During Super Bowl 51 Tom Brady’s was down 3-28 which included an interception by the Falcons returned for a touch down. On the screen Tom Brady was sitting with his elbows on his thighs looking down at the truf. He look dejected, failure was near, how did the game get to this point? The Patriots being the favorite entering the game, now the Vegas odds makers had the Patriots coming back a 11 to 1 at this point from 3 – 28. We don’t know what Brady was thinking, but I would bet that Brady was not framing a lose in his mind but rather dedicating the win to come to his mother. Brady wins, that what he does, his skill set as a quarterback, that part of if, but at the level of the NFL, skill is a small attribute. Tom Brady’s Winning is that he knows he is going to win independent of the competition, he has framed in mind that he is the greatest Quarterback on one of the greatest NFL teams ever. Brady opponents are not the Falcons or any other opponent, he is compenting against his best self. He has framed his life where he can accomplish what his mind concevess
Framing is defined as the cognitive bias, in which people react to a particular choice in different ways depending on how it is presented; e.g. as a loss or as a gain. People tend to avoid risk when a positive frame is presented but seek risks when a negative frame is presented.
Another great example of framing is the Chicago Cubs, for as long as I can remember the Cubs have been known as “lovable losers”. Year after year of failure the frame was cemented in, the Cubs are “lovable losers”, the fans thought it, the ownership thought it, the players thought it. It was not a black cat or a goat that lead to this frame of “lovable losers” it was the acceptance of the title at some level by everyone. When the “lovable losers” where close to success, those with emotional ties to the team defaulted back to the lovable loser frame. However, the new ownership has changed the framing of the Chicago Cubs to a young, versatile entertaining them built to Win for years, that’s new frame for the Cubs.
Many players, coaches and parents focuse on the opponent, the 6’3 pitcher who throws 95 mph, the power hitter who can drive the ball 500 feet, the hitter hitting .450 during the past month. Doing so gives the opponent greater abilities then they may have, at the very least we have removed focused from our game preparation. When we do this we give the oppenet an edge in the game, we have framed ourselves in a box which the oppente now controlles. Now imagine changing the frame from “how good they are” to ” I am going to play my game independent of how good they are, where I a complete against my best self”. Removing the “limits” mindset for ball player to “push the limits” in self competition.
We can change the frame in seconds to a frame to be better than your best each day, just think it and see it.
For more information on training your brain to win click here. A great read for parents, coaches and players is the Mental Game of Baseball, like Yogi Berra says, “Baseball is ninety percent mental and the other half is physical.”
