Click HERE for a link to US Lacrosse's recommendations for off-season training for success on the field this spring.
Wall Ball Info: Here is a link to tips on how to use a wall as effective training for your lacrosse stick skills.
"The pain of discipline is far less than the pain of regret"
"Top Ten Things Elite Athletes Do"
From the July, 2009 Lacrosse Magazine
- Elite Athletes: "I create my playing time". Regular Athlete: "Coaches owe me playing time".
- Elite Athletes play every possession like it is their last. Regular athletes play not to lose.
- Elite Athletes focus on opportunities. Regular athletes focus on obstacles
- Elite Athletes admire other successful athletes. Regular athletes resent successful athletes
- Elite Athletes take criticism. Regular athletes get upset over criticism.
- Elite athletes focus on being a complete player. Regular athletes focus on one facet of their game.
- Elite athletes are confident during any situation. Regular athletes lack confidence in the clutch.
- Elite athletes demand perfection. Regular athletes are OK with mediocrity.
- Elite athletes act in spite of fear. Regular athletes let fear stop them.
- Elite athletes constantly learn and grow. Regular athletes already know everything.
Are you a regular athlete or an elite athlete? Which do you want to be?
Don’t Shrink Your Game: Learn from Your Mistakes
With lacrosse being so fast and unpredictable, it's only natural to endlessly evaluate your play. You kick yourself between shifts, your coach whispers/yells at you between quarters, you lose sleep tossing and turning after the game and then the dreaded video session highlights your play in front of the whole team. In this day and age with parents, coaches, video, agents, scouts, etc., holding you accountable for your play, it’s hard not to work yourself up into a bite-sized mental breakdown after a game.
Of course you learn from your mistakes—and you need to be held accountable for the team to win—but there’s a difference between what good players and great players replay in their mind. In my opinion, 95 percent of players (myself included) think about the open net they missed, a failed defensive assignment resulting in a goal, a buddy pass that got their teammate rocked, a poor decision on a fast break, and on and on. The list of mistakes and failures I experienced in my playing days is literally endless. It covers the entire spectrum from “why am I beating myself up over something so small” to “the entire team hates me for that game changer.”
The problem is that thinking about these mistakes makes you hide and shrink your game. The mistakes I’ve talked about here are specific situations. No matter how headstrong or confident you are, this pattern of thought can only lead to your brain continually replaying and magnifying the negative action. Trust me, you can't control it.
Push Your Game, Don’t Shrink It
It’s way more productive to push your game then to shrink it. We respond to what we keep track of and think about. You all have the skill to be playing at the level you’re playing at or the coach wouldn’t put you on the field. Why not make this subtle change in your thinking to expand your game rather than mental beat-down sessions that constrict it. As the saying goes, a boat is safe in the harbor but was made for the open ocean. You can play a safe “no chances” game, but ball possession and skill are key. This is how you were made to play and it separates you from the pack and helps your team win games. Take a chance, have some fun. Play your best. And don't worry about the rest.
