Yesterday, I cautioned against over-specialization and “wasting” money on private coaching. Today, I’d like to address what the young athlete should be doing to be successful in sports.
Work hard. Nothing other than a solid work ethic can make an athlete (extra)ordinary. To be one’s best takes effort. Some are born with natural talent, but even the greatest natural athletes have to work to refine their talent.
While the “10,000 hour rule” reported in Malcolm Gladwell’s Outliers may not be a hard-fast law, there is support of the suggestion that “practice makes perfect”—well, that practice makes one better. As legendary coach Vince Lombardi said: “Practice does not make perfect. Only perfect practice makes perfect.” He also said that: “Perfection is not attainable, but if we chase perfection we can catch excellence.” Anders Ericsson, whose research inspired Gladwell’s suggestion of the “10,000 hour rule”, however, is not so quick to claim that practice alone leads to success. Nevertheless, the more we work at something, the better we will be. Success is never just handed to us.
Conditioning. Beyond skill practice, athletes need to prepare physically. I suggested that sport-specific training is a myth perpetuated by the club sport industry, coaches (particularly club team coaches), and parental competition. Nevertheless, conditioning is important. The demands of sports differ, but the underlying physiological principles that govern performance are the same no matter what the sport. Parameters of health-related physical fitness—cardiorespiratory endurance, muscle endurance, muscle strength, flexibility, and body composition—are the same whether one is an endurance athlete, power athlete, or skill athlete. Likewise, all athletes have varying needs for motor skill-related physical fitness—speed, power, agility, balance, coordination, and reaction-time. There is no sport-specific way of training these. Agility, for example, refers to the ability to change direction quickly and accurately. Agility is agility—whether one is on the volleyball court, the football field, or the basketball court.
Major components of conditioning require qualified strength and conditioning coaches. Sports performance training is a much better investment than paying for a position coach. General preparatory training (GPT) is essential during the off-season—thus, an off-season is essential.
Another, sometimes overlooked, component for GPT is sensory training. Reaction time and other aspects of motor skill-related fitness can be augmented with vision training. Stroboscopic training, using the technology developed by Dr. Alan Reichow, co-founder of the Pacific University Sports Vision Program and former Global Research Director for Vision Science for Nike, is valuable to nearly all athletes. Two products are available that have demonstrated success in improving sports vision—e.g. reaction time, peripheral vision, visual acuity, tracking, etc.—include the Senaptec Stobe (formerly the Nike Vapor Strobe) and the Vima Rev (Sport or Tactical). Personally, I recommend the Vima Rev for the advancements made over the earlier Strobes. For an athlete who wants to perceive the field of play better, this training is a must.
Weight lifting is not sport-specific (unless, of course, one is a powerlifter or Olympic weightlifter). Strength is strength. Power is power. Speed is speed. A muscle does not know the reason for which it is contracting. The brain tells it contract, and it contracts.
Condition for athleticism. Practice skill for sports success.
Study. Unfortunately, it is statistically improbable that a high school athlete is going to play in college. If one does, it is not likely to involve big scholarship dollars. Fewer than 2% of high school athletes receive scholarships, and these average less the $11,000. In other words, “full-rides” should not be banked on. So, be prepared academically to use your brain to supplement any athletic scholarships with academic money.
Don’t expect a scholarship. Certainly, the athlete should train for one and sell his or her talents to athletic programs, but a better use of the parents’ dollars are to save for tuition and college expenses. If the scholarship comes great—the athlete has a nest egg to start life after college (or for graduate school)—if not, college debt will be minimized. Spending dollars on position coaches and year-around club team travel can be much like buying a lottery ticket. The odds are not great.
Choose your parents wisely. No amount of conditioning and practice can make an elite athlete. If the genetic aren’t present—if the hardware isn’t right—no amount of training (software programming) is going help. You just can’t run OS-X on an Apple II computer. Know your potential and…
Be your best today; be better tomorrow.
Carpe momento!