Talk at NexGen to Young Cricketers

Chatterjee has been inviting me to talk to the trainees at NexGen and we decided to do the talk after the season is done. I like the team at NexGen and feel they go about the coaching aspect in the right manner and with the right values - focus on coaching and improving the players with the right practices - so I was quite glad to say Yes. So when we spoke the other day we fixed the date and I went to the NexGen Academy in Tumkunta, one hour away from my place. 

Chatterjee received me and took me in. The boys were already waiting and I headed straight into the talk. There was Abhirath, Aniketh, Paras, Mayank from the boys I knew. We spoke about the practices of how to become a successful cricketer, and how the same practices help in becoming successful human beings.

I started off by setting the context - the golden Circle of Why, How and What. I explained the importance of knowing the Why - and we decided that the more times our team wins, the better it is for us. It's a worthy and high purpose. That the team is more important than the individual is something we agreed upon and to play for team win as a purpose was agreeable too.

We discussed the importance of Mindset - the fixed and the growth mindset and how we can get better by adopting the growth mindset of learning, of asking for help, of taking feedback, of increasing effort, of knowing process and being able to self correct.

In the How we looked at the process of preparation - physical, skill and mental. In the physical i asked them about the NCA parameters and where they stood. Then to prepare accordingly. On skill we discussed how to become better at skill - the 10000 hour rule, deliberate practice, knowing strengths and weaknesses and working on bettering the strengths and improving our weakness (in a 80:20 ratio).

We discussed the formula for performance. Two actually - one that performance reflects prepration on all three counts of physical, skill and mental preparation. 

Another that Performance = Potential - Interference. We discussed interference, the mental aspect, how to train the mind, how to get mentally stronger. We discussed the connection between outcome and process and how both are connected and not separate. I told them to drop blame, excuse and luck from their dictionary and take ownership for everything that happened to them and link it to preparation.

The students asked good questions about coming back from a poor run, correcting bad practices, how to cope with bad days and so on and so forth. Abhirath gave a vote of thanks and we took a pic and I left after some breakfast and coffee with Chatterjee and a few of the boys.

Thanks Chattu, NexGen for the opportunity. I enjoyed it and hope the boys benefited from it.

Some feedback:

1) I understood, that I have to Keep goal To achieve or play certain format . i have to have a mindset of winning every game i play and have to play every game possible. - S

2) Always keep team in front of self. As an individual person you can only push to take 4-5 wickets but if you play for a team you can push for 10 wickets also if required So benefit for individual in greater sense

3) Doing double as hard work as other fellow mates do as they had more time for practice

4) Sir was trying to convey how maximum outcome of a person is achieved and conveyed what is the selectors point of view about selecting candidates. And sir conveyed that keeping goals is not bad and be dominant in the field and life

5) My question about how to approach practice sessions when I don’t feel 100% was really well answered and I gained new and better perspectives about how to prepare mentally how to go about things on preparation and approach. It was a very insightful session. - A

6) Good morning sir, it was a very insightful session, interaction was about winning games for the team , not playing for personal goals. having a purposeful practice. - S