Mental Toughness Is A Choice

In recent talk at PGC Basketball, Chad Songy discussed the idea of mental toughness.  He shared about how the way we think can dictate certain actions in our life that influence our mentality.  

FEELINGS > ACTIONS > IDENTITY

OR

IDENTITY > ACTIONS > FEELINGS

When we choose to allow our feelings (fatigue, stress, anger, entitlement, etc.) to dictate what we do with our actions, (body language, work ethic, etc) we are telling people about who we are as a person.  Our identity becomes a microcosm of our feelings, which can be very self-serving.  

On the other hand, when we choose to allow our identity to dictate our actions we become stronger.  When we know who we are as a person, player, or coach, we have the ability to act upon something that has meaning.  My body language and work ethic now become a reflection of my greater purpose.  When I fulfill my purpose it naturally builds up the way I feel by giving me confidence, energy, and contentment.  

Mentally tough people act because of their identity, not their feelings.  

“Mental toughness is what you CHOOSE to put your focus on.”

— Chad Songy; PGC Basketball

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Taken from a talk given by PGC Basketball's, Chad Songy.

5 Highlights from PGC/Pure Sweat

Wow! It was an incredible weekend for me and my staff at the PGC/Glazier Chicago Clinic as well as the first ever Pure Sweat Complete Player Clinic at our school. I have tons of pages of notes, but what I want to do is share with you some highlights of what I learned. This is going to be really hard to do, but I will try to limit it to five. I would be more than willing to share all of my notes with you, just email me if you're interested! 

First, I want to talk about PGC in general. This was my first ever PGC clinic. I love how PGC is unique in the fact that their clinics are focused on no nonsense content that help coaches get better. Their focus of “being a light in the basketball community” is definitely happening! They are all about explaining why they do what they do. The positive energy that they bring to everything they do is contagious and effective. These next four points will be from the four coaches at the clinic and just a glimpse of what I learned from them this weekend! I hope it can make an impact on you as it did for me.

“Energy elevates every human experience.”

— PGC Basketball

TJ ROSENE

TJ Rosene, PGC’s Director of Coaches Development and the Head Coach of the NCCAA D1 National Champions Emmanuel College Lions, was on my main list of coaches to listen to this weekend and he never disappointed. Out of all the pages of notes and great content I have from TJ, this idea stood out to me the most. “We do it like nobody else does it.” They focus on not being average, but going a step higher in practice by playing harder than anyone else does. Coach encourages his players to “learn to practice at an uncomfortable level”. This allows them to be challenged and pushed to get better. 

“We do it like nobody else does.”

— TJ Rosene

TYLER COSTON

Tyler Coston, PGC’s Director of Player Development is one of the best teachers of the game that I have ever heard. His X’s and O’s content and knowledge of the game is elite. Here are several things that Tyler talked about this weekend that stood out to me. Tyler talked about excellence and the idea that “how you do anything is how you do everything”. Tyler narrowed excellence down to “sacrificing lesser desires for your greater desires”. I also loved Tyler’s idea of visualizing “yes” shots, mistake response, and boxing out before games. I believe visualization is a vital part of an elite athletes development and preparation. 

“How you do anything is how you do everything.”

— Tyler Coston

GRAHAM MAXWELL

Graham Maxwell, who is on PGC’s Player Development team as well as an Assistant Coach at Emmanuel College is a young coach with passion and excitement to be the best and to help others be their best. The major theme that stood out to me from Graham was the idea of loving my players and investing my time and energy into them. Graham explained how at one point this year he was discouraged and felt like giving up as a coach, but TJ Rosene helped him realize that he needed to be building relationships with the players, not just getting caught up with all the administrative side of things. Graham literally schedules out blocks of time in his busy schedule to meet with players and see how life is going, it doesn’t need to be about basketball. It can be about school, family, things they may be struggling with, etc. Graham shared in Chapel on Sunday I Corinthians 13:4, which explains what love is. What an encouragement it is as a coach to realize that we have a perfect example in Jesus Christ, who is patient, kind and all of the other aspects of love. Now God has called us as coaches to live out love in those around us. Our family, coaching staff, players, friends all need our love, but most importantly they need the love of God! Winning lives > winning games.

ALAN STEIN

Alan Stein of Pure Sweat had several sessions at PGC which were full of as I like to say “pure gold”. We had the unique opportunity to host at Schaumburg Christian, Alan’s first ever Pure Sweat Complete Player clinic. Ryan Haun, a Pure Sweat trainer in Wheaton joined with Alan to create this Complete Player Clinic! It was such an effective time for all players who were able to come. Here are highlights from Alan's challenge to the players. “To be the best you have to do things that are uncomfortable”. Alan went on to explain the difference between pain and discomfort. Pain is a sharp feeling like needles poking you, and is an alarm telling your body to stop. Discomfort is the burning you feel in your muscles when you are doing a specific workout. There is a huge difference between the two! Ryan Haun finished out the clinic with some great skill drills for the players and taught how shooting is the most important skill, and the most under rated skill in basketball is passing. You can check out Alan's video on balanced shooting which was recorded on Saturday via Facebook live! https://www.facebook.com/puresweat I highly recommend Alan’s Pure Sweat Player Clinics for any basketball program! 

“To be the best you have to do things that are uncomfortable.”

— Alan Stein

FINAL THOUGHT

The final highlight from the weekend was a video TJ Rosene showed of the late, great Don Meyer explaining why he did what he did. “Its about coaching kids more than coaching basketball” said Meyer, “happiness begins when selfishness ends”. Don Meyer was a great example of loving others better than himself. Even in his final months alive, he was focused on helping and encouraging coaches around him. The best coaches are ones that invest in their players and strive to make a positive impact in their lives.

“Happiness begins when selfishness ends.”

— Don Meyer

I hope these highlights of the weekend were helpful to you and got your mind thinking of ways that you can improve as a coach. The best are always looking to improve and develop. I so appreciate the passion and energy that Mano Watsa and the PGC team brought this weekend! If you haven’t been to a PGC coaches clinic you need to get to one soon!! I am inspired to continue to grow, to develop, and to share what I have learned with my staff and players! Again, if you would like to get my notes from the weekend email me at kylemcvey@bethelministries.org Thank you PGC staff for a great weekend and for sharing your knowledge of the game! #beAlight