Trapped in Negativity

Nobody enjoys losing. Even more confounding is to lose repeatedly over a long period of time. Before long, this pattern takes on a life all its own, becoming an even greater foe than the opposing team. Keep in mind, the game with yourself is often tougher than the battle against any opponent. Rather than just playing volleyball, players on a losing streak often dwell too long on their results and begin to perceive themselves as being trapped or stuck.

Trying too hard to correct repeated losing makes it even worse, as the player's mental skills are often severely disrupted. For example, teams can be observed losing confidence (even though this is completely controllable), becoming overly intense, focusing on irrelevant thoughts, and setting totally inappropriate goals. The bottom line is that the momentum of losing often leads to a distress all its own, and this continues the pattern of losing. It's a vicious cycle of negativity.

Causes of this Mess?

Why does repeated losing happen in the first place? There are many possible answers to this question. Competition is very delicate and complex, and momentum plays a huge role. It may be that a team simply lost to a better opponent six times in a row, and delude themselves into thinking that they should have won each match. Then when a team should win, they lose! Momentum takes over. Another problem is being distracted by off-court issues.

Expectations have a great impact on performance too. Just as it helps to remain confident (always expecting the best), the reverse holds true too. Expecting the worst usually gets you there. Negative self-talk leads to negative performance and results. The mind cannot stay focused on the bad and the good at the same time.

The equilibrium that is disrupted by trying too hard to overcompensate, or giving up out of despair, must also be considered. Athletes need to remain optimally focused and energized. Too much fluctuation in any direction over a short period of time leads to lapses in attention and problems with consistency. It's hard enough to play a solid volleyball match without having mental skills disrupted too. Throw in the inner turmoil caused by frustration and you have a tangled mess!

Cleaning up the Mess

How then does a coach help a team that has lost its confidence and  is continuously frustrated by its poor performance.The first thing to do is stop the negative talk. Find something positive in every practice and match and build on that experience. Secondly, take a short break from the sport. Depending upon your situation and needs, shorten practice times or have the team go somewhere and do something together. Do anything to leave the performance situation for a while. Nothing can be accomplished if you do not first reduce the intensity, change the scenery, and reflect. After such an activity, work together to calmly approach a solution.

Below are some specific tips to follow:

1. While in a calm state, spend 30 minutes together taking a complete inventory of why each person (including coaches) are part of the team.

2. Determine common reasons and simply play for those common reasons.

3. Find other physical activities to go along with volleyball. Cross training will help recharge your volleyball enthusiasm

4. Begin to focus on a completely different aspect of performance. For example, take a look at the team's focus, independent of how well each player is performing specific skills or whether the team is winning or losing. A coach might, for example, make a goal to improve each player's focus over the next two weeks. Players can rate how focused they were throughout the match on a 1-10 scale. Each time they perform, the players try to raise the level of their focus. By the end of two weeks, each player should have experienced success in mental skills development. This is completely within a player's control, as opposed to match result, which is not. The player's focus is on focus, not on outcome!

5. Change your training routine. This might include a different practice time, adjustments to court dimensions (raise or lower the net, sand court) new practice partners, or a new strategy. The main thing is to inject freshness into the sport.  These minor adjustments often contribute to renewed enjoyment for the sport.

6. Take all the pressure off by forgetting about winning and losing for a while. Set goals to perform better rather than to win or lose. Change the team focus to skills and effort, while letting the outcome take care of itself.

7. If none of these tips works after a couple weeks, give some serious thoughts to sport psychology counseling! Just remember that volleyball is just that, volleyball.  It's a game. There will be teams, for whatever reasons, that just won't be able to achieve a winning record.  That doesn't mean those players and coaches didn't give their best effort. It just means that their best efforts didn't result in more wins than losses. It is possible that learning how to deal with such a situation will have a greater importance the longer one goes through life. Learning how to lose is just as important as learning how to win. However, no one starts out with this as a reason for their participation.

Much of our behavior is habit and momentum. It is often just as difficult to change a winning streak as it is to change losing. Having a losing season is nothing unusual. It is simply time to re-evaluate why one participates, refresh the batteries, and see the picture from a slightly different angle. In time, the program will begin winning and enjoying the competition as much as the victories. .