Stepping stones to success

I just keep goin up there and swingin at ‘em — Babe Ruth, Hall of Fame baseball great.A coach i greatly admire wears a T-shirt proclaiming on the first day of his teams softball practice: MISTAKES R WUND-ERFUL OPPORTUNITIES 2 LERN! I love his shirt, for it admirably captures the cornerstone of my teaching and coaching philosophy — the ‘mistake center concept. The most powerful way to teach children skills and at the same time create a joyous environment for them, is to encourage them to take risks in trying new things. I believe we learn best by attempting, analysing our mistakes, implementing the correction, and being congratulated for the effort. In this contribution, I want to emphatically make this point to athletes, coaches, teachers and parents: that practice fields and ballgames are ‘Centers of Mistakes, places where worrying about goofing-up is not allowed. This philosophy is a contradiction of the prevailing ideology that winning isnt everything — its the only thing. Too many coaches, parents, and teachers believe that losing is synonymous with failure to be avoided at all costs. To many athletes, a loss on the playing field or sports arena is so devastating it prompts them to quit sports altog-ether. But the reality is that failure cannot be avoided. The greatest of the great have failed at times, and so will you sometimes. There are three basic myths about failure that make it difficult, if not intolerable, to digest. These myths are self-limiting, and there are ways to demolish them cognitively. Myth 1 — If you work hard enough, you can avoid failure. Not so! The best of the best havent escaped failure, so why should you? Ive worked with Americas top professional and amateur athletes and coaches for more than 40 years, and theyve all experienced failure at some level. Like so much of what we resist in life, failure expands and teaches us. Myth 2 — Failure is worthless. Failure is the prerequisite of success, and mistakes are lessons; they have much to teach us if we learn from them. Indeed they are crucial to individual growth and development. Successful and creative people in all walks of life have higher-than-ordinary tolerance for their own errors, mistakes, and failures. They are willing to learn from setbacks and transform them into ‘schooling experiences. Though its natural to regret making mistakes, they are inevitable. Therefore they should be regarded as stepping stones to success. Myth 3 — Failure is devastating. Of course! But negative sentiments eman-ating from setbacks and failure are invariably exaggerated. The best coaches are aware that children learn faster from mistakes than from repetitive ‘correct practice, although conventional wisdom in sports decrees that kids learn best when they practice the ‘right way to do something over and over. But back in 2009, researchers writing in the Journal of Experimental Psychology on learning, memory and cognition found that kids actually learn quicker and better when they make a mistake! Their observations coincide with those of Carol…