We often don’t teach boys/and girls to think. I often hear coaches continue with those phrases they used to say to me 50 years ago, too.
- “With experience you learn.”
- “Just do it once and then you get it”
- “It would be enough for him/her to win once and then he/she would be unblocked”
- “I was like that at your age, too”
- “You’re only 16 … we can’t expect that …”
- “It’s age they are caught up in hormones”
- “He/she doesn’t think (He/She doesn’t listen), they are all the same”
- “Too impatient (Too sleepy)”
- “Calm (Wake up)”
- “Hopefully mature”
Instead, let’s learn from the coach of tennis legend Rod Laver how to be taught to be more competitive.
Hollis believed these were the traits of good tennis players. He would share stories of great players with Rod to illustrate the significance of these traits. At every opportunity Hollis re-enforced the rewards to be gained by chasing down every ball, remaining positive, relishing the challenge of working hard, never giving up and learning from defeats. Hollis instilled in Rod, when things did not go his way, he had to knuckle down and play even more intensely. Importantly, it was not necessarily about winning; it was also about learning. Aided by his coach’s holistic approach to teaching the game, Rod gained an understanding that “tennis is as much a mental game as a physical one.” (Janet A. Young, Pearls of Wisdom from Rod Laver)
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