Bring It In: Normalizing Failure in Practice

I’ve noticed a trend in my players… fear of failure in practice sessions. Striving for perfection and consistent approval, even at practice, while seemingly admirable, is actually unhealthy IMO.

Young athletes should be granted the grace from coaches and themselves, to make mistakes, especially in practice. Fear of failure in favor of perfection, stunts growth and improvement, and squashes creativity.

As coaches and leaders, we MUST normalize, and even encourage, failure. We can do this by:
1) challenging players to push beyond their comfort zones (i.e. weak hand)
2) let them play through- don’t stop play for every single mistake
3) providing constructive feedback- point out mistakes that were made while also highlighting the elements of growth and improvement

Without failure, we will never grow.

#youthsports #sportsleadership #ysleadership