1. The Harder It Is To Do, The Better You Are When You Do It - Hard work matters because it is "hard" and that means not everyone can do it! It means if you work hard enough and are then able to do something that's considered "hard" then you're special. Work harder to do things that are hard instead of saying "that's hard" and then quitting. The easiest path won't get you anywhere - it's not about getting the best bat or the most expensive glove or the coolest shoes if your swing stinks, you can't catch anything and you're out of shape and slow. Too many players want the easiest way to get something and if anything involves hard work then there's an excuse why it can't happen. The harder something is to do the better you are when you do it.
2. Make Plays Not Excuses - Sports aren't about excuses, they're about results. So practice making results instead of excuses.
3. Stop Talking and Start Playing - No one is interested in why you couldn't practice; they want to see that you did practice. No one wants to hear why you couldn't' throw strikes because the umpire wasn't calling anything outside, they want to see that you were able to recognize the strike zone and immediately shift your pitch just enough to get the strike called.
4. Take Responsibility - own your actions no matter what the outcome. Everyone knows you weren't out there trying to blow it. If you struck out with the bases loaded everyone knows you weren't trying to do that, so quit making excuses about why you did. Instead, work harder to figure out what you learned from the situation and how you'll use that knowledge to succeed the next chance you get - because you will get another chance! Just ask Alex Scott.
5. The Game Doesn't Care - The game doesn't know which team is favored, it doesn't know which team is the underdog, which team won yesterday, which team has never won, which team plays in warm weather and which team plays in the Santa Cruz fog. The game only knows what you're doing right now so you must play as hard and as smart as possible right now because the game doesn't know your team is favored to win, it only knows that the other team worked harder and won! So play "in the moment softball" because the game doesn't know.
6. Remember That You're A Teammate and Not The Team! - no matter what position you play, who you play for and how good other people think you either are or will be, it doesn't matter! Because you're still just a teammate, you're never the whole team! It takes a TEAM to win so be a great teammate!
These 6 points may seem simple, but NEVER underestimate their importance...it WILL be the difference between your team being good or great!
Source: Cindy Bristow - Softball Excellence (some information paraphrazed and/or personalized from June '09 Newsletter)
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