On the Outside Looking In

Coaches and parents can’t be yelling and screaming at their players to toughen up. They need to understand what’s going on between their ears. On the outside looking in, they look petrified or scared shitless, yelling at them to toughen up or calling them out in front of other players isn’t the answer either. Everyone has the answers on the outside looking in!

Perimeter vs Engaged

They need to practice with pressure, they need to feel the same discomfort, awkwardness and sometimes fear that they do in a game in practice to ensure they develop the ability to give and receive a hit so they engage.

We throw around buzz words like dirty areas, grit, sandpaper and toughness all of the time. Obviously, everyone will have their own thoughts and definitions of those terms, but when young players don’t engage it’s noticeable. When players aren’t in the fight so to speak it’s noticeable.

When players don’t engage early on, they struggle, get scared and then it spreads like wildfire across the entire team.

Sadly when players don’t engage or are hesitant to engage that’s when injuries occur.

“Fight or flight.” That’s a natural response and one we see all the time in the game. If young aspiring players want to continue to play at higher levels they have to make up their mind, are they in the fight, will they engage because in many cases you can’t be caught in between and ironically that’s where a lot of players are right now.

Why hide it, why cover it up, why pretend that it’s not happening or there? Let’s talk about it. Let’s get everyone’s perspective on it.

Let’s not outwardly criticize players in front of others, let’s pull players aside and talk with them, let’s put them in less than comfortable controlled positions in practice so they can grow and develop and experience game like situations in practice.

The best thing coaches can do is raise the compete level in practices, increase the reps so getting hit eventually feels natural. Battle drills should be a part of every practice no matter what.

Taking a hit to make a play is a skill, throwing a hit and taking a hit is a skill. Now isn’t the time to run the gauntlet nonstop it’s not the time to toughen up. Now is the time to communicate, reflect, correct and teach.

If the player is timid they will be timid the rest of the way no matter what level, no matter what skill set, timid is timid, scared is scared, that’s what it’s like when you hear footsteps or play on the outside. We need to help kids understand why they feel like this and help them overcome that aspects of the game.

In the scouting world we say the player doesn’t engage, that’s a polite way of saying “scared” or that they hear footsteps.

It’s time to re-engage and get back in the fight.