Last time out, I wrote about how to evaluate a poor game to improve future performance. This time, I'll offer tips regarding how to take a good game and translate it into enhanced performance.
It's easier to feel good about yourself after playing well but that won't necessarily translate to continued good performance. Here are some do's and don'ts to assist you after a good performance.
DON'T: Obsess over your mistakes
After a great game, many self-critical athletes will still ruminate over the few issues they had during the game. You may have a negative self-perception already and search for the instances in the game that support your image of yourselves.
This can be a difficult issue to combat and can often require you to work directly with a mental skills or a counseling professional.
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How many times has your coach or mom said, "No, actually, you were really great!" You still felt like they simply couldn't see all the flaws that you see.
Athletes can begin recovering from this affliction by noticing the tendency to obsess about mistakes. Next time you catch yourself obsessing, at least give yourself some balance by thinking about the positives. Coaches and parents, take note that this will feel more authentic if it comes from the player rather than from you.
DO: Celebrate yourself Yes! You had an awesome game! You executed intelligently, your effort paid off, you recognized and took your opportunities well. You were a beast out there.
Don't let the moment pass without any excitement at all. Even if you have high expectations, you should have positive, confident feelings about a good performance and look forward to building upon that great performance. There's nothing arrogant about feeling good about yourself.
Additionally, for those of you who can't help but compare yourself to your teammates or your opponents, turn the focus back to you and acknowledge yourself.
Finally, don't forget to celebrate the process that brought you to the performance. Rome wasn't built in a day and shoe commercials aren't entirely filled with silly clichés; the work and preparation deserves an invitation to the party, as well.
A goal accomplished or big moment shouldn't come without excitement.
Photo by: Troy Cherry
Have you ever played the video game Mortal Kombat and won a round without taking any damage? This already-satisfying accomplishment is topped off by the in-game announcer proclaiming: "Flawless victory!"
While this creates a wonderful opportunity for gaming trash talk, it's a less useful way to think about your success athletically. Assuming your good game was a "flawless victory" can come with major ramifications.
First, I hate to break it to you, but there's no such thing as a perfect game. Even pitchers who throw perfect games in baseball have a few pitches they'd like back. However, without accepting the idea of imperfection, you may never build awareness of your own weaknesses and you may struggle to recover from future bad games.
As noted above, you shouldn't obsess over your mistakes. Noticing them allows you to consider how to improve them. Celebrate your victories but ponder how you can have an even better game next week. Having a "flawless victory" implies that you'll never reach beyond that level again. Why limit yourself to that when you can continue to build on a great performance?
That attitude could inadvertently make recovering from challenges difficult. If a pitcher has a great game but the following week gives up a few runs in the first inning, she might start to shut down when comparing herself to the flawless victory.
Every great game includes mistakes; remembering this could protect her from spiraling after that difficult inning.
DO: Get Confident A good performance should spark confidence. Some research has suggested that a hot streak is really the effect of a good performance leading to greater self-belief, which leads to another good performance and so on.
Believing you can do something, being able to picture yourself doing it and approaching the task while managing fear or even without fear altogether, will likely increase the odds of you actually doing it. Channeling the confidence gained from good performance can allow you to play your best going forward, as distractions and doubt fall by the wayside.
A good game or practice creates the sorts of positive feelings that should help you be ready for the next game or practice.
DON'T: Get Complacent There are few things that harm your game more than complacency. When a player decides they're good enough, especially young players, they begin to lose ground.
This is not only because their peers and opponents often continue improving, but also because of the mentality associated with complacency. When you feel complacent, there's less desire to work hard and less desire to prepare yourself mentally.
I find the mental preparation piece particularly fascinating. Successful players often begin their game focus long before the game starts. Complacent players may feel comfortable enough that their mind is on homework, relationships, dinner or just about anything besides performing.
In just about any walk of life, being distracted will likely lead to reduced performance. Going into a game or practice thinking that your success will come without effort or focus can lead to halfhearted attempts to replicate previous success without the sharpness or energy to actually pull it off.
It's great that last week you got the big sack that turned the game on its head and you know how to repeat it. However, it isn't great that you ate twice as many ribs as usual before this week's game, spent practices daydreaming about how your skills would translate to other sports and showed up five minutes late when you're usually 15 minutes early.
You might know how to make the plays, but you probably won't make them as well as you could have with better preparation.
DO: Learn From Your Successes On the other hand, something about your preparation worked to allow you to have the big sack. Consider what felt different. Did you feel like you had more spring in your step than usual or that you were lighter on your feet?
Maybe you felt like you wore your opponent down because you never lost your attention while they did? Perhaps you really liked the new mantra that you told yourself in the lead-up to the game.
Whatever the case, think about how you prepared and try to replicate that. Further, consider the actual strategy you used. Maybe you tried out a new move and it worked well enough to allow you into the backfield.
Basketball historians often cite Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's sky hook as the most unstoppable shot in basketball history. If you read Abdul-Jabbar's biography, he tried it out by accident as it was the only way he could shoot over older boys as a kid and stuck with it.
Take away the skills that worked well while acknowledging that they probably won't be perfect the next time you try them in a game. Keep developing them and consider yourself the wiser player for it.
