By responsibility I mean an 'ability to respond' to the demands of the sport with a growing sense of ownership, autonomy and self-regulation
The concept of P.R.I.D.E is fundamental in this - a Personal Responsibility In Developing Excellence.
The basic equation is this:
The greater the personal responsibility we take in our own learning and development AND for the associated behaviours, outcomes and results, the greater the 'cause' we build to fight for when we step onto the match court.
Not only this, we build a much greater sense of self-efficacy, confidence and belief.
Examples of how you can begin to take more P.R.I.D.E:
- come to each lesson with your own agenda of what you'd like to work on with your coach
- set up your own practice sets/hits
- monitor your own levels of effort/attitude - don't alway rely on the coach to bring the energy/motivation!
- hit a basket of serves each day/week
- take care of your own 'at home' physical programme - stretching, rolling, core
- on a free weekend, go for a run/bike/swim
- develop your own competitive programme to present to your coach/parents
- take care of your own pre and post match/training prep
- set you own goals, pack you own bag, fill up your own water bottle in the morning, make your own lunch
- travel to a tournament on your own (when old enough) by train or bus
- reflect on your matches/training (use a whats app group with your team)
- research the internet for useful tips/information
- know your sport/industry - how does the ATP/WTA tour work? What are the levels? Get to junior Wimbledon and see!
- Research how to get into US/GB University tennis
The list goes on and on! Players, if you are fully reliant on your parents/coaches for these things, you are not developing Responsibility or any sense of 'becoming the captain of your own ship' and you're very unlikely to develop the GRIT required for top level sport.
Coaches and parents. A word for us. If we keep 'doing stuff' and 'rescuing' our players/kids we'll never give them the chance to take responsibility.
Invite CHOICE in your athletes/children. Telling does not engage any grey matter!!
Choice invites decisions. Decisions encourage ownership. Ownership encourages responsibility. Responsibility invites change.
And ultimately, each day we have the choice to take responsibility for our emotions/behaviours/results OR to place blame elsewhere and onto others.
'The man who complains about the way the ball bounces is likely to be the one who dropped it in the first place.' (Lou Holtz)
Next up - Resilience.