Growth vs Fixed Mindset

"I'm just not good at throwing breaks."  "I can't flick huck." "I don't know how to play short deep in a zone." "I can't sky people."

Chances are, in your ultimate career, you've said one of the phrases above, or something similar.  And, if you're anything like me, you've heard almost every one of your non-ultimate friends tell you they can't play ultimate because they "can't" throw forehands, "can't" run fast, or jump high.  There was a time when I, and probably you too, thought there was something you couldn't do... but you can do it now.  I remember thinking, when I was a freshman, that there was just no way I'd ever be able to consistently throw breaks; I was too short, so I couldn't step around my marks well, and I couldn't switch my throwing grips very quickly, so I was too slow to make up for it.  Some of the veterans encouraged me to keep throwing and working on my pivots, and by the end of that year I was handling.  Now I feel comfortable throwing breaks in almost any situation.

This brings me to the idea of a growth mindset vs. a fixed mindset. A fixed mindset is the one I described above: viewing one's skillset as a fixed quantity.  A growth mindset, on the other hand, is one where an individual recognizes their weaknesses, but also recognizes what they can do to improve those things and grow as a player.  Most importantly, somebody that is in a growth mindset sees a setback as a positive challenge and an opportunity to work and improve at something.  "I can't throw a flick huck" vs. "I need to show up to practice early to work on my flick hucks".

There have even been studies that support increased performance for people with a growth mindset.  The main one that comes to my mind had two groups of children that were given problems (e.g. puzzles).  The first set of puzzles were relatively easy, and the kids did fairly well on them.  Half of the children were then told "Great job! You must be really smart!" (promoting a fixed mindset - you have this fixed skillset which allowed you to succeed).  The other half were told "Great job! You must have worked really hard!" (promoting a growth mindset - you worked to develop the skills to be able to solve those problems). Next, the kids were given more difficult problems.  The fixed mindset group that were told they were very smart spent less time on the problems and were less successful.  On the other hand, the growth mindset group spent more time trying to solve the problems and were more successful.  Additionally, when the kids were offered additional problems, the growth mindset group tended to go for more challenging problems - for them, part of the reward was in the work itself, not just in finding the solution and being "smart".  Kids that were praised for their effort were also less likely to agree with a statement that intelligence is a fixed quantity.
(Read more about the study here)

In ultimate, we often talk about certain skills, like speed, height, and jumping ability, being fixed. The reality is, that is not necessarily true.  You can't grow taller, but you can definitely increase your speed, acceleration, and jumping ability.  And if you aren't doing that by lifting and running right now, then come March you will be in for a rude awakening.

As captains, coaches, and leaders of teams, it is important to remember that we can encourage a growth mindset among our players by our language and the way we respond to problems. (More thanks due here to Ross.  Not sure if Ross ever used these exact terms but these are definitely ideas he talks about and embodies as a coach)