No single athlete has all the answers to athletic success. That’s because what works for one athlete may not work for another. Although knowing what works for you is vital. However, most athletes don’t understand what needs to be done in order to progress and gain an edge on the competition. As said by world-renowned motivational speaker, Tony Robins, “If you do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you’ve always gotten.”
In order to avoid such a fate, there are three thoughts every athlete playing at a sub-professional level should complete daily:
1. An optimal mindset is VERY important.
Being narrow-minded never results positively. You have to be willing to try, experiment, and even fail at times in order to improve. Getting stuck in old habits will not help you progress to your full potential.
2. Successes at any given level is NOT in any way, shape, or form a projection of success at the next level.
This holds true for all sports and athletes. We’ve all seen, heard about, or been that person who has dominated a certain level of sports. For example, a kid who is a dominant pitcher ibaseball. He can throw harder and faster than any kid his age. One huge reason for his success is due to the fact that he or she had a more rapid development in physical stature or neuromuscular proficiency compared to their peers. In plain words, he was bigger, stronger and faster. However, what happens when his peers mature as well and catch up in maturation? Typically, that that kid becomes just another average player. It can, and has happened at all levels in any sport. Therefore, do not become complacent with your success; be inspired by it!
3. You are not alone in the race.
According to a poll by CNN in 2007, over 41 million kids are enrolled in youth sports. Leadin the way is soccer with over 18 million kids, up over 3 million from a survey taken in 1987.However, soccer is not the only sport that has seen a rapid increase. Football, cheerleading and basketball have also seen their numbers more than double in the past 15 years. All these numbers directly correlate with not becoming complacent with your previous success. Just because you were good before, doesn’t mean you will be later, and trust the fact that other kids will grow and level out the playing field. Also trust the fact that there is a copious amount of kids out there. Don’t get left behind.
One thing you can do is put in hard work. But just what exactly does hard work mean? Many athletes tend to think hard work is simply defined by pushing yourself and teammates, staying positive, not quitting, and for the most part they’re right. All of those components are essential, but doing what you’re supposed to do in front of your coach is the easy part. Anyone can do that. What is most important is what is done when the coach and your teammates aren’t around. Like legendary Green Bay Packers coach, Vince Lombardi said, “Winning is not a sometime thing; it's an all the time thing. You don't win once in a while, you don't do things right once in a while, you do them right all the time. Winning is a habit. Unfortunately, so is losing.”
What you do away from the practice field and training center has as much to do with performance as what you do during practice and training. The best training programs in the world will have a minimal effect on their performance if the athletes are living a poor lifestyle with respect to food intake, sleep, etc. It’s our priority as coaches to educate our clients and their parents on how to make their lifestyles compliment their training and practice.
It comes down to developing habits. According to Aristotle, “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” Developing habits is not an easy task. We have compiled an important check list on what we feel are the most non-training critical habits and behaviors. It’s not a perfect list, but one which we feel will get you off to a good start.
Some positive habits you can take when you are away from your coaches and teammates are:
1. Get 8-9 hrs of sleep per night.
2. Wake up 10-15 minutes earlier in to order to consume a quality breakfast, consistently. As your parents have tried to tell you over and over again, breakfast is the most important meal of the day; it helps speed up your metabolism, aids in muscle recovery and allows you to feel more energetic throughout the day.
Don't BONK out, eat breakfast!
3. Go to sleep and wake up within an hour of the same times every day. This will allow your body to get use to a routine, allowing it to feel more rested.
4. Taking time to prepare snacks and meals ahead of time. Skipping meals doesn’t help, and can lead to less energy and becoming fatigued easier. Prepare snacks for before practice and workouts.
5. Eat frequently evry 2-4 hrs. even if you aren’t that hungry.
6. Eat nutrient dense foods such as lean protein, vegetables, and organic fruit.
7. Take supplements such as 2-3 grams of fish oil, a multi-vitamin and amino-acids to fill in the whole food gaps in your diet. Fish oils have an immense amount of benefits for your heart, joints and brain. Amin-acids (protein) helps keep the muscle tissue healthy and aids in lean body mass development.
8. Stay away from processed foods.
9. Consume appropriate pre and post workout nutrition and hydration (15-30 ounces) before every training session.
10. Consume plenty of the world’s most powerful supplement, WATER! Hydration is vital to keep your body performing at a high level
11. Roll out and stretch daily. Not only will rolling out and stretching help you care for your soft tissue (muscles) and aid in recovery and rejuvenation. It’s a great way to help prevent overuse soft tissue injuries as well.
12. Take time to watch how other high-level performers go about their practice and weight room training. Watch what makes them special and note their habits and intensity.
13. Take time for quiet mental focus, friends and family
14. Be positive every day
These steps are just a quick glimpse of only a handful of habits that can help you. It is important to remember that no one thing is going to make a tremendous impact, however all of the little things done right will certainly help a player’s long-term development. It is also worth noting that all the small things won’t get you appreciable praise, at least not directly. But that shouldn’t matter; you shouldn’t be doing it for the praise.
Do it because you want to reach your full potential, or push your boundaries, or never have the feeling of regret, or because you want to push your sport itself to an entire new level. Do the right things on and off the court, field or ice and that is what it truly means to outwork everyone. Outworking everyone is key to reaching your true potential. It’s what you do when no one else is looking that really counts!
