GETTING QUALITY RESULTS FROM PRACTICE: PART 1

Practice: The Key To Progress Is YOU

There are a number of reasons why practice is the critical element in your athletic performance.

•  This is the time when you IMPROVE YOUR TECHNICAL SKILLS, and get individual or team plays down to the point where you can execute them automatically, without having to stop and think about what you are doing.

•  This is also the time where you WORK ON WEAK AREAS, and expand your range of skills. Some athletes are content to stay in their comfort zone, and use practice as a time to get ego-strokes rather than to bring some of the weaker aspects of their game up a notch.

•  Practice can be an important period in terms of your self-confidence. As things go well in practice, you will feel more encouraged, and generally confident in your abilities to execute under pressure. The most important key to athletic success is the ability to deliver the goods at crunch time.  FOR MANY ATHLETES, THE FEELING THAT THEY HAVE DONE THEIR WORK IN PRACTICE IS A CRITICAL COMPONENT OF THEIR SELF-CONFIDENCE.

•  It is also a time to work on your MENTAL game. If you envision yourself as a player who can go strong late in the game, if you want to be a team leader, if you could do a better job of re-focusing and getting back into the game after making an error or, if your game would benefit from better anticipation -- then YOU SHOULD BE FOCUSING ON AND SOLIDIFYING YOUR MENTAL GAME AT THE SAME TIME THAT YOU ARE LOOKING TO MAKE PROGRESS ON YOUR PHYSICAL SKILLS.

What is important to remember in all of this is that significant progress will be accomplished to the degree that you take PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY for making progress. Too often, athletes, especially in team sports, show up to practice physically, but not mentally. They go through the motions and put in the hours, but they have not taken the time to articulate to themselves clearly what they plan to get out of that practice, so their progress is sporadic rather than FOCUSED and DELIBERATE. 

Here are some important steps that will help you become PERSONALLY ACCOUNTBLE for your own progress:

•  You should have a clear sense of what you are trying to get out of the practice. What is the OUTCOME you desire (for example: tighter ball control, to cut down on your turnovers, greater confidence in your court decision-making ability, or more explosive moves). If you have not figured out exactly what you want to happen, or rely on the coach to do this, you are not likely to make as much progress.

•  If your sport is a team sport, you are responsible for team goals, and whatever the coach decides you should be working on. But you must not let that prevent you from assuming responsibility for your personal goals as well. You can even meet with your coach in advance, to identify individual goals for yourself.

•  In order to make good progress, once you have goals in mind, you also need a GAME PLAN. What are the things that you can do to accomplish your goals for practice? These might include reminding yourself of your goal and giving yourself positive feedback for staying focused.  (You might consider thinking of a slogan for your goal(s), and every time your coach blows his/her whistle, you could say your slogan to yourself to remind yourself of the efforts you should be taking, or you could picture an admired sports hero complimenting you on your effort.) It is important to give a sustained effort to make real progress.

Basically, you will make the MOST PROGRESS  if you:

•  Set some clear goals and establish a timeline for each one

•  Get to work to do what you have to do to achieve them, and

•  Routinely evaluate your efforts, and revise your game plan as needed.

As you apply this strategy to improving your athletic skills, you will be incorporating a life skill that will also serve you in personal and professional concerns in years to come.

Let me conclude with a useful quote from Michael Jordan, who probably knew more about this topic than just about anyone else:

“I’ve always believed that if you put in the work, the results will come.  I don’t do things half-heartedly, because I know if I do, then I can expect half-hearted results.  That’s why I approached practices the same way I approached games.  You can’t turn it on and off like a faucet.  I couldn’t fake it during practice and then, when I need that extra push late in the game, expect it to be there.”   (Michael Jordan)

© 2015 by Dr. Mitchell Smith.  All rights reserved.