Tough love.

Tonight at practice began the official reconstruction after being beat down from a loss. We already brought each other's spirits up through positivity and seeing improvement in our mistakes, but now it's time for business or else we ain't goin' nowhere.

Where would Carol be today without that wake up call?!

Many a time I have discussed how important it is for rugby players to be okay with making mistakes, but with that means you also need to be okay with hearing constructive criticism. Clearly you can't fuck up and then continuously keep telling yourself you did a good job or else you're just going to keep on fucking up! You can be strengths based with yourself but also accept that fact that you need to improve and keep working hard towards change. FOR THE MILLIONTH TIME: no one's perfect.

Going into this week after our last game, my goal in my head was clear: FITNESS.

I'm glad that as a team we did some fitness together, although I'm looking at it through an appreciative lens. I'm extremely lucky that we did fitness at practice, it's always an added bonus.

.........many of you are probably saying this right now:

YEAH I SAID IT. FITNESS AT PRACTICE IS A BLESSING.
Wanna know why?
Because you're lucky that it's a scheduled activity you have to do and are surrounded by your teammates and coaches motivating you.....otherwise, YOU'RE ON YOUR OWN.
I think we can all attest to the fact that it is WAY harder to motivate yourself do undertake fitness alone rather than with positive influences around you. And every player should be accountable for their own fitness simply because it is an activity you can do anytime, anywhere. Fitness really is an individualistic activity and it's really no one else's responsibility but YOURS to be physically prepared for rugby.

IT WILL BITE YOU IN THE ASS IF YOU TRY TO AVOID IT.
I've been trying to put in a lot of my own effort into fitness, but at the same time the first game of the year is always tough. No matter how many runs you go on or how many weights you lift, there's really no fully preparing for the first game of the season. The only way to do it is run with a 50lb weight on your back and have someone follow you that's beating you with a stick. Good luck!
But it's also extremely important to recognize that no matter what, YOU WILL BE SORE AND TIRED AND HURTING AFTER YOUR FIRST GAME. Recognize the difference between pain and soreness. Make sure you can tell what is a sharp pain vs. an ache. If you can categorize something as a sharp pain, pull in the reigns and sit out a few plays. If you can categorize something as an ache, PUSH THROUGH IT or the stiffness will only get worse.

Anyways, to start off practice we did a great conditioning drill that involves jogging, sprinting, and burpees for a significant period of time. That's probably as close to the fitness of a rugby game as you'll get. We jogged laps around the field until we heard one whistle blow, which signaled dropping to the ground, getting back up as quick as possible, and continuing jogging or two whistle blows, which signaled a sprint until we heard the one whistle again. Needless to say: it was a BITCH. But when it's a bitch, that's when you know you're improving. No matter what place you're in or how many people seem to be passing you in the laps, everyone is out of breath and working at their own self improvement. There's no one person putting in more effort than the other - it's hard for us all.

We then went back to the building blocks of defense. We started out with some touch scrimmages to get into the groove of matching up and keeping space while defending. In our game on Saturday, we continuously ran into some issues with focusing too much on staying tight off the rucks and then leaving the outside wiiiiiiide open.
This also came with a focus on not having multiple players get sucked into a tackle. CLEARLY if your teammate is struggling to make a tackle/looks like it'll be broken through then by all means help a bitch out and stop standing and watching. But other than that, when attacking teams hit the gaps of course it's tough to keep space and prevent another gap from opening where you should've been standing in the first place.
There was a moment in our scrimmage when a pretty decent switch was made on the attacking team. This caused some confusion on the defensive side because in a switch, multiple attacking players enter one lane and then cross a whole bunch of other lanes (remember the benefits of the 45 degree angle? This is where it comes in handy yet also fucks over the defense). The defensive player matched up with the switcher cannot cover this person anymore or else they would have to run through the ball carrier, tackler, and then across a bunch of other defenders. Makes no sense!

It's extremely important to make the distinction between matching up with a player and with a lane. Yes, call out a person that you are matching up against, but when "pigtails" loops wide or runs a switch, this is where shifting is extremely important. On a switch, then it has to be a quick decision and communication for someone else to pick up that player and have all the other defenders shift to what attacking options are still present. For a loop, the minute you see your person loop around to the end of an attacking line start yelling your ass off for a shift to the left or right.

We also did a lot of tackling practice, and something that I missed from college: we called it THE GAUNTLET! This is one-on-one tackling in a narrow tunnel. Yes it's intimidating and many times even humiliating, but these are definitely some of the hardest tackles to make. If you can master the hardest, then the rest will come. AGAIN, this is a blessing in disguise because with all eyes on you, then you have all the help and support you could possibly want on your side. Your coach and teammates aren't going to be able to watch closely every time you fuck up and miss a tackle, but in the gauntlet you're able to have where you need improvement identified right on the spot.
DON'T RUN AWAY FROM CRITICISM!
....are you catching a trend here? Avoidance is a bitch. Rugby karma is real.
And in the end, we're all pals here. We all want to see each other succeed. Always remember that criticism is coming from a caring, supportive, and positive place. Not everyone is a Communications major (such as, *cough cough* yours truly was) or even a social butterfly...so while it may come out like bitchassness in the end it's just someone trying to help you. Don't ever forget that! Put your ego aside and take some advice from someone else - we can all use input that will help us improve. Of course positive reinforcement is important and helpful, but this "tough love" is what will really make you go anywhere in the end.

FRANTIC.

Let's all just get out our nerves real quick:

Okay! No more heebie jeebies.
When we were preparing at practice for our first game tomorrow, that's what we all acted like while playing.....which is ridiculous because we were doing pretty much exactly what we have been doing at practice for at least the past month!
Nerves can REALLY turn your rugby world upside down. It can be a realllll rugby buzz kill if you let them take over. But sometimes it may seem so freakin' hard to control them - even just sitting here typing this I've got sparks running through me and my heart is pumping like the commuter rail because I'm so excited for the game tomorrow!
....and THAT'S OKAY. 
It's NORMAL to be nervous on a rugby field, because there's so much going on around you and there's no other time where you have to make that much decision making that quickly unless you happen to be performing heart surgery. So now that you can give yourself a soothing pat on the back for realizing you're normal for being nervous, the real question is:
HOW DO YOU CONTROL IT?How do you slow yourself down in the midst of a high pressure/tempo environment? I believe that all of the best players you see on tv or even on your own respectable team have figured out some sort of technique in their own way to handle this above anything else. Above learning how to pass, tackle, ruck, kick, tie their cleats, breathe in oxygen and breathe out carbon dioxide....I think great rugby players have learned how to literally "keep calm and carry on" in the middle of chaos. They have learned how to sit with being nervous and cultivate it into an advantage.
SELF TALK PEOPLE....IT WORKS WONDERS. IT'S NOT JUST A COUNSELING TECHNIQUE. The more you immerse yourself in this chaotic environment the more comfortable you will become in it. So if you are a new player - PATIENCE, grasshopper. Just drink it in while you're on the field and learn via experience. YES - YOU'RE GOING TO FUCK UP. But we all are going to fuck up, that's part of the game.

If you've been playing for a while and still find yourself nervous before a game or even when you're about to step onto the field: draw on previous experiences. Try your best to think rationally - what about the last game you played in made you really nervous? What could've gone differently for you to react better? What will you do this time when you encounter THE SAME SITUATION (your rugby fears ain't goin' nowhere! so conquer them meow!!) in this game?! What can you sincerely be proud of yourself for and what have you done really well to contribute to the team's success in the past?
...that last one is a biggie - you need to ALWAYS remember that you are capable of wondrous things. You may remember a lot of things you have done wrong or can still do better, but there is always SOMETHING that you have done right.....even if it's just showing up to practice or cheering on a teammate. Every-little-thing-counts.
And forget about whatever trust issues you may have in your life - whether it's in a relationship with a person or with what's in your Wonder Ball - because in the end no matter what your teammates are there to support you and you're all working towards the same common goal. There may even be some players that you don't like, or some players that seem like a showboat that want to always be in the spotlight, but in the end NO ONE GETS ANYWHERE WITHOUT WORKING WITH THE REST OF THE TEAM.