The title of this blog comes from an article in the North County Times by Gary Warth. His article dealt with various aspects of the recent presidential campaign as well as touching on medical, technical, military and social problems.
The point that he brought out is that many people are often reluctant to say “I don’t know”, especially when they truly do not know. Instead we hear excuses for why a particular thing, action, happening, etc. takes place. But if the problem were faced head-on by first admitting that they do not have the answer, it could probably be resolved in a very productive manner.
For someone to say “I don’t know” also applies coaches, players, sports commentators and reporters, and other athletic personnel.. As I look back on sports commentaries that I have seen and heard for many years, I feel confident in saying that the comment, “I don’t know” has never been used when answering a question or explaining a situation.
Instead we keep hearing statements such as, “We have to do better” “We have to make changes”, “We are not playing up to our potential”, “We need better coaches” and so on. When there is a change in coaching staff instead of hearing statements such as I don’t know how to improve the players’ ability to run, cut, jump, throw, hit, etc. we are told of a change in strategy or tactics.
But strategical and tactical changes are only as effective as the players abilities allow. If the players are not able to carry out the new strategy, we will once again hear the same excuses. In other words, rather than looking at the essence of the problem — which is usually in the players abilities — we hear about what should be done rather than what is being done or how it will be done.
If players, coaches, and athletes would admit that they do not know how to improve skills and physical abilities specific to game play, it would go a long way to realizing that work must be directed to producing a different effect. It would go a long way to helping the teams realize that improving players’ game skills would go a long way to ensuring successful performances in competition.
For more information on this topic, read Build a Better Athlete.