Breeding ground for competition?
There were a couple constants in the Glodich household in Warren Michigan in the 70’s. Everyday when dad returned home from work, two Busch light beers were consumed allowing him to unwind from the day. Dinner time was rigid, and at 5pm food was on the table. Our 5’2 full blooded Italian mom spent most of the afternoon prepping the meal for her 3 boys. The final constant was the intense battle that occurred nightly following a good dinner, and the basement of our 1000 square foot ranch home was the battle ground.
Because of our age difference, I was simply along for the ride and merely a spectator to these epic battles. Brother John who was 5 years older to the day, and brother Jim who was 8 years older were the two soldiers in this nightly war. The weapons of choice in these battles were the slightly weathered ping pong paddles hanging on the wall.
You could not ask for a better game to develop hand eye coordination for a young athlete, and to my dad’s credit he taught us to love the game at an early age. Oldest brother Jim was the dominant player and it was rare he did not destroy John in the 3-game series format. Brother John was the undisputed underdog which led me to ride his upset minded train as an active cheerleader.
Although we shared large chunks of DNA, what was striking even at an early age for me was their completely unique competitive styles. As the heated matches played out, Jim mimicked a Drago-like persona from the Rocky 4 movies. Piercing eyes locked on the table and the task at hand, minimal or no game banter, and an urgency to move on to the next serve. John resembled Steph Curry with a loosey goosey aura with a propensity to over celebrate any point won. It was common for John to delay his serve with semi choreographed dance moves and upper body gyrations. This nonsense drove brother Jim mad and his responses usually included vulgarity. My role as the underdog sidekick was to add to those celebrations, which only fueled Drago’s temper.
If by alignment of the stars the upset was ever pulled off, we had a planned exit strategy. We would sprint up the stairs into our shared bedroom and lock the door, while over celebrating the monumental win. Like clockwork we would hear Drago from the bottom of the stairs, “get your ass down here, this isn’t over, let’s go, we are playing again chicken shit!”
“Optimal performance mind set,” was a concept I discussed often with my athletes. It was something never discussed in my personal playing days, but now it is a topic rushing to the forefront of athletics. Every athlete has experienced great days and not so great days in their competition history. I would challenge my athletes to look for connections with their mental health on that day of a superior effort. “Were you relaxed, were you filled with adrenaline, were you nervous, were you playing a song in your head,” are some examples of reflection questions I would throw at them.
My goal was simple. Get the athletes to connect a certain mindset with excellence, and then have them recreate that mindset during future competitions. This attention is not only beneficial to athletes but coaches as well. I know personally when I was calm and joking with officials I was at my best as a game coach. If and when (which was often) I let a bad call fuel my temper it created a downward spiral I rarely recovered from.
Something that never crossed my mind until prepping for this blog, was the potential link of left/right brain learners to a particular mindset of an athlete. I consciously use strategies in the classroom to address the difference but I now wonder if there is any research to carry it over to game day preparation. I have a gut feeling that this connection is valid and right brain learners like a certain mindset completely different than left brain learners. Personalized mental preparation for competition may become the new “gotta have” tool for the next generation coach.
As we matured and I became physical equals to my brother, the ping pong wars grew in intensity. My fatal flaw became my aggressiveness. Winning a point was not satisfying to me, smashing a return with a vengeance was my ultimate goal. Obviously, that led to multiple unforced errors and continued placement in the losers bracket. Jim remained the dominant player but on one summer night in the basement of my home near Marine City Michigan the miracle on green wood occurred.
For some reason on that night, I could not miss a shot. One smash after another landed successfully on his side. Brother John was my cheerleader on that night and his quick-witted post point comments were hilarious to all watching. The laughter and celebrations became so intense that I actually hyperventilated as the game ended victorious for the youngest son. I sat sweating and panting in front of a box fan as Jim demanded a rematch. That match never occurred and my memory of that glorious day is vivid.
No matter what sport you play or coach, success is a moving target and evolution is a necessity. Giving athletes and fellow coaches tools to create “the optimal performance mindset” only puts your team at a greater chance of success. Headsets worn on the bus or during warmups is actually a perfect launching point for this discussion. Maybe it’s time for some new constants in your game day preparation. Let’s continue this topic at 5pm with some hot Lasagna and a cold Busch light.