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100 - Self Discipline
Baseball
teaches self-discipline through hard work and sacrifices necessary to achieve a goal.
There are no shortcuts to success. Baseball is the same as
life, you have to work to accomplish anything and preparation is everything.
Leaders are
not born, they are made. To be a leader, you have to know your stuff. You have to make
people want to follow you. They do not want to follow somebody who does not know where he
or she is going.
From my own experience as a father and a coach I believe that athletes can
start to master the art of self-discipline as they enter the middle age level (11-13 year
olds.) Below, are a couple of examples that I found to be effective motivators for young
athletes.
(1) Parents
I would allow my boys an extra half-hour
each night before lights out, providing they read a book from my baseball library for half
an hour everyday. It did not matter when they read it, right after school or supper
was fine with me. If, they did not read, it was early bed-time.
This also helped to improve their reading
skills and gave them an understanding of what athletes need to know to master the skills
required in baseball.
(2) The Coach
Before, the season
started I would evaluate each player and what"we the coaches" would
need to do, to help each player improve their skills over
the entire season. I would discuss with each athlete individually our evaluation and
help him set a goal for "self-improvement."
Setting individual goals helped if a discipline
problem developed. Our evaluation meeting was a good focal point if the athlete
wasn't towing the line or struggling from time to time. Knowing "we as coaches"
cared about him as an individual was good for his "self-esteem."
As a coach, especially in the "Upper
Levels" it is easier to develop the team concept if the athlete knows he has to
demonstrate self-discipline all the time. When you play against a better team and win, it
is most likely, because your athletes have mastered the art of
"self-discipline."
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