Trusting Yourself in the Big Game

Years ago, I remember listening to a post-game interview with the Bull’s Joakim Noah. The Bulls has lost the opening game of the play-offs. 

Joakim Noah commented on the number of turnovers the Bulls had in the game, and especially the number of turnovers they had at the beginning of the game. His analysis,”We tried to make too many great passes and tried to make too many great plays." 

Sadly, this can be the approach of teams in the “big games.” They don’t trust their game, they think they need something special. 

I am reminded of when I coached cross country. We would run a meet at Detweiller Park in Peoria about a month before the State Meet. In this regular season race, a runner might go out in a 4:50 first mile for the three mile race. They would then finish somewhere around 15:30 minutes for the three mile race.  

If they repeated the same time a month later, they would be good enough to finish in the top 25, which would make them “All-State.” A month later they would toe the line in Peoria for the State Meet. In the excitement of being at the "big meet," the runner would think they needed something “extra” to compete at that level. 

In the excitement of the big meet the runner would go out in 4:38 for the first mile. Only 12 seconds faster than before, but those 12 seconds would cause them to run out of gas later in the race.  The fast, “special” start caused them to finish 20-30 seconds slower than the earlier race. 

In volleyball it might be the player who has never jump served before but in the title match thinks they need just a little better serve. And obviously if they have never used it, there is probably a 95% chance they will fail.

Years ago, we played Normal Community in the Supersectional. I thought they had a real flaw in their out of bounds defense and in their half court zone defense. We had three days between our Sectional game and the Super game. I decided to put in one new zone offense set, and two new ob's. They were really great plays. We did not score on any of the new sets. 

Does it make sense in the biggest game of the year to do something you have only practiced three days or go with things you practiced all year?

Why does the runner go out in 4:38? Why does the volleyball player try the jump serve? Why do the Bulls try for a great post feed that they don't usually make? My answer is a lack of trust. 

In the biggest game or biggest race of the year, you need to be able to trust in what you have practiced and done all year. In the "big game" you don't need something special, you need to execute what has worked all year. 

You need to rely on what you do best. The big game is not the time to create something new. You need a quiet confidence that who you are as a player and as a team is good enough. Trust yourself. Trust your teammates. Trust your system. Trust your coaches. 

When things get tough- lean into what you have practiced!!