Guest post by Ken Krause, Life in the Fastpitch Lane blog

Lately I've been hearing a lot of talk about A teams and A players. Of course, every parent wants to think their daughter is an A player, and a lot of good ballplayers want to think they're A players.

Yet it takes more than talent to make an A player. There's a whole other thing going on with real A players which relates to their attitude and approach. I've coached a few in my time and I can say without a doubt there's a difference between a true A player and a wannabe.

For one thing, a true A player loves the game, and will play with anyone any time anywhere. She doesn't care if the team is good or bad, or the other players are great or average, or if it's a major tournament or just a pickup game. As long as she's playing ball, she's happy.

A wannabe, on the other hand, complains if the rest of the team isn't up to her "standards." Instead of picking up her teammates when they make a mistake she gets all over them. Never mind she's not perfect either. She only wants to play with what she perceives as other A players because she puts winning ahead of the game.

An A player raises the level of play of her teammates. A wannabe sees her level of play drop to match those around her.

A wannabe gets herself up for the big game. An A player gets herself up for every game. Not because she's supposed to but because that's the way she approaches things.

A wannabe puts in time practicing on a regular basis. She knows because she watches the clock to make sure she's put in the time she's supposed to. An A player practices with a purpose every time. She practices until she's accomplished whatever she wanted to accomplish.

A wannabe likes to work on the things she's good at because it helps her feel good about herself. An A player works on the things she's not as good at so she can make herself better.

A wannabe is often not a good teammate. She's fine when things are going well, but will tend to blame others if the team starts losing or bows out of a tournament early. An A player doesn't get down on her teammates. Instead, when her team loses she looks at herself to see what she could've done better. She's also the first to pick up other players when they're down.

A wannabe finds it difficult to remain focused when a game goes bad. An A player remains focused throughout, because her focus is on her performance and the process, not the outcome.

It isn't always easy to tell the difference on the field. The A player and the wannabe often have similar physical abilities. Where you can see it is in their character, especially when things go wrong. The wannabe folds; the A player keeps on playing, because she's not doing it for the glory or the hardware. She's playing for the love of the game.

Anyway, that's the way I see it.

Please let me know what you thought of this post... I'm dying to find out...

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