Don’t Sweat it
Now, this title might seem a little misleading—If you’re playing a sport how can you not sweat? And discounting competitive chess or perhaps darts, it’s practically impossible not to sweat when engaging in sports on a physical level however, I want to focus on the mental level of sports.
It’s incredibly easy to become flustered or frustrated in the midst of a difficult game or practice; it’s sometimes hard to stay sane when you feel no one on your team is listening to you or if you think you’re not playing to the best of your ability. Us at Koa want you to know that, that’s ok. No one has ever been admonished for being too passionate about the outcome of a game or trying to perform their best, though it is important to remember that sometimes things might not always run as smoothly as you had envisioned, and when that happens, don’t sweat it!
Everyone has off days. From John Wall to Alex Ovechkin, no one can play every game or practice absolutely perfectly. Perhaps one day when robots finally take over the sports scene (a la Nike’s 2014 “Last World Cup” commercial) that could be a possibility, but for now, perfection is impossible while perfecting is not.
Athletes commonly hear “never give up” from coaches/parents/teammates/themselves and at Koa we want to stress that contemplating giving up is an inherently negative outlook. “Don’t sweat it”, however, helps us to keep our minds in a healthy and optimistic place. You may have an off game, or an off day, maybe even an off week, nevertheless that doesn’t necessarily mean that you’re mentally on the verge of “giving up”. All you need to do is to take a step back, think about what is frustrating you, internalize it, and move on!
There’s no reason to sweat the small stuff, especially when it comes to playing a sport you love.
