[caption id="attachment_136251" align="alignleft" width="470"]
SL men’s wheelchair tennis team which won third place out of ten countries in the “World Team Cup Qualification Event” in Portugal on Thursday (13). SL beat Croatia 3-0 in the first round before losing to Israel 2-1 in the semi-finals. They beat Greece 2-0 in the third-place play-off in this annual world cup of international wheelchair tennis organized by the International tennis Federation (ITF). Here is SL team in Portugal after their third-place victory: (from left) Lasantha Ranaweera, Suresh Dharmasena, Gamini Dissanayake, and Head Coach Jagath Welikala. Only the two finalists, Israel and Poland, entered the event’s final round from the Qualification Event. The three SL players are from the Army who have received permanent injury during the North-East civil war which ended in 2009[/caption]
Last week we discussed some of the main reasons for the success of the champions. What was clear from that discussion was the fact that while there is no “magic bullet” for success, it is the mental approach, the mental acceptance of the players’ shortcomings, and the ability to handle your mental situation properly and coming up with solutions for them, are the things that differentiate between “the more successful players” and “the less successful ones”.
Whilst this might sound a rather small matter to many, it is actually a major issue to most – which is often called a mental block. The best way to overcome this mental block is by consciously understanding what differentiates between the above two phenomena and adjusting your mindset accordingly. It is with this aspect in mind that this discussion is continued this week.
It is also remembered here that this discussion is based on the premise that all players as well as teams have raised their basic technical, tactical, and physical training to an equal level but their success rate is different making some more successful than the others.
Consistent success
Champion teams and players understand that success should be consistent. There is a saying that “one swallow does not make it summer”. Likewise, all champions understand that if they are to be considered “great”, then they need to keep producing success over a sustained period of time. Contrast this with lesser players or teams who, after winning just one championship, feel that they have reached the Promised Land.
Consider the greats of any sport – from individuals such as Roger Federer, LeBron James, Tiger Woods, and Lewis Hamilton up to teams such as the Australian cricket team, Manchester United football team, and US basketball team – they are all serial winners. They understand that “success breeds success”. Therefore they constantly strive to be better, and to keep winning.
Never compare with others
Another constant among the champions is that they never compare themselves with others. Their biggest competitor is themselves. They do not consider anyone or any team to be good enough to be on their plain. Therefore, they are constantly competing with themselves to become better at what they do.
By not comparing themselves with others, they do not feel the pressure of trying to better anyone else. This way they are always looking at bettering their own performance. Not only does this lend to consistency but in their own minds they are always the “only” champions worth thinking about. This makes performing on the next day that much easier.
No pressure, only challenge
The next psychological difference is probably the one that can be classified as the most important aspect once you are going to understand the difference between the champions and the others. That is the way they handled pressure.
Champions tend to treat pressure situations more as a challenge that they have to overcome. The champions thrive in such situations and will always be looking for solutions. They will never treat those situations as a burden.
But the lesser teams and players will always be treating such pressure situations as heavy burdens on them. Those “burdens” will always tend to weigh heavy them down. This weighing will mostly be “a mental weighing down”.
Because of this fact, the “lesser ones” will always perform at less than their best. As mentioned last week, they will be more concerned as to how the others will perceive them rather than looking for the solutions. This is called “mental” “block”. If they have to perform at their best, such players and teams have to overcome mental block.
Not only to be good, but great
The other major difference between champions and lesser ones is the fact that the former are never happy to be good. They always want to be great. They are never content with only achieving what they can achieve comfortably. Instead, they want to achieve something more and go further. This intrinsic motivation is a discernible quality of the champions.
But the lesser teams and the players are mostly happy with what they can achieve comfortably without really challenging themselves to achieve more.
Even if they are to be challenged to achieve more, that challenge too has to come by way of a reward that is coming at the end of possible achievement of that challenge. In other words, such players and teams are mostly motivated by extrinsic motivation. This difference, at least in individual players, will show up very early in their playing careers. It is also a good barometer of talent identification as well.
Constant lookout for improvement
The other major difference in terms of champions is the fact that even after they have won the championship, they will immediately turn their focus onto what they can improve for the next tournament or the match. They will never be satisfied by what they have achieved and they will not spend a lot of time wallowing in that success either. They will immediately be looking for improvement for the future.
Not living long in success
This quest for improvement will always mark them out as the future “greats” of any sport. Whilst the lesser teams and the players will be living in the success of the moment for a substantial amount of time, champions will always savour the success only for that moment and immediately turn their mind to the future.
In fact, the attitude of living long in success of the moment is termed a “poor man’s attitude” which itself is self explanatory.
All of the points discussed in this column last week as well as this week illustrate the different mental approach of champions. All such attitudes are ones that can be learnt. But even if you are to learn them, you have to first know them and recognise them.
The ability to do so, at the end of the day, is the biggest challenge.
SL men’s wheelchair tennis team which won third place out of ten countries in the “World Team Cup Qualification Event” in Portugal on Thursday (13). SL beat Croatia 3-0 in the first round before losing to Israel 2-1 in the semi-finals. They beat Greece 2-0 in the third-place play-off in this annual world cup of international wheelchair tennis organized by the International tennis Federation (ITF). Here is SL team in Portugal after their third-place victory: (from left) Lasantha Ranaweera, Suresh Dharmasena, Gamini Dissanayake, and Head Coach Jagath Welikala. Only the two finalists, Israel and Poland, entered the event’s final round from the Qualification Event. The three SL players are from the Army who have received permanent injury during the North-East civil war which ended in 2009[/caption]
Last week we discussed some of the main reasons for the success of the champions. What was clear from that discussion was the fact that while there is no “magic bullet” for success, it is the mental approach, the mental acceptance of the players’ shortcomings, and the ability to handle your mental situation properly and coming up with solutions for them, are the things that differentiate between “the more successful players” and “the less successful ones”.
Whilst this might sound a rather small matter to many, it is actually a major issue to most – which is often called a mental block. The best way to overcome this mental block is by consciously understanding what differentiates between the above two phenomena and adjusting your mindset accordingly. It is with this aspect in mind that this discussion is continued this week.
It is also remembered here that this discussion is based on the premise that all players as well as teams have raised their basic technical, tactical, and physical training to an equal level but their success rate is different making some more successful than the others.
Consistent success
Champion teams and players understand that success should be consistent. There is a saying that “one swallow does not make it summer”. Likewise, all champions understand that if they are to be considered “great”, then they need to keep producing success over a sustained period of time. Contrast this with lesser players or teams who, after winning just one championship, feel that they have reached the Promised Land.
Consider the greats of any sport – from individuals such as Roger Federer, LeBron James, Tiger Woods, and Lewis Hamilton up to teams such as the Australian cricket team, Manchester United football team, and US basketball team – they are all serial winners. They understand that “success breeds success”. Therefore they constantly strive to be better, and to keep winning.
Never compare with others
Another constant among the champions is that they never compare themselves with others. Their biggest competitor is themselves. They do not consider anyone or any team to be good enough to be on their plain. Therefore, they are constantly competing with themselves to become better at what they do.
By not comparing themselves with others, they do not feel the pressure of trying to better anyone else. This way they are always looking at bettering their own performance. Not only does this lend to consistency but in their own minds they are always the “only” champions worth thinking about. This makes performing on the next day that much easier.
No pressure, only challenge
The next psychological difference is probably the one that can be classified as the most important aspect once you are going to understand the difference between the champions and the others. That is the way they handled pressure.
Champions tend to treat pressure situations more as a challenge that they have to overcome. The champions thrive in such situations and will always be looking for solutions. They will never treat those situations as a burden.
But the lesser teams and players will always be treating such pressure situations as heavy burdens on them. Those “burdens” will always tend to weigh heavy them down. This weighing will mostly be “a mental weighing down”.
Because of this fact, the “lesser ones” will always perform at less than their best. As mentioned last week, they will be more concerned as to how the others will perceive them rather than looking for the solutions. This is called “mental” “block”. If they have to perform at their best, such players and teams have to overcome mental block.
Not only to be good, but great
The other major difference between champions and lesser ones is the fact that the former are never happy to be good. They always want to be great. They are never content with only achieving what they can achieve comfortably. Instead, they want to achieve something more and go further. This intrinsic motivation is a discernible quality of the champions.
But the lesser teams and the players are mostly happy with what they can achieve comfortably without really challenging themselves to achieve more.
Even if they are to be challenged to achieve more, that challenge too has to come by way of a reward that is coming at the end of possible achievement of that challenge. In other words, such players and teams are mostly motivated by extrinsic motivation. This difference, at least in individual players, will show up very early in their playing careers. It is also a good barometer of talent identification as well.
Constant lookout for improvement
The other major difference in terms of champions is the fact that even after they have won the championship, they will immediately turn their focus onto what they can improve for the next tournament or the match. They will never be satisfied by what they have achieved and they will not spend a lot of time wallowing in that success either. They will immediately be looking for improvement for the future.
Not living long in success
This quest for improvement will always mark them out as the future “greats” of any sport. Whilst the lesser teams and the players will be living in the success of the moment for a substantial amount of time, champions will always savour the success only for that moment and immediately turn their mind to the future.
In fact, the attitude of living long in success of the moment is termed a “poor man’s attitude” which itself is self explanatory.
All of the points discussed in this column last week as well as this week illustrate the different mental approach of champions. All such attitudes are ones that can be learnt. But even if you are to learn them, you have to first know them and recognise them.
The ability to do so, at the end of the day, is the biggest challenge.