Post Season Thoughts: Why Mental Toughness is Important in the Sport of Volleyball
As the end of the season nears and postseason play heats up it is always interesting to see what teams make it through the grind and into the Nebraska State Volleyball Tournament. There is something to be said that not…
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Continue ReadingAs the end of the season nears and postseason play heats up it is always interesting to see what teams make it through the grind and into the Nebraska State Volleyball Tournament. There is something to be said that not always the most physically talented team wins, but the most mentally tough team that does.
I can’t think of another sport where if you make a mistake the other team automatically gets a point. Sure, a fumble in football can lead to a touchdown, but not necessarily. A steal on the basketball court does not always equal points form the other team as well. In volleyball, if you miss a serve, or if you are in the net, or you hit that cut shot wide, or you are out of rotation then it is a point for the other team without them doing ANYTHING! Think about that for a moment?
In this day and age of rally scoring, it is important to clean up unforced errors. Not only do you have to defend Team A, but you have to make sure you are not shooting yourself in the foot either. So many times I have seen more physically gifted teams give away points because they are undisciplined or are overly aggressive or have a hard time shaking off unforced errors. You have to be mentally tough to be able to let those errors roll off your shoulders and think “NEXT POINT!” A coaching friend of mine told me he explained it to his players as “flush and forget it.” That is great visual for athletes of all ages, abilities, and levels. I always tried to tell my teams to focus on the next point if they did have an unforced error. Too many times athletes begin the domino effect when one hitting or serve receive error leads to several consecutive errors. This can happen under pressure situations like the postseason.
I myself struggled with being mentally tough at times in high school especially in serve receive which wasn’t always my best skill and something I had to really work to get better. I would let a shank effect the next two passes. At that time it was still sideout scoring so errors were not as damaging during that time as unforced errors are today.
Many times athletes struggle with mental toughness with skills they are weaker at. Of course, if you are a great hitter, you love to practice hitting balls, etc. If you are a poor server do you really spend a lot of extra time improving that skill all the time? Some would say yes and some would say no. Being a mentally tough athlete is about coming out of your comfort zone and not letting the moment get too big. I believe improving mental toughness starts with repping weaker skills to improve self-confidence and belief in oneself. Once an athlete can see that their errors are not fatal and can be fixable and “flush and forget it” they can learn to be more mentally tough in difficult and high-pressure situations.
Take note as you watch the teams compete this week and the following week in postseason play. How did that team or individual handle adversity, unforced errors, poor line judge or referee calls, their teammates’ errors? Did they begin to play timid to not want to make an error or were they able to shake it off? Odds are the teams that can shake off errors and focus on the next point are playing on Championship Saturday.