William is a volleyball player who had a very successful college career and is now beginning the next chapter as a professional player with a European club. William had read my blog entry about Simon, a basketball player also just starting his pro career. (Click here for that article)
With his own season just getting underway, William contacted me. This is what he had to say:
I think I am in a similar situation as Simon. Since arriving here I've felt less and less confident with my attacking and it's something I struggle with every practice. For example, whenever I am given a set I have a sudden uncertainty in myself to put the ball away on the other side of the net. I have found myself making more errors, hitting the ball into the net or several feet out of bounds.
It's a very strange feeling that comes over me as soon as I jump and leave the ground to attack the ball. A million things rush through my head at once, and the more times throughout practice or in a match that I fail at attacking, the less confident I get, until I've dug myself in such a deep hole that I make mistake after mistake. I've read many articles on mental toughness, but it always feels useless once I'm actually in the moment right before I attack the ball.
You said that a million things rush through your head. Can you describe one or two of them?
I'll tell myself to contact the ball high, swing deep, I'm looking at where the block is, trying to find the holes in it to hit through, telling myself to just put the ball in, be aggressive and swing away, don't make a mistake.
These are all good self-instructions. But for you it becomes a problem.
There are a lot of important things that a hitter needs to practice in order to be proficient. But all of those things seem to be a distraction at this point.
If I think back to some of my earlier days in college, I don't remember ever thinking of those things. I just played and I was successful. Now I'm just worrying about all those factors. I think I am afraid to fail and be taken out of the game. I may tell myself I'm not worried and tell others that I'm nor worried, but maybe that is the case right now.
What things are different now that might be causing this situation?
Well now that I am playing at a higher level I am putting more pressure on myself. And I might be trying to earn the approval of my new teammates and coaches by succeeding in my position.
Didn't you put pressure on yourself in college?
That's the thing. I definitely did. If anything I should place less pressure on myself now. In college I had my best friends, my girlfriend, lots of school buddies, and my family all watching my matches. Now that I am in Europe none of them are watching or knowing how I am doing other that what I tell them. Maybe I just had more fun back then, and I didn't get stressed when I failed. Or maybe I didn't feel as judged by my peers at school.
Click here for Part 2.
With his own season just getting underway, William contacted me. This is what he had to say:
I think I am in a similar situation as Simon. Since arriving here I've felt less and less confident with my attacking and it's something I struggle with every practice. For example, whenever I am given a set I have a sudden uncertainty in myself to put the ball away on the other side of the net. I have found myself making more errors, hitting the ball into the net or several feet out of bounds.
It's a very strange feeling that comes over me as soon as I jump and leave the ground to attack the ball. A million things rush through my head at once, and the more times throughout practice or in a match that I fail at attacking, the less confident I get, until I've dug myself in such a deep hole that I make mistake after mistake. I've read many articles on mental toughness, but it always feels useless once I'm actually in the moment right before I attack the ball.
I'll tell myself to contact the ball high, swing deep, I'm looking at where the block is, trying to find the holes in it to hit through, telling myself to just put the ball in, be aggressive and swing away, don't make a mistake.
These are all good self-instructions. But for you it becomes a problem.
There are a lot of important things that a hitter needs to practice in order to be proficient. But all of those things seem to be a distraction at this point.
If I think back to some of my earlier days in college, I don't remember ever thinking of those things. I just played and I was successful. Now I'm just worrying about all those factors. I think I am afraid to fail and be taken out of the game. I may tell myself I'm not worried and tell others that I'm nor worried, but maybe that is the case right now.
What things are different now that might be causing this situation?
Well now that I am playing at a higher level I am putting more pressure on myself. And I might be trying to earn the approval of my new teammates and coaches by succeeding in my position.
Didn't you put pressure on yourself in college?
That's the thing. I definitely did. If anything I should place less pressure on myself now. In college I had my best friends, my girlfriend, lots of school buddies, and my family all watching my matches. Now that I am in Europe none of them are watching or knowing how I am doing other that what I tell them. Maybe I just had more fun back then, and I didn't get stressed when I failed. Or maybe I didn't feel as judged by my peers at school.Click here for Part 2.
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