As a coach, looking for ways to help players gain the mental edge can be accomplished in many ways. However, the correct attitude and drive are necessary before any technique or strategy can be properly implemented. Let's call it the athlete's "hard-drive." It is wise to study and understand this internal motivation or essential desire. A very simple but effective model of performance that can be used in working with athletes is shown below.

Talent/Physical Skills + Hard Work/Effort/Discipline + Mental Skills = Performance --> Outcome

Talent and physical skills are a combination of an athlete's innate ability and what is acquired through learning. This is the relatively stable factor that changes little. To improve in this area one could turn the clock back and choose better parents, take many lessons, or play tons of matches. High skill and talent level are essential, but never enough. The pages of history are filled with talented failures.

Hard work, effort and discipline are fundamental driving forces behind any success. Without these elements, an athlete will ultimately experience failure. A coach's ability to make practices and lessons challenging and the athlete's ability to stay properly motivated helps.

Mental Skills represent another key area. We often use many kinds of mental skills including the classics of Confidence, Focus, Intensity Regulation and so on. Refer to them as mind-body skills because nothing is purely mental. Thoughts and feelings influence actions and physical sensations all the time. The quality of thoughts and feelings change how well an athlete can execute the skills and tactics of volleyball. The key is to take the development of mental skills as seriously as any other area.

All three of these major areas come together to produce performance. Notice that I did not say success. It is really impossible to control outcome, but by performing better  —  a better outcome is ensured.  It also takes a lot of pressure off the athlete when the coach's focus is simply on performance. Let the outcome take care of itself because it often gets in the way.

So, how can a coach increase an athlete's hard-drive?  A few principles to aspire to are below:

PASSION and ENJOYMENT

First of all, make sure that an athlete enjoys what he/she is doing. It’s very difficult to excel at something one doesn't enjoy. To find greater passion and enjoyment, think of the following:

1. Allow success to occur. Structure lessons and practices so that it fully challenges the athlete, but where success occurs more frequently than failure. This increases perceived competence and motivation.
2. Reward for proper performance including good effort, sportsmanship and match wins.
3. Use both verbally and non-verbally praise (comments such as good job, pat on the back)
4. Make learning interesting by varying the routine.
5. Involve others in decision making.
6. Make sure goals are realistic and tied to performance rather than only to outcome
7. Make learning fun.

Desire is truly essential in every point of every game of every match in order to create a winning formula. It is the most important factor in any success. Below are some tips:

1. Reduce excuse making. It reduces uneasiness but does not promote performance or growth.
2. Both athletes and coaches take full responsibility for negative outcomes. This increases perceived control. Without perceived control, lower goals are set and effort declines. A downward slide continues and individuals may take on less and less responsibility.
3. Do not accept mediocrity. Have realistic but high performance standards. Rid yourself of useless and harmful habits and see performances rise.

RESILIENCE and ADAPTABILITY

Michael Jordan once said that he failed over and over again and that is why he succeeded! Jordan was very resilient and look where it led him! Here are some tips for you:

1. Practice emotional control over anger, boredom, and anxiety.
2. Increase competitiveness by learning to love the struggle more. Get comfortable with the worst possible situation and the rest is a breeze. This promotes toughening.
3. Draw from the support of others. Talking is very good.
4. Take frequent short breaks. This increases the ability to stay fresh, and the ability to bounce back too.

Get in the habit of teaching, practicing and playing with more joy, effort, and resilience, and everyone's effort and desire will pay off in performance. It may not guarantee a win, but players will perform better, and that is a worthy pursuit in itself.