by Tim Nash
So, you have a player who is not performing as well as you’d like, and it’s frustrating. They are among your most talented players, but they just don’t get it done.
You have your own theories as to why, and over time you convince yourself you are right – he’s just lazy, he’s too slow, he’s not aggressive enough.
But what if you are wrong? What if there is a simple explanation that neither you nor the player have considered? What a waste that would be.
by Tim Nash
Some recent conversations have reminded me about the importance of failure in player development.
The first example came from Rose Lavelle, a current rising star with the U.S. National Team and a rookie with the Boston Breakers. She told a story about how as a high school freshman her fear of failure nearly derailed a promising career.
[Read more…]by Tim Nash
At some point in the 1990s, I was in a group of reporters when Julie Foudy was asked a simple question. Foudy, the co-captain of the U.S. Women’s national soccer team for 11 years, rarely gave simple answers. Her replies usually contained insight, humor, self-deprecation, a smile, or some combination of all of the above.
But if there ever was one, this question was a prime candidate for a simple answer. She was asked, “What sacrifices have you made in your life to become an elite athlete?” The reporter’s intent was to get a list of things other teenagers were able to do that Foudy was not because she was traveling the world playing soccer for her country.