ATHLETE INTERVIEWS: Ashley Frantz (Dartmouth College Athlete)

In order to cultivate mental toughness, I often seek advice from those around me and those who I look up to. I've found that hearing the experiences of others can make me feel better and I can learn new methods and strategies that I can apply to my own game. As a result, I decided to create a series of posts on my website dedicated to interviewing athletes (titled ATHLETE INTERVIEWS) so that anyone visiting my site can potentially use the words of others to better themselves.

In this second installment, I interviewed Ashley Frantz:

Tell me about yourself.

I am a very competitive person by nature, which is why I’ve always loved playing sports. I also like the challenge of seeing how far you can push yourself and how much you can achieve. Outside of sports, I love reading, being artistic, and spending time outdoors. I am very passionate about the environment and I am studying environmental science at Dartmouth College.

How did you start playing softball?

I started playing softball because I was a very active little kid and wanted to try a new sport, and I ended up falling in love with it.

What’s your favorite part of the game and why?

My favorite part of the game is competing: those high pressure moments where you feel the adrenaline take over and you know that you are really leaving your all out on the field, whether it’s a clutch play on defense, or timely hit on offense that allows your team to take control of the momentum.

How has softball impacted your life?

Softball has taught me leadership skills, how to work as part of a team, the importance of dedication and hardwork, and softball has also allowed me to reach levels I never thought possible like earning a degree from an Ivy League School. Softball has given me amazing relationships with people I never would have met if it weren’t for this sport.

Why do you continue to play softball?

I continue to play softball because I love the game and I have so much fun showing up everyday with my teammates.

How do you define mental toughness?

I would define mental toughness as a very deep trust of yourself and your own abilities and knowing that you can handle anything thrown your way. It doesn’t matter how big a task or how hard it seems, just taking a deep breath and thinking I got this even if you might not fully believe it. You have to trick your mind into thinking you can because that becomes your reality.

Do you believe sports help cultivate mental toughness and in what ways?

Sports definitely help to cultivate mental toughness because through sports you come to understand that failure is a part of life. This does not mean that if you fail at something you stop trying to do it, instead you get back up and try again.

How does the training and competing test your mental health?

Failure while training and competing can sometimes be hard on your mental health but you have to have the understanding that failure does not define you, it’s how you react to failure.

Where do you turn to when you need emotional support and what has that support meant to you?

My parents have always been my biggest supporters my entire life and their support means the world to me. I would not be where I am today without them.

How do you stay motivated to continue playing softball?

I think of the little girl whose dream it was to play college softball and compete at the highest level and I remind myself that I am living out her dream.

What would you say was your biggest challenge as a softball player and how did you overcome it?

My biggest challenge as a softball player was finding my love for the game again after I had been feeling like I wanted to quit. It can be really difficult when the sport you love starts feeling more stressful than fun, but I overcame this by remembering why I played this sport to begin with: because it was something I loved doing, I love being able to compete. So by examining the factors that made me feel like the game was stressful and identifying whether they were things I could change or adjust to I was able to find the fun again.

How well do you handle criticism? How have you reacted and learned from it?

I have always seen constructive criticism as something I can learn from and use for my own improvement. The best thing to keep in mind when receiving criticism is that coaches would not critique if they did not want to help you improve, and while it can be hard to take criticism at times depending on how it is delivered, it is always best to look past how it is said and look at what is said. Self-reflect on how you currently perform in the areas critiqued and ask yourself how you could improve to adjust in response to the criticism you received.

How often do you reflect on yourself as a player and how does it impact your future performance?

I reflect on my behavior and performance all the time. The most important area for self-reflection is attitude, if you can ask yourself, have I been contributing positively to my team culture?, do I show up everyday with an open mind ready to learn?, do I leave everything I have out on the field whether it’s practice or game? And answer yes to those questions then whether or not your performance has been successful is not as important because you are doing everything you can to be a good teammate and a coachable player so the results will follow. If you can’t answer yes to all of those questions, then make those areas your focus rather than results.

There’s a lot of pressure on athletes to perform well—how do you handle pressure?

It can be easy to get caught up in the pressure put on us by others and ourselves to succeed, however at the end of the day it is important to remember that it is a game that is meant to be fun. Changing your outlook so that you see pressure situations as opportunities to succeed and be great rather than chances for you to fail can be a really great way to help make the pressure feel more fun.