We need to understand the impact our words have on our athletes, recognize it affects so much than we realize. It can affect how we play on the court, our decision making, confidence levels both on and off the court, if we box our players in on the court it'll affect them off the court too. Whether you mean to or not it will. "Mental Toughness" is a phrase thrown around a lot in team sport, I think we get carried away with it. We categorize players as not mentally tough so much on the court that it translates to their lives, when in reality what even is mental toughness? The last point regarding our words is how we say it and who we say it to, emotional intelligence plays a huge role in coaching. Some players can handle being screamed at in front of their entire team, others can't. If they can't that doesn't make them soft, or weak that makes them a person with their own feelings. Understand people perceive things differently. Stress management - our bodies can't compartmentalize stress, whether it's stress from the weight room or because you're fighting with your gf or bf. Take those things into account especially with the season here now, on game days keep that day high - lift post game. Low days aren't the time to get extra reps or lift because you'll be overflowing that metaphorical stress bucket and ultimately get hurt