Football - A  Personal Report

 What I like doing best is playing football, mainly because it is one of my best sports.  One of the greatest things about it, in my opinion, is the anticipation, wondering what the other players are thinking about what you might do.   Football is a physical game, of course, but it is the mental aspect that I appreciate the most.

At times football can get grueling.  Which makes the game even more exciting.  The first time you make contact with another player (even with all that equipment) you get very sore.  That is true for everyone, but in time you get used to the aches and pains.  After awhile, you develop mental discipline when allows you to ignore some of the pain.  The mental discipline then allows you to go all out, to unload everything you have, every play.  That's how you win games, every one going all out, giving 110%.

The game takes concentration, just as much as any other sport if not more.  You develop this aspect in practice.  That's why it is so important to have hours of it mentally, you have to get over the fear, the fear of eleven madmen waiting fot the chance to make you eat dirt.  And that comes through practice.  Once you overcome the fear, you can focus on the more important things, like anticipating the other guys' next move.  Studying the playbook and talking to other players also helps.

During the game, your mind clears off all thoughts.  These thoughts become instinct.  You have to react, and react quickly, and you develop reactions and instinct in practice.  For example, when you're carrying the ball or about to make a tackle, you want to make sure you have more momentum than the other guy.  If you don't you'll be leveled.  But, you should react instinctively to that situation by increasing your momentum.

Playing defense, all you wnat to do is hit the man with the ball, him him hard.  Right when you unload for a stick, all your body tightens.  Then you feel the impact.  After you reagin your thoughts,  you wonder if you are all right.  You wait for your brain to get the signal from your nerves.  Even so, if you do get that signal, which is always the case, you keep right on playing.  You can't let that experience shake your concentration.

On offense, while playing receiver, you can actually "hear" the footsteps of the defensive back as  you're concentrating on catching the ball.  What separates the men from the boys is the one who "hears" the footsteps but still catches the ball.  That's mental discipline, concentration.

Football is very physical or else it wouldn't be fun.  But ios is also a mental game and tht is why it's challenging.  You can get hurt in football if you screw-up and ignore the right way to do things.  However, mental discipline and concentration, which you develop during lhours of practice, helps you avoid such mistakes.