Read the Article
The full text of “Want Better Outcomes? Incorporate Mindfulness” by Sean Lucas, Running Backs Coach, Lincoln Way West High School (IL), from the Vol 1 — Summer 2018 issue.
Page 28I magine if you could teach your players to build a moment of space between a stimulus and a response , allowing them to make good decisions. Imagine if your players could resist being affected by one bad play and learn to manage the ensuing snowball effect of negative thoughts and emotions of the moment. Want Better Out Incorporate Mind By Sean Lucas, Running Backs Coach, Lincoln Way West High School (IL) “So how do we teach resilience to our players?
How do we motivate players to “move on” mentally and emotionally from one play to the next? What effect would this have on our teams? ”
Page 2929 omes? fulness Imagine if you could get your players to refocus on the task at hand with one simple command, despite a quick change from offense to defense due to a turnover. Imagine doing this without having to repeatedly lecture about the importance of decision-making both on and off the field; instead teaching them the skill so they can implement on their own. I have talked for hours on end to fellow coaches about how to build “mental toughness”.
We always grapple with the question of how we can put pressure on players in practice to replicate a game. No matter what solutions we come up with, the point we arrive at is the same. We cannot fully simulate game conditions. So how do we teach resilience to our players? How do we motivate players to “move on” mentally and emotionally from one play to the next? What effect would this have on our teams?
This article provides an introduction to the effectiveness of teaching Mindfulness to athletes, and how Mindfulness practice improves player’s mindsets, overall decision-making and outcomes. In addition to learning about Mindfulness through personal practice, formal education and teaching, I have coached football for seventeen years with four years as a head coach.
I was blessed to experience the highs (3 State Championships and 1 Runnerup trophy), lows (multiple 2-win seasons) and everything in - between that football provides. Though both wins and losses had different end results, common themes were apparent: 1. Players would become caught-up in the emotion of the game and the reactions associated with those feelings. 2. Players would become overly critical of themselves after a mistake, which would cause them to make even more mistakes. 3.
Players would mentally or emotionally shut down after a mistake or become resistant to coaching.
Page 3030 4. Players would make poor on - field, or off - field choices that would hurt the team. This was apparent during both a 2-win season and championship season. For these reasons, it became apparent that players could benefit from some additional form of training that extended beyond football drills. It’s not enough to tell players how to think, they need to practice it for themselves and experience a change in mindset. They need to develop this form of self-reflection.
Coaches benefit and experience better outcomes when this is practiced. Mindfulness teaches lessons that are applicable to life situations, similar to football. One example includes learning to view life events from a neutral perspective, or accepting them for what they are without adding additional meaning. Take a receiver who drops a pass during a game. His reaction can easily turn into an internally destructive, negative, self-defeating mindset, which compounds problems.
In opposition, a receiver that practices Mindfulness will acknowledge that he dropped the ball, assess why he dropped the ball from an unbiased point of reference and move onto the next play with a balanced, refocused frame of mind. By practicing Mindfulness, this player is learning to remove himself from the outcome, not take results personally, practice emotional intelligence and view the outcome for what it truly is; an error.
This player will be more open to self-correction, coaching and advice on the sideline in regards to mistakes because he will continue to realize he is learning something new from every experience, good and bad. What about when the emotion of the game kicks in on the sideline? The offense comes off the field after a sudden change and is being directed to the bench. How many times have you noticed that you are competing for their attention?
The Left Tackle is watching the defense on the field, the running back is hyperventilating because he fumbled, or a wide receiver is yelling at the quarterback. Through Mindfulness training, a simple cue such as “anchor your breath for ten seconds” redirects them back into focus. While the skill of Mindfulness is simple, like all other skills it must be practiced consistently. To grow in Mindfulness, you must challenge yourself daily, and implement with players regularly, so that it turns into a habit.
Once players embrace Mindfulness as a regular practice, it will rapidly progress from a task, to a skill, into a lifestyle change.
Just as players reap the benefits of physical weight-training when it’s done on a regular basis, players will also begin to recognize the effects of Mindfulness practice by feeling more balanced, having more confidence in their skills, putting less internalized emphasis on the outcomes (“I suck at everything” rather than “I fumbled that play, what actions went wrong so I can do it better next time”) and experiencing a faster rebound rate.
Failure to practice this regularly will result in selfsabotaging behaviors. This is where coaches benefit significantly from an added practice that extends beyond skill. As coaches, we can stop continuing to repeat ourselves and
Page 3131 drill the same practices over and over with limited effectiveness when we can help players see for themselves that all things are manageable with the right frame of mind. Players are consistently being spoken to about conduct, morals and the effect of positive decision-making; however, the choices they make are ultimately up to them.
By continuing to tell them what they should do and how they should think, we run the risk of getting that look that says, “we’ve heard it all before” and we all know that doesn’t get us very far. Teaching the skills of Mindfulness are the way that we transition from talking about good choices to helping players practice them on their own. The results on the field are important, but striving towards making an impact that effects players off the field is truly why we are here.
