Imagine you’re in the middle of an all-day tournament and you’ve just lost one of your games. This can be disappointing, no doubt! But it’s definitely not the end of the world or the tournament. There are a few suggestions we have that can help you bounce back from a loss so that the rest of your tournament can be successful!
1. Stop playing “what ifs.” It’s really easy to bombard yourself with a bunch of “what if” questions after you’ve experienced a loss – “What if I took another breath before that last serve?” “What if I set somebody different on that last point?” or “What if I wasn’t intimidated by that other player?” The “what if” questions can potentially be endless and are completely unnecessary for your self-esteem and abilities. So, just avoid them altogether or at least as much as possible! You can’t change the past, so why focus on that when you should just look toward the future!
2. Stop ruminating on mistakes. Again, you can’t change the past or erase mistakes you may have made, so it’s unnecessary to ruminate on them! We understand that’s not the easiest thing to do especially if the mistake seemed particularly costly to you. But it’s not worth your energy to worry about past mistakes because it distracts you from what matters – future play! If you’re still bummed about that missed serve, how are you supposed to play defense well or set your teammates? You can’t – at least not to your best ability! So stop ruminating!
3. Write down key lessons to revisit later. Because we know how hard it is to not ruminate on mistakes, this suggestion can help! If there is a particular mistake or mistakes that just keep bugging you, then the best next step is to write them down to reference later! If you feel the need to really focus on mistakes, then writing them down will allow you to focus on them during a better time rather than in the middle of the tournament. If any come to mind, you can also write down key strategies to improve so you don’t make the same mistake in the future. The best thing you can do with mistakes is learn from them! But it’s ideal to learn from them at a more appropriate time that’s not during a tournament!
4. Forgive yourself! What will really help you bounce back from the loss is simply forgiving yourself! Everyone makes mistakes sometimes because nobody is perfect, so forgiving yourself is a great step to take! Just remember that mistakes and losses happen to the best of us all the time, so experiencing one loss is no reason to ruin the rest of the tournament. If you need some help remembering that, just think of this quote from Leon Brown, “You cannot travel back in time to fix your mistakes, but you can learn from them and forgive yourself for not knowing better.”
5. Keep everything in perspective.So if you’ve just experienced a loss, what does that mean for the bigger picture? During a tournament you play 4, 5, 6, or even more games sometimes depending on how long the tournament is. So is being mad about losing one game going to be beneficial for the rest of the games you have to play? No, definitely not! And think even bigger picture, is losing that one game going to effect the rest of your season? Or even the rest of your volleyball career? Most likely not, so think of the bigger picture and look to the future!
We know what it’s like losing, in fact everyone knows what it’s like to lose! But worrying about the loss is not going to be benefical during the rest of your tournament. So use these suggestions and focus on improving for your next game!
1. Stop playing “what ifs.” It’s really easy to bombard yourself with a bunch of “what if” questions after you’ve experienced a loss – “What if I took another breath before that last serve?” “What if I set somebody different on that last point?” or “What if I wasn’t intimidated by that other player?” The “what if” questions can potentially be endless and are completely unnecessary for your self-esteem and abilities. So, just avoid them altogether or at least as much as possible! You can’t change the past, so why focus on that when you should just look toward the future!
2. Stop ruminating on mistakes. Again, you can’t change the past or erase mistakes you may have made, so it’s unnecessary to ruminate on them! We understand that’s not the easiest thing to do especially if the mistake seemed particularly costly to you. But it’s not worth your energy to worry about past mistakes because it distracts you from what matters – future play! If you’re still bummed about that missed serve, how are you supposed to play defense well or set your teammates? You can’t – at least not to your best ability! So stop ruminating!
3. Write down key lessons to revisit later. Because we know how hard it is to not ruminate on mistakes, this suggestion can help! If there is a particular mistake or mistakes that just keep bugging you, then the best next step is to write them down to reference later! If you feel the need to really focus on mistakes, then writing them down will allow you to focus on them during a better time rather than in the middle of the tournament. If any come to mind, you can also write down key strategies to improve so you don’t make the same mistake in the future. The best thing you can do with mistakes is learn from them! But it’s ideal to learn from them at a more appropriate time that’s not during a tournament!
4. Forgive yourself! What will really help you bounce back from the loss is simply forgiving yourself! Everyone makes mistakes sometimes because nobody is perfect, so forgiving yourself is a great step to take! Just remember that mistakes and losses happen to the best of us all the time, so experiencing one loss is no reason to ruin the rest of the tournament. If you need some help remembering that, just think of this quote from Leon Brown, “You cannot travel back in time to fix your mistakes, but you can learn from them and forgive yourself for not knowing better.”
5. Keep everything in perspective.So if you’ve just experienced a loss, what does that mean for the bigger picture? During a tournament you play 4, 5, 6, or even more games sometimes depending on how long the tournament is. So is being mad about losing one game going to be beneficial for the rest of the games you have to play? No, definitely not! And think even bigger picture, is losing that one game going to effect the rest of your season? Or even the rest of your volleyball career? Most likely not, so think of the bigger picture and look to the future!
We know what it’s like losing, in fact everyone knows what it’s like to lose! But worrying about the loss is not going to be benefical during the rest of your tournament. So use these suggestions and focus on improving for your next game!