Some time ago, after National Doubles I got a text from a colleague of mine that went like this: “Boy you had a rough day. You lost every match on center court! Below is my reaction to that!
The funny thing is I did not see any of it like that. I did not lose anything because I did not play. I coach athletes and I did not lose every final. Men’s B doubles and women’s team championships were won by my athletes!
So how did my colleagues know my athletes lost? On the internet broadcasts of the finals.
So, my athletes were in almost every final! I am writing this at 6am and I will be on court with my athletes at 8am working for the next tournament.
All of my athletes were in a position to win. What else can I do? I cannot make shots or lift weights or run sprints. I coach. Recently all of my athletes lost matches in 3 different divisions and all three athletes have improved. Video does not lie-improvement in shot selection, and movement was evident when going over each loss.
The process of getting good does not happen overnight. Results can be misleading. You can win and play badly and lose and play great. The only thing I can measure is how the athlete is competing and moving. That often gets lost in the hoopla.
I remember many tournaments including my own where we got beat in a tournament, regrouped and won big when we got the next chance. There is an old saying in Football coaching that applies here.
“You are never as bad as you think you are when you lose and never as good as you think when you win!”
Progress is often invisible to the public.
Not to me!
Go get’em tigers!!