A few weeks ago Cyclone had a nice chill-out weekend over at my place watching the PSP Phoenix webcast and munching through a pile of burritos. Having a big part of the guys over and watching the ‘cast was a good way to spend a weekend out of harms’ way but it also had a more profound meaning in revealing some aspects of training that I had not considered in such depths. Hearing Matt Marshall mention game momentum and mental tenacity time and time again really resonated with me, and a thought stuck to the back of my head. How can we as individuals and as a team achieve the proper mentality to be able to turn games around?
When we started the physical training program for this winter, the initial enthusiasm was.. Well, not overwhelming. In the first session there was a big group of us, but as it often happens with fitness resolutions, the group was thinned for the following weeks. However, the core group of guys continued to maintain a steady rhythm and even increased the number of training sessions from two to three per week. After a couple of weeks we got a few curious additions to the crew. A few others followed suite thereafter, and so on. Soon we had a nice little snowball effect going on and people were clearly enjoying themselves at practice, even when the sessions were stretching their limits.
Back to Matt’s point. As paintball players we all know that there is little in the way of our individual mood or motivation that can be changed during the course of one point. Once the clock on the side counts down to zero and the buzzer starts the game, you’re pretty much set on a mental trajectory. You can fall off that trajectory, catch a freak ball and be done with the point – yep, we’ve all done that. Moving to the opposite direction, that’s what is difficult during one point – and that’s exactly what Matt is talking about on a team level. How do teams take losing games and turn the momentum around? By deciding to. That’s where the tenacity comes in – you need to be able to take a step back and reset your mental trajectory to reach the goal – winning the game. Now how do you do that? Like said, there’s little you can do on the field, so you must actually set that trajectory to be different for the next point played. Between points is the time to do so, but that’s still hard. It’s so easy to crumble into blaming your back guy, point your finger at the other tape for failing, lash out at the coach for the shitty plan or just blame your own self for that all-ending goggle catch. Spend your two minutes on that and just what do you think will change?
We all know how the pit gets during intense games – it can be a hostile place at times even with the best of fiends, and not an easy place for trying to recompose yourself after a lost point. During our fitness sessions I made an observation about the atmosphere. Sure, the settings and the goals differed substantially from those of the paintball field, but the people were the same. The difference was that the changed surroundings also enabled a new mental landscape and attitude to ensue. In all fitness training people have a tendency to root for each other when they are trying to push their performance to the limit and beyond. In those settings it’s a natural reaction, and that is what I believe ties Matt Marshall’s views of decisive mental capability in paintball together with our basic fitness training. The mental tenacity to turn the momentum of a losing game into a win can only be achieved through positive re-enforcement –on most occasions at least. Instead of blaming one another and tearing itself to bits the team must recognize the need for every player to step up to reach victory.
For us, the winter training sessions have helped in building stronger bonds between all the players through showing commitment and respect towards each other, the team and its goals. From that shared commitment arises trust and reliance on each others’ abilities. Most importantly, though, the natural reaction to challenges seems to be more positive. I personally felt the boosting effect of a few cheers on numerous occasions I thought I had nothing left, and I saw it in each of the guys as well. I believe that in this lies the core of being able to change game momentum. I do not mean to say that a dysfunctional team will win championships after a few push-ups, but rather point out that the threshold of giving up as -a team- can be raised to the point of not giving up. For Cyclone, shrugging lost points off from our shoulders has not been an issue, nor have the pit arguments been too serious; we have even turned a pinch game or five. I believe that training together also brings the team closer and more consistent, less reliant on a particular player’s ability to turn games, and more capable of supporting a flailing player to pick oneself up and perform fully in the clutch point.
Over the three following weekends we will see what has happened between our ears, as we have three consecutive tournaments coming up in Riga, Malaga and Kirkkonummi. Meanwhile, go jogging for a bit, and take a buddy with you!
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