Enduring and Quirky Advice for Volleyball and Elsewhere

All opinions are solely my own.

Write down the good ideas that cross your mind. Time will arise to apply them. You can journal, write a blog, or maintain a commonplace book. 

1. Say "thank you" a lot, especially to your parents. 

2. Avoid bad people. They bring you down. 

3. "Do five more." - Dan Pink   Extra effort pays. 

4. Find a way to sleep eight hours. In MacBeth Shakespeare wrote, "sleep that knits up the raveled sleave of care." 

5. Eat more fermented foods. Our brains and gut are closely linked. Value arises from heeding 'gut feelings'. The 'enteric nervous system' matters.  

6. Respect the game. Respect coaches, teammates, opponents, and officials. Do nothing on or off the court to embarrass the team or yourself.

7. Be a great teammate by putting the team first and having empathy for your teammates. Put yourself in their shoes. 

8. "Winners are trackers." Track time you invest in yourself through skill building, study, reading, video review, body development. 

9. You know that sport rewards athletic explosiveness. Do something about it. 

10.Stretch. 

11.Be excited, not nervous. Newton North visits Melrose on October 25th in a great non-league contest. 

12.Become your own coach. Be self-aware. Step outside yourself and ask what would an objective observer see? Do you need skill, game understanding, lateral quickness or vertical jump, mental toughness? 

Lagniappe. Start somewhere, e.g. body weight single-leg squats and build upper body power with force-time exercises.