I was reading a thing the other day that struck me. It was a response to someone who had said their career was ruined by a few experts who told them they would never be any good. The career was in acting and the responses were swift.
They went like this, “You are not that good if the opinion of others, even experts, matter to you. Have a backbone and believe in yourself!”
That reminded me of the athletes I see in racquetball.
Athletes come to me with a dream, a vision of how good they can be. Usually that vision is too low! I want them to achieve more than they dreamed of! Hard work and correct technique gets anyone toward their goal but the next step takes courage.
Courage to get those final two points in that 9-9 tiebreaker. Courage to beat a nemesis you have never defeated. Courage to go the rare air at the top of your game, whatever the level!
I can think of two players back in the day I had to defeat. One for the city championship and one for the regional championship. Both of those “first time I ever beat them” matches came after several people told me I would never beat them. I was told that I just wasn’t that good. Thank goodness I did not believe those people!
Since those days I have taken many athletes to that same place I experienced. That player in their (or my) way was not the problem. The improvement of the craft of racquetball is the problem. After that, comes the mental conquest of the doubters and doubter thoughts! Most of us have the same demons I had. Excellence means working on your craft and believing in yourself. It also means not listening to people who tell you that you can’t (or better-do listen to them and use it as fuel to prove them wrong!)
Go get’em Tigers!!