Post by inthestands on Sept 14, 2020 14:31:45 GMT -5
I found a video of a speech by Duke womens basketball coach Kara Lawson. You can watch the speech in its entirety here:
In the speech Coach Lawson is trying to teach her players the difference between working hard and competing. Her point is that competing is much more important than working hard. Millions of people work hard everyday, but not everyone competes. She can design a drill that forces players to work hard, but she cannot force anyone to compete. Only the player herself can decide if they want to compete or not.
She introduces a hypothetical where she takes a player and tells her to run a certain distance in a certain amount of time. Then she takes that same player and adds 4 other teammates and gives them the same distance and time requirement. Do you run the distance in the same amount of time by yourself versus when running with others-- or does your desire to compete drive you to run faster when others are in the mix?
She challenges all of her athletes to prepare themselves to compete before every practice and every game, and then self-assess after each game to see if they truly competed. It may not be every day, "but make sure it isn't ever 2 days in a row" she tells her players.
This speech should really resonate with young softball players. The best players are always the most competitive ones. The ones who have the mental fortitude to reach for the W and take home the prize. And ultimately no coach can teach that skill-- it has to come from within. Powerful stuff from a great coach.
It might even be enough to make me a Duke fan? Nah....
