Getting positive (or NLP and YOU!)

The other day at SUUFA training we practiced some zone, both offense and defense. The first error I made was putting all the experienced players as handlers. I forgot they should pop and then other people should handle. But this little thought did cross my mind as I was busting that that zone to bits and running an unstoppable stone wall of a cup.

I'm now slightly able bodied and can sort of jog around, so I was able to handle for a while. (Before I realised I should pop) I had the issue my handler buddies not pushing up on the wings when there was a lot of dead space, as the defense zone was overcommiting strong side then the disc was on one side of the field. I tried yelling and pointing frantically but realised how ineffectual this was, so I thought what can I do in this game situation without actaully stopping the whole game and explaining it step by step.

My thought process:
Problem: Left and right handlers do not push up wings in dead space.

How do I fix this? Well I learnt this by having someone yell at me to move up the sideline into open space. Is this an option right now? Not really.

Solution: Throw leading passes in front of them to the point they can barely reach it. They will have to run onto it. Eventually I hope that they will run forwards for it, before I have released it, knowing that it will come there.

Sure, this makes sense when I think about it, rather than making them try to move before I throw the disc, I will just throw it to where I want to throw it and make them get it. After a few swings the left handler still didn't get it, but Christine the right handler did. Unfortunately so did the defense and I got too greedy and it was d'd.

It made me think a little bit afterwards... and thinking. Can NLP(Neuro-linguistic programming read: communicating with the unconscious mind read: hypnosis) be applied to frisbee and other training situations?

People know about Pavlov's dog. A dog was fed food every time a bell rang. When the dog heard the bell it woudl salivate in anticipation for the food. Eventually they could just ring the bell and the dog would salivate without the food actaully being there. This was NLP in practice.

How could this be applied to humans? (Aside from subtle hypnotic suggestion)

I read a book called "Ace on the River," by Barry Greenstein, a famous poker degenerate (www.barrygreenstein) one that I particularly like. His book, unlike many other poker books was about leading a successful poker lifestyle, rather than just playing the game well. It made me realise about 3 chapters in I do not have the character needed to be a really successful poker player. One of the reasons this is for is that I do not have the ability to have the confidence to gamble. eg: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_cze-w4sCA simply put, I would not be able to put $9000 on a bluff, and deal with someone calling with nothing except a draw to a high card. It takes a lot of guts / ridiculous amounts of gamble to do something like this.

Barry in the opening chapter introducing his book recalls one of his reasons for his confidence at the poker table was from playing cards with his mother as a child. I think it might have been rummy, but he always recalled winning when he played with his mother. One day when he was older, he was watching his mum play his brother and saw her hand. It was then that he noticed his mum could have made the winning play, but didn't, instead letting his brother win.

In this case, Barry's unconscious mind has no reason to feel fear while playing games, because it was trained to always win, this has helped him do what seems like crazy things.

So could this sort of NLP training be applied to frisbee training? Of course it could. In fact it already is used everywehre. We use it all the time, its why we congratulate beginners and players for doing something as simple as making a catch or a good throw. The reason although we don't think about, is to associate good feelings to good play. In this way we are communicating with a person's unconscious mind. When we make someone feel good about a throw, we are teaching the persons limbic brain (the one between reptillian which is pure instinct and the neo cortex which made us smarter than all the other animals) that the physical action of throwing the disc in that manner or catching in a certain way is the correct way to do it, even when the person doesn't consciously understand what they are doing. That is why we don't think when we catch and throw most of the time.

So when you're team mates do something good, congratulate them. When you see someone do a perfect throw, make them feel good for doing it. Use this encouragement until success and performance are an expectation every person in the team has in themselves. Harness and create that emotional attachment to success in your team mates, it will help them be driven to improve and succeed.