Tobias JunkerYou know how in Monopoly, you get to use the “Get Out of Jail Free” card to get yourself out a jam?
Well, sometimes players need it in softball too!
Have you ever run across a player that wants to be too perfect? Perfectionism in athletes can actually be detrimental because athletes that are perfectionist often:
- are afraid to make mistakes
- get upset over the littlest mistake
- are often disappointed frustrated with their performance because it never measures up to perfection
- are reasonably critical of themselves
- expect too much of themselves
SO – since you probably don’t want to get to that point, here’s a little trick Dr. Patrick Cohn, youth sports psychology expert, uses to help players who are perfectionists.All of these things can put a dent in a your confidence. If you try to play this game without confidence, you’ll probably fail much more than you should and, on top of that, won’t find the game very enjoyable. Obviously if you get to that point, you’re in trouble! Once this game is “no fun” its either time for serious changes or time to give it up.
He suggests giving them 3 “Get Out of Jail Free” cards at the beginning of a game or practice. If your player/child makes a mistake, they (mentally) use one of the cards to let go of the mistake and move on. Being able to let a mistake go and keep moving forward is such a critical part of becoming the best softball player you can be. Not only that, this is yet another skill that applies to all areas of life, not just to playing softball on the field.
What do you think? Is this something you would try? Do you think this can help you?
