When you think about the Animal Kingdom there are two types of animals: Predator animals and their Prey. There are key differences between these two types of animals.
Prey animals have evolved to have eyes on the sides of their head or further apart than predators. This is to improve peripheral vision so that they can see everything that is going on around them. It is a way to protect themselves.
Predator animals have eyes much closer together. They don’t need to be as concerned with the world around them. They need to have tunnel vision to attack their prey.
We can use analogy in volleyball to see that we have a choice. Are we a predator or a prey athlete?
The Prey is concerned with everything around them. How good is the other team we’re playing? What are my friends going to say if I lose? What do I look like when I am out there? If we lose this match, who will we play next in the tournament? If we lose this game, will we be out of playoffs?
The Prey is worried about all of these external factors. Things they have no control over, things that won’t help them and most importantly things that don’t matter.
A Predator wrestler doesn’t care to look around at these external factors. He/She makes decisions based on what they believe is best regardless of others. They focus on the things they can control. They put forth a full effort and are aggressive regardless of rankings, seeds, score and outcome. The predator wrestler doesn’t look ahead, doesn’t look around, doesn’t look back. They focus solely on the task at hand, the team ahead of them, and what they need to do.
During the postseason you have the same choice. Are you predator or prey? Are you going to look around at what other people are doing? Fans? The crowd? Other teams in your league? Predictions/Seeds/Rankings? That is a Prey mentality.
Be the athlete who acts like a Predator. Focus on what you have to do to be successful. Tune out your opponent’s results, ranking, predictions and all the hype. Use tunnel vision, stop caring about what is going on around you and focus all your energy on competing aggressively from start to finish. Do everything you can to be the best server, attacker, setter, libero, and blocker on the court.