Lacrosse “Fan Mentality”
Stop approaching Lacrosse as a spectator! Each person involved has their own role: players play, coaches coach, administrators administrate, referees ref, parents parent, etc.
Know your role – You are a lacrosse player, an athlete, a participant. This means you must think like a participant, not like a coach, not like an administrator, and certainly not like a fan.
Most athletes have never experienced being a coach or administrator; however, most of us have experience being a fan. You’ve watched lacrosse at the national level, collegiate level, high school level, and youth level. Involvement in lacrosse as a fan, creates a difficulty for you, as a player, to shake the “fan mentality”.
Fans talk about the importance of the game, streaks, wins, losses, upsets, records, predictions, rankings, and war stories of individuals. They spend countless hours watching television, reading articles on the internet, participating in forums, debates, gambling, etc.
We learn all about stats and what indicators to look for in teams and individuals so we can win bets. We know all the stories about guys or girls on our favorite teams and past records. We figure out stories and streaks so we have things to talk about while watching these games with our friends.
We learn very quickly how to become a great fan.
What we need to learn is how to think like an athlete. We sit back and hope it happens to us. We should be proactive in this process.
Sport Psychology and common sense teaches you to focus on things you can control and stop worrying about things you cannot. When you compete, you cannot think about the stories, records, stats, etc. You need to stop looking at the newspaper, predictions, forums, and rankings.
Players say that these things do not affect them, so they can still be a competitor and fan at the same time. If that is the case, I challenge you to think of at least 3 of your past poor performances. What were you thinking before and during the competition? If anything had to do with how good or bad your opponent was, this is partly a result of getting involved in the hype. Walk away when friends and teammates start talking about lacrosse as spectators. Do not let that garbage into your mind.
The “fan mentality” is a difficult habit to break. This will take active work on your part, but the results are well worth it. Stop caring about what other people think of you, how they will view your performance, what this all means, records, rankings, predictions, streaks, and stories. Read a book on lacrosse technique or mindset instead of box scores and newspaper articles. Start thinking like a participant. Destroy your “fan mentality,” and live in your own reality!