No matter what your opponent does, how the crowd reacts, what the referee says or even when your team "shanks" a pass it's important to believe in yourself and inspire your team mates to do the same.
I'll never forget when I played in the finals of a semi-pro beach volleyball tourney in Santa Cruz. My partner and I were up against a strong team and needed a good strategy to beat them. My partner wanted to keep the ball away from one of our opponents because she thought she was the stronger player. But after watching her I found patterns in her play: when she received a long serve she "dinked" cross court and when she received a short serve she hit a "high line." If we could serve consistently and set up our defense around her hitting tendencies I knew we'd win. Simple. My partner agreed to try it. It worked so well that we scored eleven consecutive points. But, as fate would have it, a rowdy group of our opponents friends in the crowd started calling open shots for them. Obviously this was an unfair advantage. The ref was oblivious. Our opponents gained momentum and scored 5 points. Finally, my partner had enough. She held the ball and told the heckler's to stop and would not move until they motioned that they understood. It worked beautifully. We came back to win 15-11.
In retrospect, we won that high-pressure game because we knew our opponents, executed to plan, worked together, and won the crowd. From this moment I learned that teamwork and belief in self go hand-in-hand to the victory stand.
What motivates you to play your best?
I'll never forget when I played in the finals of a semi-pro beach volleyball tourney in Santa Cruz. My partner and I were up against a strong team and needed a good strategy to beat them. My partner wanted to keep the ball away from one of our opponents because she thought she was the stronger player. But after watching her I found patterns in her play: when she received a long serve she "dinked" cross court and when she received a short serve she hit a "high line." If we could serve consistently and set up our defense around her hitting tendencies I knew we'd win. Simple. My partner agreed to try it. It worked so well that we scored eleven consecutive points. But, as fate would have it, a rowdy group of our opponents friends in the crowd started calling open shots for them. Obviously this was an unfair advantage. The ref was oblivious. Our opponents gained momentum and scored 5 points. Finally, my partner had enough. She held the ball and told the heckler's to stop and would not move until they motioned that they understood. It worked beautifully. We came back to win 15-11.
In retrospect, we won that high-pressure game because we knew our opponents, executed to plan, worked together, and won the crowd. From this moment I learned that teamwork and belief in self go hand-in-hand to the victory stand.
What motivates you to play your best?
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