No! Is not the team you are playing against.
It’s not your teammate you think is preventing you from brightening. Is not the player that was serving hard at you, nor the big blocker that didn’t let you pass one ball over the net, neither the terrific libero that picked all the balls you spiked.
So… who’s it?
Your biggest opponent is yourself.
Winning or losing happens twice. A team first either win or lose on your mind, and second the outcome it’s manifested in the game.
The funny thing is that, sometimes, even though you lose in the second dimension – lose a game, if you win mentally that it equally translates. Let me explain. If you and your team face an opponent knowing that you prepared in all the possible angles. If you play that game with the right intensity, spirit, and energy. Even if you lose that game you won’t feel like you lost the game.
Conversely, if you play a game overconfident with high expectations and assertions that you will win a game without not being fully prepared, that’s a receipt for a big fall.
I remember when we played the Championship game of the Athens 2004 Olympics Qualifier against Argentina in front of +15000 spectators in Caracas. We just came fresh from winning the 2003 Pan-American Games in the Dominican Republic just scarce months ago (I personally was in my best shape, finishing in the top 6th hitters in the World Cup in Japan a few weeks ago). We played Argentina in the final game. The winner earned the bid for the Athens 2004 Olympics.
Before the game, I remember there were people talking about the arrangements made for the big celebration after the game. Also, the atmosphere generated by the plus 15000 people cheering us assured us almost the win. Also, by that time, the Argentinian Volleyball Federation was under a severe crisis. In fact, the team barely could travel to Venezuela to play the Olympics Qualifier. But we miscalculated something.
Argentinian team had on his starting six various overly experienced players. His team captain, Marcos Milinkovic (was named the best player in the Sydney 2000 Olympics), Jorge Elgueta, and Hernan Ferraro, Alejandro Spajić, and Pablo Meana presented a very tactical game that fades our physicality. The result… a sad and bitter 0 – 3 loss.
After that game the shame was unanimous. In fact, some of my teammates mentioned not wanting to play anymore for our country.
We overlooked that winning first has to happen inside. Because of the noise around us, we didn’t work diligently to prepare for such a pivotal game. We definitely overrated our athleticism and underrated the vast experience of some of our opponents.
This loss sharped the way I approach games for the rest of my playing career and now as a coach. Before we play a game, I’m always pondering whether I won or lose the games before they are played. This helps me approach games with the highest level of alert that make me think about the very minimum detail that could give us or makes us lose a point, a set, the game. In fact, my job during a game is to remind my players of those details.
That said, whenever possible, play the games before and make sure you win first by preparing all the possible angles. Another way to look at this is by saying, expect the best but prepare for the worst.
