Tag Archives: performance

Mayweather vs Ortiz – Cheap Shots and Champions

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mayweather vs ortiz

If you watched the Mayweather/Ortiz fight this past weekend, you surely have an opinion about how it ended.  While many defend Mayweather saying his blow was not at all illegal and many fault Ortiz because one of the first things you learn as a boxer is “Defend Yourself at All Times” there are some of us who still think Mayweather’s shots were cheap.

Just as the fight ended there were a ton of facebook status updates about the subject.  Here’s what I posted…

The head butt may have been dirty but true champions don’t have to match dirt for dirt.

After all the talk of the fight and people bringing up that Ortiz’s headbutt was illegal and Mayweather’s knock out punches weren’t, something else came to my mind.  I posted that too.

I have a few thoughts on that type of mentality (it’s “okay” or there’s “nothing wrong with it” so long as it’s “legal”).  First of all, “right” and “wrong” are not always defined by rules or laws.  For example, just because you “can” cleat defenders when you slide into them doesn’t mean you should always intentionally do so.  Along those lines, here is another facebook post I made the night of the fight that came as a result of comments people made on the Mayweather/Ortiz fight…

When true athletes go into competition their goal is not just to be better than that opponent on that given day but to be the best THEY can be every single day.

Whether it’s training or competition, big stakes or no stakes, millions watching or with no one watching, under ideal circumstances or under adversity, there is no difference. True athletes strive for excellence in all they do.

What do you think? Do you agree or disagree? Leave a comment below and share your thoughts!

Softball Parents Poll: Skills or Wins?

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Not long ago there were a couple of posts up at SoftballPerformance.com talking about “Soft or Hard“ and “Good vs Successful.” Both posts were quite thought provoking and got the wheels turning in my head. What’s more important? From a coaching standpoint, tons of arguments can be made for each side as well as for a mix or balance of each.

BUT, from a parent perspective…

What’s more important?
If you had to choose one or the other which would you choose?
Or if you had to say that one was primary and the other secondary, which way would you go?
If you knew one team guaranteed a winning season, but not necessarily a lot of progress for your daughter and the other guaranteed improvement for your daughter, but maybe not a championship type record – which would you choose for her?

What’s more important to you?

a) that your daughter be on a winning team
b) that your daughter improve her skills as a player/person

Leave a comment here and share your thoughts!  I, of course, have my own thoughts as a softball parent, but I am interested in hearing what you think too!

What Do Fries Have to do with Softball?

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fastpitch softball fries

Actually, not much. I was just thinking of a common phrase you hear at fast food restaurants where you can “have it your way.” One thing they always ask you is, “Would you like fries with that?” Some softball players seem to carry the “have it your way” mentality onto the softball field. I mean, believe me, I think it’s great that all I have to do is ask and I’ll get a chicken sandwich with no lettuce, but athletics doesn’t always allow you to have things your way. Too many softball players want things “their way” in order to perform at their best. Guess how often they’re going to do well.

Not very often.

Yes, bad weather may make the game more challenging. Yes, bad calls can be frustrating. Yes, having your great hits caught all day long can be discouraging. BUT if you always let these outside circumstances dictate your confidence and how you feel, chances are you’re never going to be in the optimal mindset for maximum performance.

I mean seriously, you’ve trained for too long to let ANYTHING take that away from you, much less something you have no control over. Whether this is only your first season and you’ve only been training for a few weeks or whether you’re an experienced player and you’ve been training for years – trust all that hard work you’ve already done. Don’t let one or two things on game day override all that effort you’ve already invested in yourself and make you feel like you can’t be successful.

It’s true the situation around you or your environment may not be what you want. Maybe the field you play on isn’t the best, or your team isn’t the best, or your equipment isn’t the best, BUT there will always be something and you can’t let that stop you from being your best.

You have full control over what you think and the mindset you having going into competition. Don’t leave it to chance. Stop allowing yourself to use excuses for poor performance. The more you blame other things, the less you’ll be able to make the real adjustments you need to help you get better as a player.

fastpitch softball fieldIf you’re waiting for everything to be perfect before you can perform your best, it may never happen. Yes, it might be easier if you had the best of everything around you – better teammates, better coaches, better field conditions, better equipment, better umpires, etc, etc, etc but if you keep looking to everything around you to get better or keep looking to what you don’t have as the reason you’re not successful, where do you draw the line? When does it stop? Really, if you’re going to wait for all that to be just right, what else are you going to want? Would you like the sun to be at a certain angle perhaps? How about we wait for the wind to blow one direction while you’re up to bat and the other when your opponent is up to bat? Planetary alignment maybe?

Do you want fries with that?

You get the idea. When does it end? If you keep looking for excuses, you’re never going to reach your full potential. At some point you have to put all the outside BullSh*t aside and take responsibility for your own performance! Too much focus on everything else that could be different doesn’t help YOU get better. Make adjustments where you can – with YOURSELF and stop focusing so much on things you have no control over.

Coach, Pick Me!

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fastpitch softball performanceOne of the biggest complaints and grumbles a softball coach has to deal with is about playing time.  Players say, “Coach, pick me! Pick me!” in different ways.  Very rarely do they actually say those words and too often they try to get this message to their coach in a negative manner (i.e. grumbling, complaining, questioning, or just plain sulking).

But if you want to know one of the BEST ways to get your point across to your coach…keep reading…

Talk is cheap…

Actions speak louder than words…

If you want to send your coach a message, do it with your PERFORMANCE!

Your performance in practice, your performance in pre-game, your performance in game situations is much more likely to make an impression on your coach than anything you (or your parents) could say.  Make sure that the message you send with your performance is a consistently positive one and you’ll have a much better chance at getting the playing time you want.

Too Many Excuses

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cantI have a confession to make. While it’s true that I’ve been very busy these past few weeks and that wonderful thing called life has thrown in a few unexpected twists and turns, the truth is, I’ve been making too many excuses. I’m guessing we all fall into that mode every now and then.

There have been things I’ve wanted to do for you, videos I wanted to create, new content I wanted to put up here at AAF, new stuff I’ve wanted to add to the Elite Member area and I haven’t been able to do it. My MacBook, which is where I have all my AAF stuff saved and what I used to do all my video tasks, has been broken for a while. It won’t power up. It’s totally and completely dead.

I’ve tried to get on the phone with Apple Care before, but I happened to call during a time when their help center was closed. Their automated message suggested that I go online to make an appointment. So I did. After going through a bunch of steps and filling out forms on the internet, the process ended with an error message. Super frustrating!!! A phone call, all the time on the computer and zero progress. I was as far from getting help for my MacBook as when I started. I really dislike calling in to help centers because it always seems to take up so much more time than necessary. Then there are those times when I’m on hold for so long and end up getting disconnected and have to start all over! Ugh!

So, after that failed attempt and getting the help I needed for my laptop, I’ve been put it off, hoping that I could figure out how to get it to charge (after all I was able to do it once since I started having problems – but never again).

I’ve been using all that as an excuse as to why I “can’t” create the new videos and content I want to give you – “technical difficulties.”

Well, yesterday I DECIDED that I needed to get on the ball and stop dragging my feet. I need to stop making excuses! I got on the phone again and made that dreaded call to customer service and did have to wait on hold for a while and did have to explain my situation more than once. You know how you explain everything to the first person you talk to, they make all kinds of notes, yet when they transfer you to the department that can help you, you still have to explain everything all over again anyway? Why do they take all those notes if no one’s going to read them? Anyway, bottom line is, I have an appointment to get my MacBook taken care of this morning. I finally got off my butt and did something about my problem.

Even though that’s one of my pet peeves (people grumbling about a situation, but doing nothing to better it), I find myself falling into that funk every now and then. Life gets in the way, my schedule gets hectic, family issues arise. I’m sure you’ve been there before. You’ve probably had times like that too. But is there something right now that you KNOW you need to take care of? Something you KNOW is holding you back, but you’ve been pushing it to the back burner or dragging your feet about?

If there is, I challenge you to get off your butt today and do something, anything to improve your situation. Will my MacBook be fixed today? I don’t know. I hope so, but at least I know I got the ball rolling in the right direction now. If there’s something more I have to do, I’m prepared to take those steps to see the task through to completion. But you know what? It all startes with the DECISION to take ACTION. That’s why I love BeachBody’s little slogan (the company that puts out p90x which I am doing)…

Decide. Commit. Succeed

doitIt really is as elementary as that. You can accomplish so much by doing those first two things….making a decision about what it is you want and what you’re going to do, then committing to it day in and day out even if you don’t feel like it. You can know that you want something or know that you want to do it, but that can be light-years away from actually making the decision to get up and DO it. Make the decision to improve then commit to doing something every day to get yourself closer to that goal. The success part can’t help but follow.

Where can you use a little “P90X” in your life, your game? P90X is not a fly by night type of program. It’s not for the weak. It’s not for the unmotivated. It’s not for the uncommited or those who are “hoping” to change their fitness and their lives. It’s for serious, committed, motivated, mentally tough people who are willing and ready to face the challenges it throws at them and take their “game” to the next level. It’s for those are are ready to throw excuses aside and “get busy!”

So…What’s that one thing you’ve been pushing to the back of your mind? That you know you need to take care of or make a change in? What is it that you’re going to get up off your butt about today?