Check out Cooper Anderson's recent piece on 60 minutes about mindfulness. It can offer some help with the stress of the holiday season.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/mindfulness-anderson-cooper-60-minutes/

Part 1: What is Grit?

I recently had the pleasure of attending a lecture by Angela Duckworth, a University of Penn researcher and the leading expert on grit. Her lab defines grit as the tendency to sustain interest in and effort toward very long-term goals. This is one of the most important characteristics for any athlete. I contend that psychological characteristics such as grit are as important as physical characteristics, which is why athletes need to understand this concept and how it plays a crucial role in their success. 

Achievement = Talent x Effort.
Dr. Duckworth shared this formula to highlight the importance of hard work. She then explained that hard work helps build talent through deliberate practice. For athletes, this comes in the form of interval sprints, long runs, going to the gym every day, and training very hard. It is the type of training that most athletes dread. It is not fun and there are not immediate noticeable rewards. However deliberate practice can allow athletes to reach long term goals. Dr. Duckworth shared the sentiments of a world class dancer. Spectators get to see the flawless, seemingly effortless, graceful, and perfect dance recital. But behind this amazing performance are countless hours of suffering, endless training, and “repeated deaths” in the form of deliberate practice. Deliberate practice is connected with:

·         Setting specific stretch goals (goals that cannot be easily attained)

        o   Working to improve weaknesses

·         Concentrating 100%

        o   This type of practice is often done alone

·         Getting immediate and informative feedback

        o   Self-reflection, coach feedback, analyzing video footage

·         Practicing repetitively until fluent/comfort on the playing field

The problem for a lot of people is being aware of purposely exposing themselves to suffering, but it is a natural part of deliberate practice. Sustained effort, exposure to frustration, and repeated pain is felt when working toward long term goals, for example, developing your weak foot, learning proper tackling technique, getting comfortable with left handed lay-ups, or playing at the college level. Deliberate practice is the least enjoyable part of being an athlete. It is the behind the scenes work that allows for someone like Messi, James, or Manning to be the best in the world. Someone does not achieve greatness on talent alone, grit is required. We all know an underachieving athlete who has “tremendous potential” but falls short over and over again. We also know an overachieving athlete who manages to succeed and be identified as one of the best despite having less raw talent. In both these examples grit impacts the unachieved potential and the overachievement in each athlete.

For additional information regarding deliberate practice check out http://thepsychreport.com/science/how-experts-practice-a-novel-test-of-deliberate-practice-theory/

The Psych Report was created by a former player of mine at Swarthmore College, Evan Nesterak.

A former player if mine recently sent me the following article on leadership which got me thinking about think about leadership in soccer (http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/25/opinion/david-brooks-the-unifying-leader.html.) Leadership exists throughout the different groups surrounding the teams e.g.  board members of clubs, coaching staffs, families, and teams. Each of these groups has a hierarchy of leadership. Boards have presidents, coaching staffs have a head coach, families have a decision maker, and teams have captains. But what are the factors that contribute to the best leaders? Effective leaders tend to demonstrate flexible thinking. They have psychological strength to recognize when pride and ego are interfering with a good idea or strategy. This can be exhibited through a nice balance of humility and confidence. For example, most coaches enter each season with great ideas about formations and styles of play. However, the better coaches are often the ones who can recognize when their players do not suit a certain formation or style. These coaches can adapt a game plan. For example, he/she might change from a possession style to a more counterattack oriented style on the flanks because speed, not possession, is the best team asset. Another flexible coach might institute a midseason change from a 3-5-2 to a 4-3-2-1 because they are easily conceding goals and therefore have a need for defensive stability.     
In my experience and according to the aforementioned article, collaborative leaders are often the most effective. These are the board presidents, coaches, and parents that allow for others to play the role of devil’s advocate. This prevents “groupthink” which is when everyone agrees to avoid feeling tension amongst the group. Allowing someone to play devil’s advocate prevents stagnation, promotes exploration of different strategies, and allows for great ideas to emerge. Another type of effective leader is called the transformational leader. As reported by Wikipedia, transformational leaders follow a style of leading that challenges and inspires followers with a sense of purpose and excitement. They also create a vision of what they aspire to be, and communicate this idea to others. There are three identified characteristics of a transformational leader:

·         Charismatic leadership has a broad knowledge of field, has a self-promoting personality, high/great energy level, and willing to take risk and use irregular strategies in order to stimulate their followers to think independently

·         Individualized consideration

·         Intellectual stimulation

Finally, effective captains are valuable components to any team. They can inspire, direct, and help carry out the team expectations. Captains are typically selected based on their ability to communicate, heart/desire, coachability, earned respect, and knowledge of the game. Yet sometimes players with these characteristics do not necessarily make the best leaders. It is important not to assume a player will automatically be able to handle all of the responsibilities that come with captaincy. It is important for coaches to mentor, guide, and teach the team leaders when necessary. Helping a captain to develop into a strong leader can be possible by fostering a mutually collaborative relationship between the coach and captain in which the captain feels comfortable approaching the coach in difficult times.