The famous saying, “When the going get tough the TOUGH get going” is the most positive way to respond to adversity. This saying, which was said by John F. Kennedy’s father Joseph, helps people rise to the challenge when circumstances do know go in their favor.
A career in youth sports, or anything you are interested in, will have many times that are good and other times where things are not going your way. It is how you react to the times not going well, that will make you the athlete you will become. It is how you respond to adversity that will be the athlete that everyone remembers you by. There are many ways to overcome adversity and and the sooner you learn the ways that work for you the sooner your success as an athlete will start to find you.
Miriam Webster Dictionary defines adversity as: a state, condition, or instance of serious or continued difficulty or adverse fortune.
If you relate this definition to youth sports it could be compared to: the refs not making calls you agree with, your jump shot not falling or you and your team turning the ball over more than usual, to name a few. The easy way to deal with this is to complain, blame a teammate and coach or to just flat out give up.
One of the major qualities of a great athlete would be to respond to adversity in a positive way and lift themselves and their teammates up, to bounce back from continued difficulty. Players that understand sports understand and know that things are not always going to go their way. They know if they do not respond to adversity by using their positive mental attitude, then the breaks will continue to not go their way for a longer period of time.
The great basketball players and athletes understand that if they use their mental toughness to respond to adversity positively, then it will not be long before good things are happening again. This is a major reason why great players play great most of the time and it is because when they miss a shot or make a mistake, they pick their head up and work hard to overcome it.
You can become a better basketball player today but learning to respond to adversity in a positive manner. If you make a mistake then get it back by playing tough defense. If a teammate makes a mistake then back him or her on the back and encourage them that you will get it back on defense with them. If you start to respond to adversity the right way then you will not only become a better basketball player and a great teammate, you will also become a leader.
