From the Evansville Courier Press, January 31, 2009
I have heard people say that, at times, life imitates sport. With the winter weather that hit the area this week, it brought an important lesson I had shared with my University of Evansville men's soccer team to life.
Long-time University of Michigan football coach Bo Schembechler preached to his players the concept of "Sudden Change" — that there will be times in a game that you will be forced to deal with an adverse situation, and your instincts will require you to deal with that situation quickly.
He felt that understanding not only that mistakes will happen but that if you embrace that fact and deal with or perhaps fix the mistake, it makes you and your teammates stronger.
Our team at the University of Evansville embodied that concept of "sudden change" and used it as a rallying cry for this past season.
We wore the slogan on our practice shirts, and along with Dr. Gregg Wilson created a "Rules of Engagement for dealing with Sudden Change." We stressed the fact that each member of the team will be confronted with a sudden change every day — whether walking to class or during the course of an NCAA tournament game — and would be measured by peers by how they dealt with the situation.
Stressing the fact that you can't let the things that you can't control affect the things that you can — whether it was bad weather, poor field conditions, or a referee's call — these were some of the important rules we used:
— When receiving feedback, "don't take things personal." Understand that a teammate shouting instructions or encouragement is trying to help. Trust your teammates.
— When giving feedback, be constructive and understand the "2-second rule." Feedback on the field shouldn't be a distraction to a teammate, so be specific.As for the "2-second rule," don't give any feedback that will create a conversation any interaction between teammates (or between a player and a coach/teammate on the sideline) longer than 2 seconds becomes a distraction. If the feedback prompts a response any longer than a nod or a thumbs up, save it for halftime or later.
—When coping after a mistake, don't play with the fear of failure. Too many players play afraid to make mistakes, and never take chances or be creative. Be confident that you are prepared properly and are capable enough to play without fear.
— Keep giving feedback rather than go into a shell. Understand that your teammates need your help, and the more you talk the more it re-focuses you back on the game rather than on the previous mistake. Pouting or being moody are not options.
— Keep calm under crisis, as the players who lose control and drift from the game plan tend to make the most mistakes and compound their first mistake into additional ones.
The "Sudden Change Rules of Engagement" have helped our players, both on and off the field, and came in handy the other day for me as well.
With power going out at our home and my young children bouncing all over the house, it would have been easy to flip out about variables I couldn't control — the loss of power, car in the driveway being stuck. I don't know that I was able to turn dealing with that adversity into a victory (being still without power), but it was much easier to create a plan to solve these problems.
I have heard people say that, at times, life imitates sport. With the winter weather that hit the area this week, it brought an important lesson I had shared with my University of Evansville men's soccer team to life.
Long-time University of Michigan football coach Bo Schembechler preached to his players the concept of "Sudden Change" — that there will be times in a game that you will be forced to deal with an adverse situation, and your instincts will require you to deal with that situation quickly.
He felt that understanding not only that mistakes will happen but that if you embrace that fact and deal with or perhaps fix the mistake, it makes you and your teammates stronger.
Our team at the University of Evansville embodied that concept of "sudden change" and used it as a rallying cry for this past season.
We wore the slogan on our practice shirts, and along with Dr. Gregg Wilson created a "Rules of Engagement for dealing with Sudden Change." We stressed the fact that each member of the team will be confronted with a sudden change every day — whether walking to class or during the course of an NCAA tournament game — and would be measured by peers by how they dealt with the situation.
Stressing the fact that you can't let the things that you can't control affect the things that you can — whether it was bad weather, poor field conditions, or a referee's call — these were some of the important rules we used:
— When receiving feedback, "don't take things personal." Understand that a teammate shouting instructions or encouragement is trying to help. Trust your teammates.
— When giving feedback, be constructive and understand the "2-second rule." Feedback on the field shouldn't be a distraction to a teammate, so be specific.As for the "2-second rule," don't give any feedback that will create a conversation any interaction between teammates (or between a player and a coach/teammate on the sideline) longer than 2 seconds becomes a distraction. If the feedback prompts a response any longer than a nod or a thumbs up, save it for halftime or later.
—When coping after a mistake, don't play with the fear of failure. Too many players play afraid to make mistakes, and never take chances or be creative. Be confident that you are prepared properly and are capable enough to play without fear.
— Keep giving feedback rather than go into a shell. Understand that your teammates need your help, and the more you talk the more it re-focuses you back on the game rather than on the previous mistake. Pouting or being moody are not options.
— Keep calm under crisis, as the players who lose control and drift from the game plan tend to make the most mistakes and compound their first mistake into additional ones.
The "Sudden Change Rules of Engagement" have helped our players, both on and off the field, and came in handy the other day for me as well.
With power going out at our home and my young children bouncing all over the house, it would have been easy to flip out about variables I couldn't control — the loss of power, car in the driveway being stuck. I don't know that I was able to turn dealing with that adversity into a victory (being still without power), but it was much easier to create a plan to solve these problems.
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