Hey Reader!
I was driving the other week when Tom Petty’s “Free Fallin” (1989) came on the radio. The strange part is that my mind went right to another song—David Lee Roth’s “Just Like Paradise” (1988). The strange part is that it always happens with those two songs. And, of course, it got me thinking…..
I know it is a strange thing to take a lot of time and energy to waste on, but I wanted to explore this deeper. After a few days, the answer randomly came to me. Back in the early 90’s, I had a mixtape (young kids, Google it). It was on one of those sweet Memorex tapes that were yellow, pink and teal. I am pretty sure everyone knows what I am talking about if you listened to music in the 90’s. What I realized was that those two songs were back-to-back on that tape. This was my “go to” tape, so it got a ton of play. My brain got conditioned to accept that Just Like Paradise followed, and was basically an extension of Free Fallin’, even though they were not related at all.
So why is this even a topic of my newsletter?
This type of association happens in a lot of aspects in life, and especially in sports. We create routines for common and desired tasks and we end up becoming automatic in them (this is the concept of automaticity). The humans brain wants to be as efficient as possible, so it helps you along. Repeated tasks become automatic, much like breathing. Think about the last time you received money from your ATM (or MAC for my Philly/Jersey people). Did you actually think about what your PIN number was, or was it just automatic when you hit the keypad. Fast and efficient. That is a good thing. Right?
Not always. There are times when our automaticity becomes a problem. Maybe we have developed a bad habit. A lot of the battles we have such as weight loss, smoking, even emotion outbursts can trace back to automatic responses. That is a much larger topic than I am going to get in to now, however. Today, I want to focus on the automatic aspects of sports/coaching and also the concept of coupling. Coupling is just like my two song example. We end up pairing things that may not have a true relationship, but we create it in our mind.
Let’s look at a practical coaching situation. Certain situations we put our athletes in can end of creating emotional anchors for the athletes. Let’s say you run a certain drill at practice on a regular basis. After the drill you consistently offer harsh feedback or criticism. That will now anchor a negative trigger, emotionally, for that athlete. Just seeing the drill name on the whiteboard may cause the athlete anxiety. The coach may not beware that they always produce heavy feedback after that drill. They may just be stuck in their own automaticity for it. The same goes for punishment as a consequence of a failed attempt or action. “Miss a shot?” “Run a lap”. “Hit the net?” “Do 10 pushups”. A lot of these situations are a result of being automatic or worse yet, tradition. How likely is the player going to be focused on error correction, when they are more focused on the impending punishment? Do we lose creativity in an effort to conform?
I am not saying that traditions and even automaticity are bad. I am saying we need to make sure we check them. Revisit them. Revise them. We can’t just let things go unchecked “because they always have been this way” or because it is comfortable. Coaches need to evaluate their actions and practice/game plans on a regular basis. How much failure is occurring because something is being done automatically. How can we break that cycle in our athletes to help them grow? These are the questions that coaches much ask themselves on a regular basis.
For parents, my advice is to look at what your pre-game/pre-practice routines are like. If you are frantically rushing and unprepared for a game day, how do you think that will affect your child. “Mom got up late today, so today is going to suck.” Even though there is a good chance the day will not suck, it has already given that feeling because of the history. Because of the coupling. We have to understand that the environment we are creating, 100% affects the players we are supposed to be supporting. We have all read or have seen the story about the car ride. What and how to talk to your athlete in the car ride after a practice or competition. But how about we reflect on triggers we are creating during an event. My advice for parents is to be a cheerleader, and not a coach. Reframe your sport from “move your feet to the ball” to “you’ve got this, keep going!” There is a big difference between those two statements and how they are perceived by a player. They have enough coaching going on from coaches, peers, and even their own minds. What they need more of is support and encouragement. Again, it is because parents are passionate about it, but it becomes automatic. Stop and break that cycle.
To you, the athlete, there are also some steps you can do to keep the attention and focus going the right direction. First, make a cue word. Something that you say to yourself that makes you snap out of automaticity and become mindful of the moment. It could be something as simple as the word “snap”. Every time you say it, it reminds you to stop and think about each step you are taking, and not just go through the motions blindly. Next, you can create positive anchors. It may be as simple as wearing your favorite headband for every match or game; or a quick fist pump after every point. The key is creating an anchor that is positive. Lastly, as cliché as this is… Focus on the controllable aspects. Don’t waste your time in on the things out of your control. Don’t let complaining about the officials be your negative anchor.
I know we came a long way from my sweet mix tapes to this concept of automaticity and mindfulness, but it was really to show how easy it is to have automaticity and coupling happing, without ever thinking about it. We need to stop some times and ask “Why am I doing things this way?” Or “why is this a tradition at all?” Fast an efficient is good. If it is going in the right direction!
Until next time everyone…Remember…
#DontSuck and It is either one day or day one. The choice is your.
~Dan