Mindset Shifts To Help Athletes Who are Frustrated with Their Playing Time
Even some of the greatest athletes of all time can relate to feeling frustrated about playing time. Michael Jordan got cut from the Varsity team his sophomore year of high school (that’s zero minutes per game). Tom Brady was a backup in his first years in college and the NFL. Mohammed Salah only featured in 19 games in two seasons for Chelsea, but returned to the Premier League a few years later, with a different team, and has since had over 400 appearances and more than 250 goals to go along with 7 major trophies. If you are in this boat, or you are frustrated with the amount of game time or minutes you are getting then try these three things.
Lean in to being coachable
Bring an intention in to every practice
Be a master at controlling the controllables
First off, learn to be coachable. Complaining about playing time is a losing habit. Being coachable is a winning skill. A skill that positively develops your relationship with the coach and yourself. I recommend putting your pride to the side and asking a coach directly, and in person, what you can work on to earn more playing time.
Every coach, at least all the good ones, aim to help players grow. If you are on a team, it’s likely a result of being selected by the coach at tryouts. This means that they already recognize that you can add value to the team. Focus on not letting your frustration erode your ability to have a growth mindset. This mindset will serve you in your coachability and help you gather information on tangible things you can intentionally work on developing. If you want a deeper dive on coachability and why it’s important you can read my post about it here.
Not everyone gets the minutes they want in a game, but everyone gets the same amount of minutes in practice. Therefore, what you do with those minutes in practice are critical. Coming into a training session with the mindset that every practice is a new opportunity to make an impression on a coach can make all the difference.
To make the most of each practice, I suggest you set an intention before arriving. Improvement is like a marathon not a sprint. Too often we put pressure on ourselves to improve all our skills at once. To be more effective, pick one or two skills you want to focus on developing in that particular training session. For example, a basketball player may approach practice on Monday with the intention of boxing out on rebounds. For that practice they can really key in on boxing out and being the best rebounder they can be for that one practice. Every time a shot comes off the rim they intentionally notice and think about how they are boxing out. Setting an intention for practice directs a player’s focus and helps them be more effective. Additionally, it increases self-awareness. When you become intentionally aware of how you are performing a skill, you become more effective in improving it.
Better yet, this couples with coachability because you can take the instruction you get from your coach and use that as your intention for the next practice(s).
Lastly, become better and better at controlling the controllables. As a player, you cannot pick the starting lineup and you don’t get the privilege of subbing yourself into a game. However, you do get to experience the freedom of focusing on controlling what only you can control.
You can control your effort. Remember that hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard. You can control your attitude. As leadership expert John C. Maxwell put it, “Your attitude more than your aptitude will determine your altitude.” Orient your mind towards growth, work harder this practice than you did in the last one, and be patient.
If you’re looking to move up the depth chart, get off the bench, and get more minutes on the field/court, then become more coachable, become more intentional in approaching practice, and focus intently on what you can control. If you do those three things, you’ll reach your new level.