Sometimes we reach a stage in our lives where despite all the hard work- results still elude us. An athlete faces such a situation at least once in his career. At such times, we start running out of patience. Our motivation during training dries up and we enter into a vicious space of negativity. Efforts begin to look futile and you begin to wonder whether you are making any headway at all. How do we handle such a situation? This blog talks about possible reasons why this could be happening and what we can do to come out of such the situation.
The situation described above can be very difficult and
frustrating for any athlete. I myself have been through this phase where I was
just stuck with a weakness. No amount of hard work was helping the cause. In
fact it was just getting worse. I then started running from pillar to post for
guidance and advice. But all my efforts seem to push me further away from my
goal. The thought of quitting had crossed my mind a thousand of times.
How does an athlete then overcome this phase? Here are a few
tips which can help the athlete get through this difficult phase of his life-
Are you enjoying your sport?
Remember the first time you picked up the cricket bat, your
racquet, the basketball? Or remember the first time you entered the field, the
pitch, the court? Do you remember that feeling? Do you remember why you took up
your sport back then? Do you remember the pleasure you got out of playing it
for the first time? Is that pleasure still there when you train or compete? Where
has all that fun gone? Are you experiencing the same joy you did back then? Or
has it somewhere vanished in your quest for success and results?
An athlete needs to ask these questions when he is going
through this phase. Sometimes when the athlete gets too goal oriented, his sport
becomes a task rather than being fun. There is no longer that thrill and
excitement as all the efforts become too goal centric. We often hear
professional athletes retiring because they are not enjoying the sport. Don’t
get me wrong….I am not suggesting retirement. But the point is that- those
athletes realized that without them enjoying their sport, there is no ways they
would be able to excel. On the other hand, you must have seen some of the world’s
best athletes enjoying themselves during competition. So many top tennis
players are seen joking around when they have the biggest matches of their
careers. That is how much they enjoy their sport, that’s when they can produce their
best performance. We can learn from such players- how they seem to have fun
even in those high stake matches.
So, how does an athlete start enjoying his sport again? A very important distinction in spirituality speaks about commitment v/s attachment. It says that you can be a 100% committed to your goal but not attached to the result. Also the athlete needs to realize that the efforts are in his control, but the result isn’t. Scaling down the training as required or taking useful breaks could be another way to enjoy the training period (explained in next point). Sometimes too much hard work is also not good.
Go to the internet and you will find thousands of proverbs on
hard work. That is what we are taught right from childhood isn’t it? Work hard,
work hard and harder- that is the only way we can achieve success. Yes, there
is no alternative to hard work. But I always advice my students to work ‘smart’
instead of hard. I know athletes who practice 50 hours a week loose to players
who practice just 18 hours a week.
Adequate rest is a factor which gets easily ignored. Rest and
life outside your sport are extremely crucial for mental recovery. Too much
hard work mentally drains you off and it starts showing on the performance. Also, good sleep should be an integral part of an athlete's schedule.
I often advice athletes to take up a second sport. A sport which they can play only for fun and enjoyment. Many years back, we had a national level tournament in our club. The number one seed in the Men’s category reached the finals. One hour before the finals, he made a request which took me by surprise. He was asking if he could play badminton. I had to arrange the racquets and shuttle for him. It was fun when he asked his final match opponent to play with him. He told me that he may miss his squash practice at times, but he makes sure he plays badminton once in a while. Honestly I find this statement a little hard to believe.
Rattle things up!!
Now that you have tried everything under the sun, but still
nothing seems to be working. Sometimes, you just need to shake things up to make them move. Change some important factors related to your training. It could be
changing your coach, changing your practice field/ court, changing your
training partner or anything else. Just try and evaluate where things may have
become a little stale and there is that feeling of ‘being taken for granted’ or
you taking things for granted. You need to be absolutely honest with yourself.
Sometimes when we have something for long, we start taking its value for
granted and do not use those resources fully. Change
is sometimes good and brings fresh air in whatever we are up to. Also you are
not changing these things because they are bad or wrong for you. It could be
that they are not suitable at that time or they are not enough for you to reach
the success you are looking for. You cannot produce new results with the
same efforts/ factors/ resources. This decision could be tough and in no way
are you taking any credit away from what has worked for you till now. These are
the reasons why you must have reached this far in the first place.
Changing your coach does not mean that the current coach is
not capable. It is just because every coach has a unique style of teaching. And
the new coach may show you things in a different light which could lead you to
your goal.
Whether to change something in training or not? What to change and what to continue? You will get these answers from your gut feeling. Listen to your inner self and you will know what path to follow.
Final few tips….
Sometimes the barrier is the mental side of the game. Hiring
a professional sports psychologist could be a very good idea. But just one
session with a psychologist could cost your anywhere between $40-$100 and hence
is an expensive affair. Also finding the right sports psychologist is a
difficult task.
Personally, meditation had helped me a lot when I was finding
answers during the period when I was stuck in my game. It helped me understand
myself better which made things clearer, I became calmer and patient. I
realized that results were to come; it just wasn’t the right time. It also made
me realize that these efforts are in no way going in vain. All these efforts
would bear fruit, in one way or the other. Today I realize how true it holds.
Those same efforts have made me so tough, fitter, more skillful, and has also
helped in expanding my understanding of the mental side of the game. This has
in-turn helped me to share my knowledge and experience with you readers through
my blog. So efforts never ever go in vain. They do bear fruits, in
some form or the other….and also at the right time.
Final words…
It can be a very difficult phase when we do not get the results
despite putting in everything that we have got. Along with ‘smart’ work- I hope
the readers will find my above tips useful to come out of that phase with the
results they desire.
Amit Gajria
WSF Certified Squash Coach
Mumbai, India.
Comments
Post a Comment