Anson Dorrance's Vision of a Champion shares valuable information page after page. He discusses the women's struggle to find their voice (communicate without being seen as 'bossy') and the need for TRANSCENDING ORDINARY EFFORT.
Championship play demands extraordinary effort. What constitutes extraordinary? It's about championship habits, championship practice. Coaches find ways to nurture confidence, grow skill, and maintain motivation. Doc Rivers has said, "coaches take players where they cannot go alone."
Champions leave their comfort zone. The price of an Olympic figure skating gold is 20,000 falls. Jerry Rice's hill climb was epic. Dan Gable's workouts defined punishment. "When I'm ready to stop I start wondering what the Russians are doing, and then I keep going."
Champions reach another level. Dorrance says great players have the capacity to "flame on".
Mia Hamm discussed the fragility of confidence. Doubt creeps in. Even as a goal scorer, goals are infrequent. Therefore, she bolsters her confidence by relying upon the controllables, her effort and defense. She remarks that a bad touch doesn't equate to a poor game.
Basketball players can engage in the same way, focusing on engaging teammates, making good decisions, playing aggressively, taking quality shots. Maintain or increase confidence in the totality of your game, even when one dimension (e.g. shooting) is off. Players should not let one part of the game drag their total performance down.
