In this episode we talk about three subjects; assigning fault, increasing our evolutionary empathy and staying focused.

I got to play in a mixed group recently where I was paired with Dakota, a younger player, both in terms of her time in pickleball and also just a younger person. It was a tight match and we ended up on the losing end of it.

I complimented her on a few of her shots and let her know that the game was on me. And what was interesting is Dakota response by saying, 'No, I didn't play well.' As an objective observer of the game, I can tell you that Dakota played very well and if there was a player on the team who did not play well, it was me.

As players it's common to think that it was 'us' that was the problem or did something that we shouldn't have done better in a rally or in a game. That's something we need to be careful about.
 
Now to the idea of of evolutionary empathy and how to apply it to pickleball- each of us is operating within their operating module and we're entitled to our opinions and our ability to navigate the world.

Evolution doesn't happen instantaneously, it's not like a light switch where all of a sudden everybody becomes something else.
 
Then the last area cover in this episode has to do with staying focused, staying in the moment or staying in bite-sized pieces. I'll share a story about a para-athlete, visually impaired athlete, who set the world record for the marathon and why we should not just look at the end or focus on just have a winning day. 

Focus on what you can actually do; your next rally, the next serve, next return to serve or one shot at a time.

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