Commitment is imperative to become the very best soccer player you can be. It’s a vital mental quality on and off the pitch. While competing a soccer player needs to commit to their tackles, to their awareness and to their movement. They need to commit to the tactical plan laid out for them and need to commit to supporting their team mates as the game progresses. Away from the pressure of game play, a soccer player must commit to their training.
Commitment – Set Goals
A champion carries certainty into every training session by having a defined set of goals to accomplish. These goals relate to the technical, tactical, mental and physical sides of the game. They are related to weaknesses that a player wants to improve and strengths a player wants to magnify. A champion is committed to improving. Committed to developing their soccer and committed to being a student of their game and the game. They don’t wait around for one of their coaches to set stretch goals. They break their game down into categories and arrive at training with a list of three or four areas that they want to work on. They take ownership. That is the commitment in training they need.
Commitment – Self Talk
A committed soccer player has the inner voice of a champion – “Keep working, keep moving, keep playing, stay focused, on my toes, sharp, sharp, sharp”. They use their self-talk as a motivator, an instructor, an emotional leveller and a focus shifter. They talk to themselves. They don’t listen to themselves. They don’t listen to the voice that says “wait”. Wait isn’t a thought they pay attention to when it comes to the things they have to execute to improve their game. They don’t listen to themselves, they talk to themselves. They talk to “wait”. They talk firmly and loudly.
“There is no wait, there is only do.” With those words they take action. They continue the sets in the gym. They eat like a champion. Sleep like a champion. Trains like a champion. They carries on playing when they’ve made a mistake or goes a goal down. They use their self-talk as an inner compass and an inner driver to keep on going.
“Come on, one more set. Come on, keep focused. Come on, stay strong. Come on, forget that. Come on, focus on your own game. Come on, work harder.”
Commitment – Match Analysis
A champion commits to a post game appraisal no matter the result. If they lost they don’t get too down – they just think about what needs to go better next time. If they won, they don’t get too up – just thinks about what they need to repeat in the next game. They love reflecting with objectivity. To do this, they ask. They take the time to ask others about what they saw – the good and the bad. Asks the coaches and their parents, friends and family. Of course they have a BS filter. They are not going to attend to everything everyone says, but things that make sense to them and things they recognise as perenial weaknesses, they attend to.
Commitment – Always
A lack of commitment can rear its ugly head on a day-to-day basis. It’s that voice inside of you that says “shortcut”. It’s that voice inside of you that says “It doesn’t matter”. But it does matter. In soccer everything matters. From the critical essentials of training and playing to the less than obvious and on so subtle work on your mentality and mindset.
A lack of commitment can come packaged as a feeling as well as a thought. That feeling reverberates around your body causing you to eat badly, shirk the gym, avoid the extras, ignore the analysis. That’s what a lack of commitment does. And it eats away at your ability. It diminishes your potential.
With every hour you lack commitment so your future self looks different. So your future rewards look different. So your future success looks different. So your future joy looks different. So the amount of games you play adds up differently. So your reputation looks different.
Put commitment at the forefront of your game. 1,000 keepie uppies means nothing if you can’t and don’t honor your commitment for every facet of the game. Only then will you really know just how good you can be.
GoalNation’s columnist Dan Abrahams shares his insights and advice for success on the soccer field for players of all ages. A global sport psychologist and author specializing in soccer, Abrahams is based in England and works with professional soccer players in the English Premier League (EPL).
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