mental qualities, rugby mental skills
Posted in A, Adult- Community, Age, Category, Coaches, Colts- U18-19, Composure, Concentration, Confidence, Mental, Mental toughness, Player, Role, Ruckipedia, Site Articles, rugby development | View Comments
Friday, September 2nd, 2011
Great rugby players rely on extra effort quite simply because they want to win!
Every time they walk onto the field they have already made their mind up that they’ll do whatever is needed to win the rugby match.
There is no doubt about it ‘doing the basics as best as they can be done’ will help you win the game but when both teams are fundamentally sound something more is needed to win- that something is extra effort?
But where does this extra effort come from?
For me, it comes from your conditioning. It is in the gym or on the training field where you will gain the edge.
Be smart and specific with your training- train hard and make sure that every time you come out of the gym you are a little stronger than when you went in and come of the training field a little fitter than when you first started.
Sacrifice here and you will be able to give more on a match day.
What does that look like?
More tackles, more carries, hitting rucks harder, faster line speed, getting off the ground quicker, staying the game longer, a more consistent performance and the ability to every now and again be able to reach deep down for that something extra or special.
Without being conditioned to the best you can be, it’s impossible to give that extra effort for your team.
Your mind is saying run faster, hit harder or make that tackle but your body isn’t cooperating- it’s saying to you-
‘ Sorry mate, it’s all over. You should have wanted to win this badly a couple of months ago in the gym or on the training field because if you had I would have made that tackle for you!’
Think about it. If you are willing to pay the price to get your body into shape for a big rugby game and in addition you are prepared to give that extra effort- you deserve to win and you probably will!
Tags: commitment, extra effort, Mental toughness, rugby mental preparation, will to win
Posted in A, Adult- Community, Age, Category, Coaches, Colts- U18-19, Composure, Concentration, Confidence, Game Preparation, Goal Setting, Mental, Mental toughness, Parent, Player, Role, Ruckipedia, Site Articles, rugby development | View Comments
Wednesday, January 19th, 2011
Three words spring to mind: Desire, Determination, and Dedication.
The desire must come from within, not from a coach or a parent; either you ‘want it’ or you don’t there is no other choice. The desire must come to you long before you cross the white line on the rugby field, that’s why training is so important; it builds the desire long before the match starts.
It will always starts with a dream, then somehow you must be inspired each day to reach your goals or you will struggle to make it.
You must be hungry, very hungry, hungry for success, hungry for victory and hungry to be the best that you can be.
Once you have the desire, determination and dedication will help on your journey towards your dream and reach your goals. It’s very easy to get sidelined or distracted so it’s important to get your priorities in the order that you want.
The relentless quest, the thing that keeps you going day after day is your determination. Unfortunately there are no shortcuts in the world of sport (and life for that matter) just hard work; beating your opponent or competition or overcoming adversity along the way is not easy.
Setting your goals let you know where you’re going and allows you to determine how far you’ve already come. The difference between where you are now and where you goal/dream is, tells you how much further you have yet to go.
A lack of opportunity is often a lack of direction/planning or purpose. That’s why goal are so valuable.
If you don’t know where you are going, how are going to know when you get there?
Desire:
To win, you have to have the talent and desire- but desire first.
Sam Snead professional golfer
Determination:
To succeed in life one must have the determination and must be prepared to suffer during the process. If one isn’t prepared to suffer during adversities, I don’t see how he can be successful.
Gary Player professional golfer
Dedication:
It was tough. When people look at me today they say, ‘Hey, you are a millionaire now, you’ve got it made.’ They didn’t know me before I was a success and as a result they don’t realize everything that I got I worked for. I did my homework. I went home and practiced punches in the mirror hour after hour after hour….I dedicated myself to be the best.
Marvin Hagler professional boxer
Tags: dedication, desire, determination, jonny wilkinson, rugby development, world cup winner
Posted in A, Adult- Community, Age, Category, Coaches, Colts- U18-19, Composure, Concentration, Confidence, Game Preparation, Goal Setting, Mental, Mental toughness, Midi- U11-U12, Parent, Player, Role, Ruckipedia, Site Articles, rugby development | View Comments
Monday, November 1st, 2010
The Quote
“No matter how good you are, there’s always some luck involved” – Reggie Miller (US Basketball Legend)
The Lesson
Some days it seems like everything is going our way when we play, the bounce of the ball or officials decision. On the other hand there are days when the opposite happens, when we may be on the receiving end of several bad refereeing calls. Regardless of how well we have prepared or how good we feel, we will experience these days. We have to accept that there are things that influence the outcome of our performance that we just cannot control, the officials, the weather our team mates, etc.
We need to acknowledge we cannot control the “luck” factor, but we need to treat both misfortune and good fortune the same and not get too hung up either way.
The Action
There are certain things I can’t control, and if today’s not my lucky day, maybe tomorrow will be.
Tags: Mental toughness, rugby mental preparation, rugby mental qualities, rugby mental skills
Posted in A, Adult- Community, Age, Category, Coaches, Colts- U18-19, Composure, Confidence, Game Preparation, Mental, Mental toughness, Player, Role, Ruckipedia, Site Articles, rugby development | View Comments
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