by Arthur L. Popp, Ph.D.

Hi and Welcome!   My goal in this series of blogs is to begin a conversation about using social-emotional learning (SEL) to further our athletes' life skills.  In so doing, our teams will be more successful.

We'll also go a step beyond the core life skills so we can add to everyone's toolkit.

Let's start with focusing, one of the most important self management skills. A few years ago, our football team at Far Rockaway High School was playing a Queens rival. As the opposing team's players came off their bus at our field our coach said to me , "Art, look at the back of their jerseys." On the back of each jersey was a number, but no last name above it. Instead, there was just one word, "Focus." On every jersey.

I'm sure everyone can relate a story about a player not focusing and the negative outcome that resulted. Herm Edwards, who has had a long coaching career at Arizona State and in the NFL (Tampa Bay, Kansas City, and New York Jets) said this about his experience at Tampa Bay: "Every play in football- every play- someone messes up. Most of the time, it's not physical. It’s mental (Charles Duhigg, The Power of Habit, p. 79)

How do we train our players to focus better?  A good place to start is with Coach Nick Saban's "The Process." Saban has won seven national college football championships, one at Louisiana State and six at Alabama, the last just this past season.

One of the best descriptions of The Process is by Rece Davis, an ESPN commentator, in his Foreward to Phil Savage's 2017 book on Alabama football  entitled, 4^th and Goal Every Day.

"How does Saban do it? The Process is brilliant in its simplicity. If you simply execute what's important at the moment to the best of your ability, without undue regard for outcome, your chances of...getting the result you want increase exponentially. It sounds great, until you actually have to chase worry about winning or pressure or outside expectations out of your mind....From my vantage point; this hasn't been merely a step-by-step get-rich-quick scheme. It's an entirely different mental approach. It's training the mind…it’s finding joy and fulfillment in the moment…"

The "joy" comes from our regularly achieving success in frequent, manageable steps- even daily. We can view it as the driving force behind a growth mindset because the sense of achievement we experience motivates us on to the next manageable step, and on and on.

Here's a link to a brief video where, at the 2:35 minute mark, Saban is being interviewed by an ESPN commentator about the Process. The video begins with his players chanting "Get your mind right!" before the start of a game.

So, what does the Process feel like in action? I'll describe that in our next blog. In the meantime, please respond with your thoughts and questions on the "Contact" page at my website, www.arthurpopp.com or at drpopp2@gmail.com