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Softball Smarts Tips #140:
How to Excel on a New Team or an Old Team
<<First Name>>
As the fall 2012 season gets under way almost every softball team has a number of new players on it. Your athlete may have joined a "new" team or is remaining her "old" team that, again, may have a number of new players on it.
Either way team chemistry changes and it can take awhile for all players to establish or re-establish themselves on the team.
In this process younger athletes can experience a lot of anxiety (which normally starts during the tryout process) as they seek to find their new role on the team. Even on an old team a new player or players can mean more competition, while on a new team a player wants to impress new coaches and new teammates alike.
Younger athletes excel within their comfort zones and new teams or old teams with a new look can cause those comfort zones to be rocked.
As a parent it is critically important that you temper your expectations during the first month or so of the season as any additional pressure from mom or dad will only cause your athlete more anxiety and adversely impact her performance.
At the same time your athlete needs to monitor her own expectations as the tendency to try too hard can also cause her frustration and lower her performance levels.
It's important for your athlete to remember who she is as an athlete. The uniform she is wearing or make up of her team roster does not change her talent level. The bases are still 60 feet apart and the ball is still an optic yellow!
As your athlete seeks to establish her identity on her team she needs to also remember to trust herself to continue to grow as an athlete. Being afraid of making mistakes in front of new coaches or new teammates will only serve to limit her ability and potential on the diamond as the dreaded doubt will creep in causing mistakes and frustration.
The bottom line, as I have seen so many times as a coach, is your athlete will rise to whatever level she works toward physically and mentally regardless of her team or teammates. In time she and her coaches will figure things out and new comfort zones will be established between players, coaches and parents.
So give your athlete and her team some time to come together; which they inevitably will. In the meantime, kick back and enjoy watching the great game of fastpitch softball!
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**You can now access the Softball Smarts Tips Archives of all previous issues by clicking here.
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Remember, thoughts are things...so choose them wisely!
Thanks for reading,
John Kelly
Softball Smarts
Winner's Edge Softball
Winner's Edge Kids
Sports Confidence Builder
softballsmarts101@gmail.com
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