Coping With Success - The Mindset of Joe

In my earlier articles I have explored the significance of a coach monitoring the mindset of athletes, particularly those who exhibit feelings of astonishing depression following a win. In my experience, athletes who train and focus the most are typically the hardest hit by the phenomenon of an anticlimactic experience.

As one modern example, I share the story of Joe.

Train Table For Kids

As a relatively young coach, my interest was to build the future of my program. In order to do this, I traveled to the local middle school that sent students to attend the high school I worked at upon graduation. One of the young kids that approached me was a short, fat, non-athletic looking child named Joe. He had dyed his light brown hair black, and he wore it in a long spiky style. His fingernails were painted black and he wore some type of a studded necklace.

Joe had never been a astonishing student, and he nothing else but was not a natural athlete. As he attended our "Baby Eagle" workouts, his interest in the sport industrialized faster than his abilities. Joe began to show astonishing dedication after the end of his sophomore campaign. Up to this point, he had been a successful member of our teams Junior Varsity Squad. He had competed a few times on the varsity level and he had been successful in some of those attempts.

Joe trained very hard throughout the off-season and he competed anytime it was potential for him to do so. He usually attended out club workouts and he lifted weights and ran on his own. His grades elevated from sometimes D's and F's to usually B's and C's.

During his junior year, all of his physical training paid off. Joe began the season by beating some very tough competitors. He continued to heighten as time went on and he ended up becoming a County Champion, as well as a District and a Regional Champion.

Joe earned an opportunity to compete at the Fhsaa State Championships held in Lakeland, Florida in February of 2006. Joe won a few matches, but fell short. He was defeated by an athlete that had previously defeated him. Joe was not able to mentally accept his abilities. He was pleased that he had achieved what he had, and as a result, Joe began to stagnate.
After the reality of his failure to come to be a state place winner began to sink in, Joe began to train in earnest for his senior campaign. He wrestled all over, and he lifted weights and ran. He once again usually attended club workouts and his technique improved. Joe reached a point towards the end of the summer prior to his senior year when he had honed all the physical skills he needed to result and come to be a State Champion.

The issue that Joe faced was within his own head. Joe began to battle depression brought on by his inability to compete at an elevated level regardless of his competition. Joe naturally overwhelmed a majority of the athletes he competed against and he became deeply frustrated by this occurring time and again. Joe was unable to showcase his talent when his opponents naturally had nothing to offer him in the way of resistance.

One Saturday night, after a large tournament concluded, Joe took his championship medal and joined the team and coaches for a post tournament evening meal at a local restaurant. while the meal, I noticed Joe was not at the table and I looked for him. I found him sitting on the floor of the bathroom bawling and crying. I asked what was wrong, and he told me that he did not know.

After speaking for a while, I realized that Joe had not been taught how to cope with success. As Joe continued to defeat all of his opponents, he began to receive attention from the local media. He began to feel the pressure connected with gaining recognition as being the best.

In my next article, I will relate how together we found a constructive way to heighten the contentious mindset of Joe, and very successfully elevate his performance to the next level.

Coping With Success - The Mindset of Joe