FAILURE

Win or Learn.

Not win or lose.

We’re going to eliminate that fear of failure, by taking a win or learn approach. The faster we fail, the more quickly we learn. The more quickly we learn, the faster we develop.

But that takes guts. That takes a willingness to fail and an environment that promotes learning, rather than losing. So as parents and coaches, let’s create that environment – how can we do it?

We’ve got to remove that fear of failure. Last week we talked about aggression. What a great start in doing so. How else can we create that environment of growth?

1. Wear a Lab Coat to Practice – Go get a lab coat. Find anything that screams scientist and wear it to practice. We’re going to create an environment where this is our lab and scientists don’t lose from an experiment they learn. So let’s create an environment where we are scientists. Get your lab coat on.

2. Learn to Get Hit – Let’s eliminate the fear of the baseball by bringing some tennis balls and pegging your athletes. See below for the drill of the week: Scared of Getting Hit and remove that fear of failure by training it like a skill. I’m going to learn how to get hit by a baseball.

Eliminate any fear of getting hit and pair that with those aggressive swings from last week. There’s nothing more fulfilling than seeing that timid athlete come out of their shoes and start building confidence… as we eliminate fear and promote aggression

Fear. It’s certainly not going away. We’re just going to learn how to use it. We’re gonna munch on that fear like an energy bar.

Play hard, have fun.

Conversation Questions

1. Where are you currently struggling at school?
2. What skill is particularly challenging as a player right now?
3. Name one way you’ve learned from “failing” in the past.

Athlete Challenge

Do the thing that scares you the most!  Fly balls?  Start with 10 wiffle flies per day. Ground balls?  Start with slow rollers and get to work.

Coach Challenge

Channel your inner scientist and run the drill: Scared of Getting Hit.

EQUIPMENT LIST