Adversity is our companion. On a hot Sunday summer evening, I showed her how to drive baseline and finish with a reverse layup, first from the left corner and later from the right. But she couldn't. The footwork was wrong and she usually came up short. "Don't worry about it. It will come."
The next Sunday, she did it perfectly, either hand from either side. It wasn't a triumph of teaching but work.
That reminds me of the story of the mogul skier and a young girl watching her who said, "I love how you ski, you never fall." The skier realized she wasn't leaving her comfort zone, wasn't willing to fail. She went harder, took chances to fall and became a champion.
A gold medal in figure skating goes to the skater willing to fall 20,000 times.
Adopt the mindset and the will to fail forward...and do the work.
1) Pick it (Have a plan.) Develop an action plan...ball handling, shooting, athleticism, video study. Be specific. What are your GO TO and COUNTER moves? Write down the drills, the amount of time you'll spend, and your tracking plan. Use cellphone video...footwork, balance, quickness.
Include three level scoring (inside, mid-range, and three-point). Consider drills like Pitino quarters, 251, and Championship 37. Make beating your personal best a priority.
2) Stick to it. Keep a notebook or calendar to record your time. Be a champion of action.
3) Check it. Measure progress, your running times, strength measures (e.g. bench press), shooting percentage (e.g. free throws).
Visualize success. Visualization helps many people to higher performance. A mental highlight reel is part of Jason Selk's program in 10 Minute Toughness. Bill Parcells opined that "confidence comes from proven success." A personal highlight reel validates prior achievement.
Work the process. Even great players fail. Failure isn't final. Success requires belief and time. John Wooden won his first championship at UCLA in his 16th season. Dean Smith won his first National Title in his 21st season at Carolina. He remarked that he never considered himself a failure without having won a championship.
Identify what greatness demands. Are strength and conditioning limiting you? Do you have the "closing skills to become the closer?" Do you have the knowledge and experience needed? Recognize the difference between know that and know how.
Get inside your notebook. In his MasterClass, Samuel L. Jackson says, "be off book" meaning "know your lines." The director can't trust you if you haven't made the time and the effort to know the material. Demand more of yourself. Know the offense your team is running inside and out. My former player Samantha Dewey was always in her notebook. Now she's the top 2024 high school player in New England.
Summary:
- Adopt the mindset
- Visualize success
- Work the process
- Identify what greatness demands
- Get inside your notebook