It is my belief that athletic ability should be considered a type of intelligence. We have all heard the term “dumb athlete” but I really feel like athletes are far from dumb. The ability to manipulate your body or command your body to respond to situations in seconds is not an easy feat. I know as a volleyball player the first thing I did in preparation for a game is watch the competition. I would try to figure out who was my threat. Would I need to compensate for my weaknesses or the weaknesses of my team? Would this be a fast pace game or slow? Will this game be easy to dominate? All these things were running in my head before I played. In preparation for the games the coaches always outlined a game plan. Which offense and defense to run. Our job as athletes was to execute. Our ability to execute the plan laid or adjust to the game plan in (sometime) in moments would determine the outcome of the game.
These are “all things” that go into play before you put on a uniform and walk on to the floor. I loved to get in my opponent’s head. I was a somewhat soft-spoken person but a different animal on the floor. I was a very obnoxious and boisterous player. That was the game I played to set up intimidation. I remember my boyfriend in college came to watch me play, he was floored. I thought I was a totally different player on the floor. I was my alter ego. I was in “role play”. This was all part of the plan. Athletics taught me how to plan. This was before “volleyball” I.Q. was a thing but it the perfect term for the what was taking place. In volleyball, players are reading body language. Players are watching the arm swing. Where does this player like to hit? If she tips….where is it going? I have been watching tape as a coach and tracked where every hit (spike) is going. I can tell by the way the player is approaching the “attack”. It is a game of math. It is a game of percentages. The scientific term is “bodily-kinesthetic intelligence” also known as athletic intelligence.
Years and years of hard work go into producing a final product! Even persons with natural athletic ability to have work. I am grateful for the experience at all levels. Every year, I got better and better. I understood what “the zone” was. “The zone” almost feels like an out of body experience. It is your body respond without thought. I have experienced “the zone” in basketball. It just feels like everything you throw at the ream goes in. Every set the setter throws up is a kill in volleyball and it goes straight down. Every time your hand goes up for a block, the ball is going straight down. It is almost hard to believe. Your body is on autopilot and your mind is in tune to it. I used this response a lot in everyday situations. I am a problem solver as most mothers and fathers are. I am the fixer. I am proactive. I am planner. What should I expect? What is coming? How should I prepare? Athletics taught me that. Even appearance! When I hit the court, I want to look a particular way. I wore my sock “like this”. I wore my hair “like this”. It is all part of the athletic environment. It is a competition on all levels. It is about the 3 P’s preparation, presentation, and performance.
Smiling Through It All 