The Proper Attitude For Volleyball!

Emotion plays a big role in how you play your volleyball game and surprisingly enough it can really affect your teammates as well. When your adrenaline is high and the rally is intense it’s really hard to keep emotions in control. Talking from experience I’ve had some teammates with a bad attitude and at times I know I haven’t been the best teammate as well. This blog will be a little bit of why it’s important to be positive and what happens when you not. As well as a few tips on how to keep it to yourself.

Why it’s important to keep a good attitude towards your teammates:

When you have a positive attitude it means you are encouraging yourself and your teammates even when you lose the rally. Even though at that moment of time you are probably disappointed and mad that the person or people that caused your team to lose the point, you’ve still got to encourage them. If you don’t or if you’re negative it could really bring the team down. Encouraging them means that you basically telling them to not worry about that last point and everyone makes mistakes.

Why it’s important to be positive to yourself:

I really struggle with staying positive towards myself when I make a mistake on the court, when I mess up I get very very frustrated with myself and that effects my game so much. I start to play even worse when I’m frustrated and everything just feels like it’s not going to work out. But now that I’m aware that not getting angry helps I’ve been really, really trying to work on the emotional part of my game. I’ve noticed so much of a difference already by just being positive. I can pick myself right back up instead of relying on my teammates to do that for me. Being positive towards yourself makes it a lot easier when you make a mistake because you know that it’s okay to make a mistake, because it’s human. You can also pick yourself up a lot easier when you have a positive mindset.  

What will more than likely happen if you’re negative towards your teammates:

There’s a few different things that could happen when you’re negative towards your teammates. The first reason is they could start playing really bad because you’re trying to tell them what to do, that’s what the coaches are for. To help guide the players when they make a mistake. Another thing that could happen is you could cause team drama, the last thing that you want on a girls volleyball team is drama. When this happens, usually the team splits apart because people takes sides. Then arguments start and it’s just a big mess. This could also possibly cause the team to play bad or lose their bond because connection and knowing your team is a big part of volleyball.

How to help be positive:

• Use kind words instead of being negative. Eg. “Keep playing hard and fighting for every point.” Or “Be sure you cover the line shot next time that hitter goes up.”
• Make sure you’re having fun and you won’t think about being negative
• Think about that everyone’s different and won’t react/play the same way
• Make sure you celebrate the good times/plays in a rally

A lot of people think that volleyball is all about your physical game, but your mental game plays a big part of it as well, maybe even more than physical. These reason don’t just apply to volleyball, it could be any sport. Just be aware of everyone around you and make sure your only spreading positivity!