Keep Your Composure Known (KYCK) in Chaos!
In soccer and many other sports, the kick is an essential action. In both life and sports, my acronym KYCK reflects this decisive action through a powerful mantra: Keep Your Composure Known. To become a talented athlete that teammates, coaches, and fans trust requires not only a commitment to the team but an understanding of oneself during times of challenges and tests. KYCK is visible in how you look, act, and the decisions you make during a chaotic situation. In the adrenaline-high environment of a match, people may lose control of their emotions and physical form. An athlete who learns early on that it is essential to maintain their composure will rise to success more easily as they learn to excel in this expected environment, which will continue to develop their skills. However, this process requires training over time and overcoming the initial discomfort that can arise when first experiencing chaos.
Keeping your composure is not just about remaining calm. It involves controlling yourself physically, mentally, and emotionally to act as trained in the midst of chaos to excel toward a goal or win. It is working to find an angle in the worst situations to break through without cowering or giving in to your opponent. The calm and self-control must be apparent, or known to others, to drive command of the situation.
Through training under pressure and in chaotic or unpredictable environments, you learn to keep your composure, which helps you develop your skills and talents. You communicate that control to others through your body movements and verbal language. When your opponent sees that you are not afraid and won't back down, this will intimidate them and make you seem like a real threat, allowing you to apply your skills and training in your team's favor.
Life's challenges and obstacles provide excellent scenarios to apply KYCK. Beyond sports, we are inundated, possibly every day, with chaotic situations and unpredictable experiences that can test us to our core. We can apply the KYCK mindset to any adversity or challenge that we encounter in life. KYCK will make us stronger over time, preparing us for the next obstacle we may face, and we will be unwilling to give up or back down until we succeed.
5 things you can do to help your child athlete KYCK in the midst of chaos:
1. Record and review games and matches that reflect your player's body and verbal language, actions taken, or misses that may have been due to lack of training, fear, or intimidation to understand KYCK.
2. Provide constructive and implementable actions your player can take to improve physical demeanor, verbal queues, and skilled moves to thrive in chaos toward a pass, goal, or win.
3. Encourage a willing acceptance of chaos as tests to build character, develop the KYCK mindset, and achieve excellence. The mind, body, and spirit must KYCK together to win.
4. Provide positive feedback when your player demonstrates KYCK so that it can become routine and expected as the way they approach every match, game, or other life adversity for the best outcome.
5. After they demonstrate KYCK, let your player have fun and enjoy natural calmness and a relaxed state of being. Celebrate all games played with the KYCK mindset. Offer a treat or reward in a comfortable environment to help them learn how to balance the use of the KYCK mindset in everyday life.
