her Space // editorial
PLAYING MIND GAMES
It’s not all skills and drills. Use these tactics to develop mental toughness and acuity.
I
f sports are 20 percent physical and 80 percent mental, as we often hear experts say, then we should train our brains like our bodies. Our mind is where the student of the game resides. It’s where we harvest field sense and the ability to overcome mistakes, anxieties and obstacles.
Mental toughness and game knowledge separate elite lacrosse players from others. But training the mind is a more abstract concept than training the body. I asked several NCAA Division I coaches how they
cultivate these qualities in their players.
James Madison head coach Shelley Klaes-Bawcombe utilizes offseason reading assignments. She asked her players to read “Thinking Bodies, Dancing Minds” over the summer and turn in a report on their thoughts. “It refers to all of the struggles and obstacles that the athletes endure and overcome, and how they can use these experiences to produce confidence for their life after sport as well,” Klaes- Bawcombe said. The coaching staff at Vanderbilt emphasizes self-reflection and mindfulness. “We have the girls keep a journal weekly to reflect on their performance,” assistant coach Julie Gardner said. “The journal is also a way to be self-aware of what mental approaches work for them pre-game, during the game and after the game.” It’s also helpful for players to practice “the art of staying in
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the present,” Gardner said. It’s all about being in the moment, something with which many young players struggle.
“By focusing on the present, [athletes] are able to quiet their mind of pressures and anxieties and simply focus on the play at hand,” she said. Gardner, a former All-American
at Virginia now with Team STX, relies on being a student of the game. Watching film of opponents is commonplace at the college level, but players of all ages would benefit from this visualization. “It really helps to see your opponent and then work on the physical skill at practice once you’ve seen it over and over again,” she said. Younger players may not have access to game film, but even watching college and elite-level lacrosse will provide a more comprehensive understanding of the game and equip you to make better split-second decisions. “The mental edge is what helps you in your closest games,” Penn State coach Missy Doherty said. Studying the mind and truly understanding its power over our physical performance gives gravity to these mental practices. Next time you are struggling on the field, rather than pushing yourself harder physically, take a step back and focus on your mental approach. That’s often where you will find the most meaningful answer. LM
Picture an ice cream cone, with the goal-circle serving as the sweet stuff and the attacking player with the ball as the point of the cone. The area covered in between is shooting space. In this area, a defender must be within a stick’s length of the player they are marking, shooter or otherwise. Unlike many other sports, guarding space is considered creating danger. But if a defender is doing what she is asked to do, she shouldn’t need to worry about making an illegal play.
HOW IT WORKS
SHOOTING SPACE
It’s one of the most difficult rules to understand and officiate: obstruction of free space to goal, more commonly known as shooting space. The penalty for a violation is a free-position shot for the attack, typically but not always on one of the 8-meter (from the goal circle) hashes in the offensive zone.
— Kate Hickman
Kate Hickman is the girls’ lacrosse coach at St. Mary’s (Md.), director of Bay Area Lacrosse Club and founder of Balance Lacrosse.
Shooting space changes shape as the attacking player moves around, like a hurricane prediction model. The edges go from the point of the cone to each side of the goal circle where it connects with goal line extended. A defender can hold her stick in shooting space, as long as her body is out, and can stick with off-ball players in the area and still be legal. But in a one-on-one situation, either play defense like glue or get out of the way.
— Corey McLaughlin october 2014 » LACROSSE MAGAZINE 27
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