Spot Your Achievement in Each Experience
By Conrad Ho, Hong Kong, July 22, 2017
It was a lazy Saturday on 22nd July, 2017. Conrad Ho intended to go back to the office in the afternoon after finishing some personal businesses in the morning. However, he found out after lunch that there was a live broadcast of the match Serbia versus Japan in the FIVB Woman Volleyball World Grand Prix 2017 in Hongkong. My original plan was to just have a glance and then set out. The Serbian team was world no. 2, and the Japanese team is no. 6. In the beginning, it seemed there was no match. The Japanese team was repeatedly defeated in the first two games. Okay! Since it should be quick, I would watch the 3rd to witness Serbia¡¦s victory before departure. To my surprise, the Japanese team recovered in the 3rd game in their exceptional perseverance and went on to win the 4th and final games. Watching the Japanese players hugged and yelled in joy, I was deeply moved by their eventual victory.
It was already 16:00 then. Oh my Goodness! I still had errands to complete. But when I heard the announcement from the TV that the next match was China versus Russia, and while waiting in the meantime, the 3rd game between China and Japan last night would be re-aired, I was glued back onto the sofa. This 3rd game was pivotal. Although China had three match points, Japan held on to win at 35:33. I was a fan of the Chinese team, but the Japanese team played so brilliantly that I jumped up to applaud several times.
After the excitement, while still waiting, I began to wonder why Japan had become totally brand new after the terrible defeats in the last Olympic Games. I revisited the details of all the six games I had just watched, and recalled the comments from professional commentators. Slowly, an answer emerged. In its pain, Japan had decided to employ the revered volleyball coach who once served in the national team, Madam Kumi Nakada, as the head coach. After taking up the job, Nakada openly swore that she would lead Japan to glory in woman volleyball again. After their championship in Tokyo Olympic Games in 1964, Japan was to win the gold medal in Tokyo Olympic Games in 2020. But how?
The new national team was formed only last year, mostly of newcomers. In this critical moment of transition, the goal is not about winning, but maximum opportunity to compete in international matches to accumulate experience. At the same time, Nakada could find out the more talented players to form the backbone of the national team. Other players, with their own specialty like skilled serves, solid defence, speedy smashes and precision blocks, could be sent into the court when circumstances warranted.
Japan competing internationally last year, the head coach found out that the Japanese players had (1) an average height of just 176 cm, approximately 10 cm shorter than other countries¡¦ players, so there was no great blockers; (2) a slimmer body build, so there was no great spikers. The solution? Nakada had decided to count on Japanese perseverance, to have a team good for prolonged combat and not for explosive strength, like the snake¡¦s strategy of slow but determined strangle till death.
In the last stop in Kunshan, Japan beat world no. 1 Brazil in the 5th round after being at a disadvantage initially. On both occasions on July 21 against China and July 22 against Serbia in Hongkong, the Japanese team had lost the initial two games before staging a spectacular comeback to an eventual victory. Why? To exhaust the rivals¡¦ physical strength and erode their mental tenacity, to create the opportunity for a comeback. The Chinese team were also tough. After being defeated at the total scores of 33:35 in the 3rd game, they adjusted themselves in time for the final victory in the 4th game. However, the Serbian team after tasting the sweetness of a relatively easy win in the 1st and 2nd games, suddenly lost unexpectedly in the 3rd game. They fought hard in the 4th game and in vain. In their frustration, they could not perform well in the 5th game and so, lost the whole match. It was clear that their psychological state was not fit for victory.
What was the moral of this story? The top-notch professional sports coach put emphasis on the long-term strategy. Every decision in the moment is made to serve the strategy. Only after a coach has formulated the strategy will he or she be able to make relevant decisions in each moment to maximize the opportunity of an eventual victory. For players, they need to know how to spot their achievements in each experience – after exchanging the ball for several rounds, you do lose a point to a powerful smash, but your achievement is the depletion of your rival players¡¦ energy by a bit more and the creation of a bigger chance to an eventual victory.
Parents as life coaches of your children, what have you learned from the best of these professional sports coaches?
