Softball Tips - Little Things Do Matter

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As I told you a few days ago, I am presently in Kitchener in Southern Ontario at the Tri-Nations Cup where Canada, Venezuela, Japan and Australia are competing against each other in preparation for the Olympic Games I have been here for 2 days working with the Canadian athletes helping them prepare for the China Games. All of the teams are staying at the same location so it allows to also observe what the other teams do outside of the ball field.

I can tell summarize everything that I have seen by this:

==> Little Details Do Matter a Lot <==

What I mean by that is that the best players on the planet don't take anything for granted.

They realize that little things and little details do matter when preparing for competition.

They don't left anything to chance. And that's true for ALL the teams.

Here what I mean by that:

• They watch what they eat
• They make sure their shoes shine
• They tuck in their uniforms
• They all have a bottle of water or Gatorade
• They sprint to get on and off the field
• They go for morning jogs and stretch even when they play later
• They bring healthy snacks to the park
• They do dynamic warm-ups
• They are very serious in their pre-game preparation
• They observe what the other teams does
• They share information with their teammates about what they notice
• They are disciplined
• They are always on time and even ready way before they have to
• They pick up after themselves and always leave dugouts clean
• They take very good care of their gloves and bats
• Non-starting players are keeping themselves ready to go in anytime
• They take every swing very seriously both in practice and in their pre-game warm-up
• They put sunscreen on
• They stay in the shade between games to recover faster
• They put ice on after games
• They say "thank you" to anybody that helps

And I could go on and on….

I will just share two examples of what I saw this morning.

Example #1 - As I was going down for breakfast, I saw 3 girls from the Australian Squad coming back from a light job outside and they are playing tonight.

Example #2 - As I sat down for breakfast, I couldn't help but notice that all the girls from the Venezuelan squad were eating healthy stuff for breakfast despite bad choices being available to them.

To be the best, you have to do all the little things that the best do.

You can't only rely on talent, good coaching, and working hard at practices.

What you do on and off the field is important to become the best you can be.

Remember - every little thing and detail counts. The best are doing it.