Watching the world cup made me want to practice

Practice makes perfect

Firstly, congratulations to the USA women’s soccer team for their 2-0 victory today over the Netherlands. The same part of me that makes me like mac and cheese, marigolds, and the Orioles let me appreciate the glorious orange of the Dutch uniforms and their fan gear. That being said, I was proud to root for my home country team.

As I struggled to understand what “offsides” means and imagine what kind of behavior would warrant a yellow card, I found myself thinking about the mental work of being a goalie. It is a position where the expectation is that you won’t make a single mistake. If somehow a ball gets past you, you can’t dwell on what happened, because the next shot is already coming your way. As a musician, I am always striving for that kind of focus and resilience.

Playing feels different each day, and the issues that arise can seem like balls flying towards me from all sides. So, today, I’m going to think about preparing for performance like I imagine a goalie would:

Find drills that strengthen my weak areas
Expect perfection
Keep my head in the game at all times