Focus on focus

 I have coached some pretty good players and some pretty good teams over the years. I have had some unbelievable athletes (One player won 13 varsity letters in her 4-year high school career.). I have also coached against some superior teams with some wonderful athletes. At times I found myself becoming more of a fan than a coach. (It was  a bit embarrassing when I found myself mesmerized by and cheering the play on the other side of the net.)  That said, we almost always fell short of our goal, playing the perfect match.  Now, don’t get the idea that a perfect match meant that we had to win.  I know that winning is the end all for many coaches.  Remember, my total focus was performance, not outcome.  We came close a few times.  I remember having to buy a few bags of candy after one match, but I’ll take you there later. 

Regardless of the potential quality of my teams or the overall skill level of my players, we many times lacked one of the most important component of success, FOCUS. Rarely, were we able to put 6 girls on the floor at one time who managed to enter that zone: every player for every point was present. It was like a great symphony. When it happened, it was amazing to witness. It was fun.  It did happen for short spirts, but very rarely for the entirety of a match.

I can remember telling—I’m not exaggerating here—every team with whom I have been involved that this game we are trying to master is not a game easily mastered. It’s damn hard. It take determination, desire, skill (a few unnatural), knowledge, experience and the focus to assemble them all for an entire match. Not one can be left out,  If one player leaves the zone, even for just one play, it affects the symphony we are performing.

I had this epiphany one summer while working a camp for Coach Condit at Miami of Ohio. After the evening session each day the coaches, all of them ex-players except one (that would be me)  and some of Coach Condit’s current players would play. Sometimes the campers would stay and watch.  As I think I mentioned or should have mentioned, I made it a habit of not playing, period, let alone playing  with a bunch of young women who had  either recently ended their college careers or were waiting for their next season to begin. My thinking here was why not keep everyone guessing and assuming I had played at a high level rather than demonstrating to the world that Philly had never played this game.  Well,  there is nothing better than a bunch of good looking (I hope I can say that), athletic women to talk a guy into anything.  My ego roared its ugly head. I played. 

I could hit a ball. I could serve a ball. But, I had no idea if I could dig a ball hit by one of these girls nor any idea if I could pass a serve from one of them. (And guess in whose direction all the serves went.  They showed no compassion. They saw weakness and they pounced. They just wanted to win…or laugh at me.).  I knew how to pass. After all I was beginning to learn how to break it down and teach it.  I had just never done it.  And I knew what was supposed to happen when someone hit a ball at me. I wasn’t sure if my body could do it. What’s that saying, “Talk is cheap”? I was afraid that I was about to become a living metaphor for that old saying.  

I knew I was as athletic as any of them. Play one-on-one on the basketball floor, we have a completely different outlook. Unfortunately, this was not a basketball camp. 

So not to run through every point of every game (Yes, they were “games” back then, not sets. Just to digress a bit: who came up with that verbiage? A set would be a group of things like games. Does no one play tennis,) I’ll just say that I held my own…most of the time. I just remember how mentally fatigued I was. I was totally focused on the ball, the other players, and what I was supposed to do each time the ball was contacted. This was just another proverbial walk in the park for everyone else. For me, this was a jump into the deep end of the pool knowing I had only told  people how to swim.

 I was exhausted.  I had never focused that intently. It was either focus or make a complete fool of myself. Pride is a great motivator. This gave me a completely new perspective. I realized that in order for my players to be successful, we were going to change our focus.  We were going to focus on focus.  This was another skill that needed to be taught.  

As I reflect, I realize that I fell short in teaching this skill. Oh, to go back …..

I’m sure there are books on improving one’s focus, but why read when you can create my own?

* For young kids, working on footwork will force them to focus.  Many footwork combination need to be incorporated. 

         Use the lines on the floor. Hop over and back with one foot, with two feet, a pattern mixing one foot and two.  Be creative.  Eventually they need to be able to complete these tasks without looking at the floor while they hop.  Like I tell them, “That floor has been there for a long time and has not moved.  It’s not going to start any time soon.”

        Try having a partner toss them a ball while hopping.

         Have them hop different pattern using an imaginary box. Carry a ball with you as you walk around. Periodically, toss it to different players.  The girls will need to focus on you while they focus on the footwork pattern. 

* Play Simon Says. That’s one of the oldest games of focus.

* Change Simon Says a bit.  Create responses to what the leader does. If she raises her hand, the girls have to spin around.  If the leader claps, the players must jump. If the leader jumps, the players must sit down. Create any reaction to movements from the leader.  Make it fun.   Be creative.

* Every drill should require focus on performing the skills  properly.  This requires the coach to  be actively observing and correcting.  (Yes, they may flip you off  when you turn your back at times, but get over it.)  Training them early to do everything with skill-performance/skill-perfection in mind will create  much more effective practices and lead them to much greater success. This should start when the girls are young. This expectation should not be something new when they get to high school. 

           Even something as simple as passing a ball to the setter before hitting a ball forces them to focus. A bad pass means not getting a great set. With a drill like this, the coach must require perfect form with the pass. The girls will turn this into a standing-upright-arm- swinging-pass-and- a-lazy-approach drill if the coach lets them.

If one sees the importance of demanding skill perfection in one’s drills, one must understand the necessity of knowing how to teach the skills and recognizing when they are not performed correctly.