Playing Through Adversity
By Ernie Woods
Courtesy of HoopTactics.com and DragonGurlz.com
"When you give it your best effort, you may
run out of time, but you will never lose a game, regardless of the score!"
Coaches expect their players to play with determination and effort, to play
hard, and to play through adversity; but very few coaches give them the means
or the tools that will allow them to accomplish these great expectations.
Knowing and understanding the various phases of human behavior and how they
effect performance will enable players not only to play through adversity, but
to be more successful and productive in the process.
When faced with a difficult task or adversity, players will progress through
these three phases or levels of behavior:
Phase I: EFFORT AND DETERMINATION
Success is achieved through hard work and determination. Great athletes view
pressure situations as challenges rather than threats. They are very determined
and work harder for longer periods of time than mediocre ones.
Players must learn to play through adversity to be successful. "Only worry about the things you can
control." Great athletes never allow a bad call or bad play effect
their performance & concentration. They may have some bad moments but never
have a bad game (or day).
All great athletes possess the ability to bounce back. "No
matter how many times you get knocked down, you are only beaten when you fail
to get up."
Phase II: LOSS OF SELF-CONTROL
When efforts are unsuccessful, players progress into the second phase of
behavior and start to loose self-control. They become frustrated and
aggressive, getting verbally and physically abusive. They look for excuses or
scapegoats. This loss of self-control can sometimes get violent and hostile
(push turns to shove).
Since frustration and aggression requires a great expenditure of physical,
emotional, and spiritual energy, this phase of loss of self-control only lasts
for a short period of time.
Because of their determination, work ethic and their ability to control their
emotions in the face of adversity, great athletes very rarely advance to this
second phase of human behavior.
Phase III: QUITTING
Since players are physically, mentally and spiritually beaten, they will
advance quickly into the third phase of behavior and quit.
The situation is not worth any more effort. They give up entirely and throw in
the towel.
BEST EFFORT
"Winning is the only thing!" This may be true on the Professional
level, however, on all other levels of the game of basketball giving your best
effort is of the utmost importance. Playing through adversity is one of the
most important lessons players can learn from this great game.
************************************************************************
Ernie Woods is the winningest coach in the
history of Washington State community college basketball. Woods' coaching
expertise and knowledge has been recognized both nationally and abroad. Over
the years, he has met the challenge of working with Australian, Brazilian,
German, Swedish, Spanish, Korean, and Japanese national and professional teams,
as well as scouting for various NBA teams. He has also produced playbooks for
the Raptors, Nuggets, Sonics, and Wizards. Woods has long been active in
computer technology and its application to basketball as chief designer/advisor
to CyberSports, Dynasport, and SportsSoftware, and a consultant to Microsoft's
NBA Drive 2000. Off the court, Ernie was the recipient of the Bellevue
Bicentennial Outstanding Educator Award.
