"What's Next?" at the Expense of "What's Now"

        If you're like millions around the country, much of your last couple of weekends has been spent experiencing March Madness.  There have been some great games.  Many have come down to the wire and have ended with clutch game-winners.  One game that did not go that way at all was the big upset of Michigan State by MTSU.  MTSU won convincingly, but my greatest takeaway came from well beyond the box score.  It came from Tom Izzo's press conference and a "ridiculous question."  "Tom, how do you take a loss like this and turn it into something to motivate the guys moving forward next year?"  Izzo's response was priceless.  First, he let the reporter know very respectfully how ridiculous the question was.  He then gave a lesson I think we all could use.  Izzo talked about how a major problem in sports today is it's always, "What's next?"  What I love about the problem is it is very, very fixable.

        "What's next?" Where this problem started could be traced to any number of sources.  Maybe it's the ESPN culture that spends 90% of its time making predictions and breaking stories that may or may not have actually happened and only about 10% on what has actually happened.  Maybe it's the results-oriented society we are programmed to be a part of since the time we were very little.  "You need to learn this so you can go to college and have a good job someday," says the teacher to her group of 4th graders as they pick their noses.  Parents of kids playing middle school baseball are worried about their kids getting college scholarships rather than doing what they can to make sure they actually still like baseball by the time they go to college.  "What's next?"  is often asked at the sacrifice of, "What's NOW?"  Rather than just complain, what can we do about it?  We can change, and here are a couple ways how.

1. Focus on development and enjoyment.  Help athletes build skills and knowledge that will allow their best chance of being successful both now and in the future.  The best coaches are able to straddle the line between the two.  Allowing athletes to do what will make them successful now while helping them continually improve so they can be successful in the future is something that can only be achieved if it is worked on daily.  Doing so while also allowing athletes to enjoy themselves is important.  Notice I don't mention a level of play here.  This can be done from the youngest age groups all the way through the professional ranks.

2. Take time to celebrate successes of the now.  Parents, don't be hesitant to tell your kids how proud you are of them and how much you enjoyed watching them play.  Coaches, enjoy the successes too.  Wait for the next day of practice to tell your team all of the ways you need to get better.  Sure, it's important, but not enough to take away the enjoyment of all of their hard work to make NOW's game happen.  You spend way too much time preparing for the actual competition to not enjoy it.  While it's important not to dwell on one performance, good or bad, at the sake of preparation for the next one, it's okay to enjoy it for a little while!

3.  Reflect on the "just now."  What went well?  What didn't?  If we don't ask ourselves these questions, we are wasting so much of what the Now has to offer.  Rational reflection about performance teaches us so much as athletes and coaches that will help with the "What's next?" I know this seems contradictory to #2, but I'm talking about reflection after the fact.  I listened to a podcast the other day with Dr. Bernie Holliday who works with the Pittsburgh Pirates.  He discussed a "3-2-1" technique he uses with their guys.  The technique asks for three things that went well (with the processes that led to them), two that didn't (and processes), and one takeaway moving forward.  It allows for that rational reflection focused on what actually happened.

        Those are just a few ways to help focus on "What's NOW."  I know planning for the future is important.  Goals and long-term plans are largely about the future.  All I'm saying, or rather all that Coach Izzo is saying, is that we should take more time to appreciate what has already happened too.  If you're able to do so, a funny thing just may happen.  You may find yourself more prepared for "What's next?" along the way.

Here is the full MSU Press Conference.  There's plenty of great stuff, but the question I wrote about is at 3:17

More is Not Always Better

More is not always better. Sometimes more can be better, but can also lead to worse. Many followers of sport psychology are familiar with Ken Ravizza’s Stoplight Analogy. The basics are that your performance is like a car approaching a stoplight. When things are rolling along and going well, you’re a Green. As things start to go poorly, you may slip into a Yellow state. Finally, Red is for when you have completely lost it. There is more to the analogy and its connection to self-awareness, but that is a summary. In my experience, I have only seen it used with individuals. That being said, I do think teams can be viewed through the same analogy.

What we do when things start to go poorly says a lot about what will happen next. Do we stay calm and get back to what has made us successful? Do we start to panic and spiral out of control? At times, with both players and teams, a tendency to want to do too much leads to poor performance. Throw a perfect pitch. Make a big play. Have the best at-bat of the year. What does this make of all the other pitches you’ve thrown, plays you’ve made, or at-bats you’ve had? Were they not good enough?

Just an opinion, but I’d say lack of effort is the exception when it comes to why performance suffers. Execution is the issue. More often than not trying hard enough, in fact, is trying too hard. Urgency creates misvalue of a moment. “I’ve got to get an at-bat here to prove to everyone I’m good.” “I’ve got to make a great play to pick up my teammate.” “This is the biggest pitch of the game.” Taking that pitch right down the middle, making an error on a play that wasn’t there to be made, and leaving one right over the heart of the plate come next. We’ve all seen it happen far too often! The thoughts then get more desperate, the muscles more tense, the breathing more shallow, and we are at Red before you know it. How about, “I’m going to attack something in the zone,” “I’m going to stay down on a ball hit to me,” and “I’m going to make a pitch right here,” instead? Rather than concern about picking up a teammate by making the next pitch, play, or at-bat worth double the value, just do what is there. THIS pitch. THIS play. THIS at-bat. Don’t be reactive to your environment. Be proactive with your performance. Execute rather than effort. Not more. Just now.

Having Control vs Being Controlled

        My first spring not coaching baseball has allowed for a different opportunity.  I've been able to just watch baseball.  There is something about seeing a game through the lens of an observer that allows opportunities you don't have when you are coaching.  Although I have been invested in some of the teams I've watched, it isn't the same as when you spend countless hours with a group on a daily basis.  I'm able to be a little more impartial in my observations.  This isn't necessarily better, just different.  Over the last three weeks or so I have been able to watch a couple of high school games and a couple of college games in person.  I've also watched some college baseball on TV and bits and pieces of a few spring training games.  Several things have stood out to me.  Today, I've chosen to write about what I see as the difference between having control and being controlled.

         I love to watch how a player moves around.  A player's actions can give hints about how they feel about a situation or themselves. As I've watched games, I've found myself drawn to how a player changes, or doesn't change, on a pitch by pitch basis.  A hitter, for example, falls behind in the count 0-2.  Many hitters go through a noticeable change in the pace of the at-bat.  It's like everything is in fast forward (being controlled).  The hitter has lost control of himself and the at-bat, and it ends poorly.  On the flip side, a couple of pitchers I have seen have really impressed me with their consistent approach to every pitch.  A pitcher is responsible for how the ball comes out of their hand.  The pitchers I'm talking about have let it fly each pitch and have appeared in control of themselves regardless of situational influences.  I felt at ease watching them throw.  They were effective in what they did and in the way they went about their business.  Neither pitched with a lot of visible emotion.  They didn't pump their fists a lot or glare at hitters.  Before you accuse me of a "Goose Gossage," I say that not to imply that you can't be successful  pitching with emotion but to make sure you understand you can be successful without it being visible.  Be YOU.  Be in control.

        Part of having control can be a routine of sorts for your performance.  Routines can be part of your preparation before a game and your reflection after, but in-game routines garner the most interest by far.  Watching college baseball (and it's even seeped down into some high school baseball) makes me nauseous when I watch hitter after hitter take a "deep" breath and stare at their bat before every single pitch.  There are a couple of reasons for my queasiness.  First, the idea that every hitter has to have the same routine is incorrect.  In fact, I'd say forcing them to do anything just contributes to more thinking and less control.  Second, many of these deep breaths are just big, shallow breaths that do more to hurt oxygen flow than they do good.  When I see them, I can't help but think of coming up gasping for air after being thrown under water for a long period of time.  That isn't how I'd like to breathe before I hit.  Why is it that you can watch a college game and upwards of 80% of hitters may bat stare while in the MLB innings I've watched over the last week only 5 out of 47 hitters (10%) did?  It's not because college players have greater access to a sport psychology professional of some kind.  Having control or being controlled?

        In watching Major League and amateur hitters I see a noticeable difference in an appearance of control.  Lots of high school and college hitters have routines, but many look like robots doing them.  They are visibly tight, with actions and pace dictated by environmental factors (1st Inning AB vs 7th Inning AB for example).  The Major League hitters had some sort of routine for the most part, but it looked very natural.  My worry is the forced nature routines are being taught at lower levels is being is counterproductive to one of the main purposes of a routine: Create comfort.  I'm not sure the reason why this is the case (I do have a theory I'm happy to talk about), but I do think it is a cause for concern.  I'm reminded of something Geoff Miller's says in reference to his purpose in Intangibles.  "I don't just want people to take a deep breath.  I want them to know why they need to take a deep breath, get to the heart of where the tension comes from, and figure out how to let it go.  I want them to 'get it.'"  This is how I feel as well.  It's not enough to just tell players they need a routine, take deep breaths, etc.  They need to "get it," or we risk it all just becoming more to think about (the opposite of what we want).

        Those are just some of my thoughts from games I've watched.  I look forward to more as the spring progresses.  All the best to you as you continue throughout the spring.  I hope you do so with a free flowing control seen in the boxes of big league hitters.