I have recently been listening to a range of podcasts from sports science experts during my morning commute to college. Last Friday’s episode really stood out to me, it was called:
‘Zero – Option – Mentality’
What I took from the episode was that some people go through life with a mentally weak outlook and as soon as the ‘going gets tough‘ they simply give up as they feel they have no other option.
It got me thinking about the various types of students we have at CCSC. Each week during PDHPE sessions or during training I can guarantee there will be a handful of students (usually the same group of individuals) who wait to see what is expected of them during the session, how physically demanding it will be – and only then will they make a decision whether to participate fully or claim they are tired, stiff or feeling unwell.
The hunger to compete or improve themselves is fundamentally lacking and I personally feel it is due to the current throwaway mentality that many teenagers embody. If something seems too hard, then they feel they have no other choice than to immediately give up before even trying!
I am currently doing a lot of research on the effects of psychology in elite youth players. So far I can relate to some of the key principles of sports psychology; it is easy to identify a mentally weak student as they are the excuse makers who show signs of defiance when pushed to their limits. Interestingly the common trait amongst successful professional athletes is not complicated; they are simply willing to feel uncomfortable, push their bodies to the limit and not allow self-doubt to turn into an excuse.
This ‘Zero – Option – Mentality’ is like the plague and as soon as some decide to pull out, the mentally weak in the group immediately feed off this and also start making excuses not to participate for a host of invalid reasons.
As the PDHPE in a designated sports college I find it concerning that some young athletes simply are not equipped mentally to deal with stress or attempt new skills that are out of their comfort zone. No athlete improves by remaining in this zone and certainly no athlete achieves success through quitting and giving up.
I will finish with these words for our current and future CCSC students, “Enjoy training, enjoy life, set yourself goals, see new skills as a challenge, be prepared to hurt, be willing to feel uncomfortable, be hungry, be determined, challenge the norm and ultimately allow yourself to try. Sport reflects life; too many people go through life making excuses for failure, we are all competing to improve our situation, all competing to achieve success. The mentally weak will falter and fail while the determined and motivated will achieve what ever they want in life, as long as they simply DO NOT GIVE UP”
In some children yes this is the case, but there is or could be another side of the child for giving up. From watching my child where he had tried his best (on several attempts) but did not succeed, the other children who are mentally strong decided this was an opportunity to (tease/bully/make fun of) knock him down further than what he already has done to himself mentally and physically. This kind of outcome has given him the lack of confidence to try when the subject looks or sounds hard when he is around his peers.
I believe each child is unique and each child should be supported as they are guided through their personal developments and what they are capable of succeeding in. It may not be the gold medal in coming first but to have a gold medal for personal achievement