Performing Under Pressure

"A man is not great because he hasn't failed; a man is great because failure hasn't stopped him." - Confucius

I have previously shared lessons from Performing Under Pressure. Weisinger and Pawliw-Fry describe the biology of pressure and short and long-term mitigators of degraded performance. The authors share their four long-term "COTE of armor" - confidence, optimism, tenacity, enthusiasm. 

Here are ten simple, practical Performing Under Pressure strategies with brief annotations. The goal of the short term strategies is boosting positives, eliminating negatives, focus, proper arousal, and finding what works for you. 



1. Use music as it distracts you from pressure and regulate arousal. Some music can stimulate and other can calm. Some does both (anyone who has heard Rossini's William Tell Overture/Lone Ranger theme attests to that). Find your muse. 

2. Focus on the moment. Play present. Just "be". 

3. Watch video of your best performances. Watching video removes self-consciousness and shows you succeeding.  

Train yourself to be an optimist from lohynova

4. Be positive. We have a powerful 'inside voice'. I CAN DO THIS. 

5. Highlight reel. Jason Selk's great book 10 Minute Toughness incorporates valuable strategies for mental toughness. Develop a mental ESPN highlight reel of plays that show you succeeding. They don't have to be extraordinary, once-in-a-lifetime achievements. Visualize yourself serving an ace, timing the block perfectly, or slamming home a winner.

6. Power position. Daughter Paula used to walk into the gym "making myself big" standing tall to let everyone in the gym know "I'm here." Harvard researcher Amy Cuddy describes the value of assuming "power positions" to raise testosterone (confidence hormone) and lower cortisol (a stress hormone) even after as little as two minutes.

7. Breathing.



Another principle from Jason Selk was proper (centered) breathing...controlled breathing...slow inspiration (6 seconds)/breath hold (2 seconds)/slow expiration (7 seconds). Others recommend "square" breathing of four seconds (inhale, pause, exhale, pause). 

8. Anchor words or cues. Heisinger and Pawliw-Fry discuss the "cookie jar." Get on top of the ball; put the cookie into the cookie jar on a high shelf.

9. Simulation.



Feel the pressure. Simulate the moment. When teams and individuals practice pressure situations they are more likely to perform when THE MOMENT arrives.

10. Speed kills.

Haste makes waste. Nobel Laureate Daniel Kahneman described heuristic (automatic, reflexive) X-system and thoughtful, reflective (C-system) operations working in the brain. It takes more energy but activate your "C-system" to help DO YOUR JOB reflexly.

Top 30 nuggets Thinking, Fast and Slow - Daniel Kahneman from nugget

Signature Wins

Every team establishes its legacy with signature wins. 

The 2003 team beat Arlington Catholic and its Twin Towers to win its first sectional championship. 

The 2005 team topped Andover and rallied from a 2-0 deficit and 16-23 in the State Championship but fell to Medfield in five sets. 

Version 2009 defeated Barnstable 3-0 in one of the greatest matches ever played in Melrose. 

The 2012 State Championship team had a cornucopia of memories, style, and key wins over Canton and Longmeadow. 

They also proved the "three-hitter rule" again. It takes three big hitters to go deep. 

The 2017 edition gets its first opportunity for a signature win today as Notre Dame (Hingham) invades the Veterans' Memorial Middle School Gym. Be there. 

JV Snaps

Courtesy of Bill Heafey. Click photos to enlarge. 

Melrose has had a strong program for over 15 years. Making any team is an accomplishment with a bevy of committed, talented players. Girls who participate in high school sports experience social, health, and academic benefits. 

Enjoy some shots of the junior varsity. 

First Look: Melrose - Woburn Snaps

Courtesy of Steve Karampalas. Click photo to enlarge.

Game 3: Melrose Burns Tanners 3 - 0

Woburn came to Melrose undefeated, with two top hitters (Laurie Doherty and Julie Miller) and nine seniors. But that wasn't enough as Melrose outlasted the Tanners 25-15, 25-19, and 25-23. 

The win keeps Melrose undefeated (3-0) heading into Thursday's match with Notre Dame (Hingham) and drops Woburn to 3-1. 

Melrose jumped out of the gate leading 11-1, but Woburn was able to regain some sanity as they rallied down the stretch to narrow the score to 25-15. The Lady Raiders defense was terrific throughout, especially senior captains libero Jill Mercer and setter Lily Fitzgerald. Nearly as impressive were sophomore defenders Nicole Abbott and Mary Kate Mahoney. 

Woburn turned the tables in set two, leading 11-5 before a Scott Celli timeout chilled the momentum. Melrose closed with a 20-8 run, galloping down the stretch to win by six. 

Woburn again came out hot in the third, leading 7-3. Melrose responded with ties at 12 and 13, and later at 19 and 23. But Melrose won the set with a key rainbow kill from Lily Fitzgerald and a late error. 

Game analysis: Woburn seemed a little "out of the moment" early as they are still a young program in the league. But they combined solid blocking up front and excellent libero play to make the match competitive after the first half of the first set. They are going to win a lot of Middlesex League games and be in the post-season. Melrose won with superior defense and big game experience while the hitting was a little off. 

Tanners on Tap Today

Melrose hosts Woburn today in a match of undefeateds. Woburn comes in with momentum, having shutout Burlington in their last match. 

Woburn has invested in their program with a Middle School recreational program and the Krossover game analysis platform. 



Krossover breaks down and 'stats' team and individual play. It allows coaches and players to create highlight films or sequences of strong play or errors. 

Expect a battle today at the Middle School Gymnasium, with the varsity game expected to start near 5:00 p.m. 

Be Great in Your Role

Cross-posted from my basketball blog. "Do more to become more; become more to do more." 

Updated Globe Rankings

Polls are fun, not as much as the "If I ruled the World" game, but fun. 

The signature volleyball program in Massachusetts, Barnstable, remains atop the rankings. Melrose crept up three places. Hopkinton moved into Division 1 this year. 

Stay faithful to the process, the doing today what is necessary to be successful tomorrow. 

Standings and Trophies

Note: The opinions expressed within are always solely those of the author. They do not represent the City of Melrose, the School or Athletic Department, or the Volleyball program. 

Standings from The Boston Globe

The 'convenience' of splitting the Middlesex League into large (Liberty) and small (Freedom) evolved because certain schools felt non-competitive against bigger schools in some sports. Which program has dominated field hockey for decades? Watertown. Melrose won ten consecutive league titles in girls basketball, including five undefeated seasons. A lifetime ago (when I played), Stoneham won the league title in basketball. Wakefield's girls and boys both won a state championship in the same year, long before the 'restructuring' into large and small. 

Melrose has succeeded for the past fifteen years in volleyball with a state championship, seven sectional championships, and over ten league championships...from the 'small' division. 

The MIAA had a dozen football champions and restructured because they felt there were too many, reducing the number to six. Already, the creep upwards has occurred, back to eight this season. 

Play for the competition, the exercise and numerous benefits of sport, the capacity to make a lifetime of friendships and memories. But the large-small split to create more "champions" has no appeal for me. To become champions, build championship habits and give championship effort. Process defines you, not a trophy. 

Game 2: Melrose 3 Arlington 1

Statistics via maxpreps.com

Tanner Tilt Tuesday

Melrose defeated Arlington in four sets yesterday...details when available. 

The 'gestalt' is that the league is improving, as teams play more competitive non-league schedules and interest in volleyball continues to grow. Melrose hosts Woburn next, with Woburn coming off a shutout of Burlington, which usually is an "upper division" finisher. The more competitive matches the young Lady Raiders face, the better. 

Homenewshere.com provides an overview of both Woburn and Reading. 

Resources

You're here because of an interest in Melrose volleyball. Additional resources for information, education, and training include: 

Maxpreps.com Melrose Volleyball (Register free for all access)

Boston Globe High School Volleyball 

Boston Herald High School Insider (periodically includes volleyball)

American Volleyball Coaches Association 

Massachusetts Girls Volleyball Coaches Association (information, previous All-State Teams, etc.)

Massachusetts IAA (MIAA) Volleyball Tournament Information (when available) 

USA Volleyball (Education link) 

Youtube Art of Coaching Volleyball (link to top flight coaching videos)

Meditation and Peak Performance

"Imagination leads to innovation which leads to differentiation." - Bill Russell

You want peak performance. 

At the pinnacle of the performance pyramid is psychological strength. The Latin phrase, "Mens sana in corpore sano" translates to a sound mind in a sound body." Great. How do you get there? 


"Meditation is for the weak-minded." Really? 

What can it do for me? "Meditating consistently over a period of time can offer a steady stream of small victories: the ability to eat and sleep better, lift more, run longer, zone out competition and get done what you have to get done." Meditation increase focus (attention), allowing athletes to "play present". 

This Harvard Medical School presentation discusses health benefits of meditation. Stress hormones (cortisol, catecholamines - like adrenaline) surge under pressure. They increase heart rate, blood pressure, breathing rate, and can lead to 'tunnel vision' where athletes lose focus of the bigger picture. Meditation lowers stress hormones. 

How do I get started? I recommend the Headspace app (the base application is free). The daily presentation (3 minutes) gets you started. As a minimum, I recommend a five minute "body scan" where you work on relaxation technique focusing one minute each on the head, neck, shoulders, front and back of the core. 

As for reading, I recommend Search Inside Yourself. You don't have time for the whole book, but here is an excellent summary. Highlights:

To begin training EI, we begin by training attention.

The ability to pay attention to attention itself. It’s the secret to concentration.

Our attention is the most valuable gift we can give to others.

Meditation demands investing time in yourself instead of spending it. Olympic volleyball champion Kerri Walsh-Jennings is a practitioner. 

Can you invest fifteen minutes a day in yourself? 

The Nuances of Schedule

"Sometimes you can observe a lot by just watching." - Yogi Berra 

There's an old saying, "you have to play the schedule." That may serve as an apology for perceived weakness in a team's competition (e.g. the Patriots' AFC East competition). 

But examine your opponent's schedule to see how tough their non-league schedule is to gauge their competitiveness. It reveals their attitude about competition.  

Notre Dame of Hingham plays Barnstable, Medfield (2), Westborough, Hopkinton, Frontier, Canton, Melrose, Winchester, and Burlington among others. They will be battle-tested by the playoffs. 

Melrose's non-league schedule includes Notre Dame, Central Catholic, Bishop Fenwick, AC, and Frontier. Teams that aspire to deep playoff contention must "ante up" during the regular season. When Melrose won the state championship, they battled Newton North in the final regular season game. A hard-fought loss proved a decisive advantage. 

The Lady Raiders' next match in Friday, September 8th, at 5:00 at Arlington. 

I'm not old enough to sing the blues
But I wore the holes in the soles of these shoes
You can roll the dice 'til they call your bluff 
But you can't win until you're not afraid to lose 
- Bon Jovi, Just Older