VOLLEYBALL: Maximize Volleyball Performance With Less Effort!

"I need to try harder and focus better!"

"I need more repetitions!"

"I need to spend more time in the gym, on the court, working on my setting!"

This is what I hear from most volleyball players trying to improve their performance. It’s not a bad theory if you aren’t putting in the time in the gym lifting weights, on the court getting your repetitions, or working on technique, but if you are, spending more time may actually hurt your game big time.

When you are relaxed and feeling good about your game and your ability, you perform better. In other words, when your emotion is one of confidence and certainty about your ability, the end result will be better. If you are over stressed, over anxious, angry, or too nervous, your end result will be much worse, and during these times, trying harder just makes you get more stressed, more anxious, and more frustrated. Which then tenses up your muscles, makes you think too much, has you focus on what you are doing wrong, which just makes you do worse, and then the whole cycle starts again. This is how a person can start off doing really good, have one bad shot and then start focusing on what they did wrong, and "try" to make it better by trying harder, rather than just letting things flow.

Here are Three Master Keys to enter the Zone and create the Peak Performance more consistently:

They are:

1) Your Physiology: your physiology is how you use your body. How you breathe. How you move. Whether you are moving fast or slow…

Where your shoulders are at: Are they shrugged or are they back.

Where your head is at: Is it up or down?

Your physiology is the fastest way to change your emotions and how you focus/

Remember, how you move when you are having an outstanding day. Then walk, breathe, and move the same way you did then. Your brain will fire off the same messages you had the day when you were unstoppable. Go to a college or professional match and watch how the most confident players use their physiology. Then model it! Confidence is a skill that you work on, not a trait that you either have or don’t have.

Quick Tip: If you shank a pass, move your body out and shake it out a little, then say, "Next one’s going to be perfect."

2) The second way to master your focus is through your language or self talk. What you say to yourself and how you say it will determine how you feel and where your brain focuses.

* I can pass at a high level all match.

* I am consistent.

* I will anticipate my opponent’s next shot.

* I am swinging with power today, and feeling really confident.

* I get better as I go, and I adjust and learn from all of my mistakes quickly.

Point #2 about your self talk: Never ever, ever, tell your mind what it is that you "don’t" want to happen. For example, If you say, I don’t want to serve it out. Or I don’t want to shank this. I don’t want to have a poor match today. Your brain goes right to that thought, and that is what you just programmed your mind to do.

Instead of using "don’t", replace it with what you’d like to happen. I will hit it aggressively down the line. I am seeing the ball with ease today. I am serving it with power and effectively taking them out of their system. I will have my best match today!

3) The third way to master your focus is through the process of visualization. This is the most effective way to pre-program your mind and body before competition so that you respond without thinking and you compete naturally.

Key points: Visualize yourself performing perfectly, right before you go to bed at night. Whatever you think about before you go to sleep runs through your unconscious 16 times. (Now that’s practice!)

Also, go through any skill that you are performing poorly and see yourself perform that skill perfectly over and over again.

By simply learning these three skills, you can instantly improve your performance! Go ahead and try it for a day. You may not be perfect right away, but that’s okay. Until then, Good Luck and those who focus like a champion feel like a champion!

To receive your copy of Ed O’Keefe’s free book/e-pub "Incredible Secrets to be Mentally Tougher than Your Competition! Immediately" go to www.uramazing.com/volleyball2.html or call 708 424 5074.