NN didn't have an exceptionally good day. She didn't have a bad day. But on a scale of 1-10... it's on the lower end of the scale with her stock trending down. Not sure what it is with her play. 2 years since Tropical Touch... and she still doesn't hit as well as 14 year old Kelly or Devon. Excuses... excuses... excuses.... but no breakthrough. I've tried. Numerous coaches have tried. And we still can't figure it out.
I already knew it wasn't a good time to bring up any "suggestions" or "critiques." It was... play the "I agree" card. But when she started talking about her elevation and how she isn't getting her height... I carefully (and regretfully) agreed. I started by saying she wasn't exploding cuz the sets weren't there. Then I said... from my vantage point... it was just her hands over the net. Either she's just jumping with her ankles/calves.... or she's not using her quads.... or she's not getting the timing.
But that spiraled into a "all I have is my elevation... without that... I have nothing." And it continued to go downhill from there. She says I'm not listening. I told her I was agreeing with her. Then she said she doesn't want me to go to another game again. (I paused.). "Really??" "Not if we end up fighting like this." I said, "Fine." Door slammed prominently in my face. And even though I know she doesn't mean it... deep down... there's probably some truth to it. It's almost like... "You don't support me?? I don't want you in my life!"
This is so stupid. I agree with her. And I get in trouble. I try to be supportive. And I get called out for raining on her parade and not understanding her. It must've been my travel... where I'm still recovering from lack of sleep. Or from waking up early and being at a tournament all day. I was tired. My guard was down. I wasn't filtered. And I chose not to back down. "No... I'm not taking the fall for this. You asked for my thoughts and I gave you my observation. If it's not the truth... fine."
I didn't want us to go to bed angry.... or at least... didn't want the sun go down in anger. So I did the adult/fatherly thing, walked into her room, and apologized for what happened. She wasn't ready to talk and I don't blame her. These things take time... and it's not like they're all 100% going to be done by sun going down. We shall see....
Sigh... to be a father.
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