BUDDY HIELD'S GAME DAY WORKOUT

The more you look into it -- the more you study the best...the more you come to the realization and the #1 ingredient to success is hard work. Thanks to Coach Brooklyn Kohlheim for sharing this on her twitter page.

YOUR DAILY GUT CHECK QUESTIONS

At sunrise, ask yourself, "How will I be a champion today?" (Intentions)

At sunset, ask yourself, "Was I a champion today?" (Accountability)

From "The Champion's Mind" by Jim Afremow

FOCUS NOT ON PERFECTION BUT CONSISTENCY

We constantly preach to our players about being an "NBA Player" -- meaning "Next Best Action."  The best players don't dwell in the past.  They are on to the next play.  If they are thinking about the last play -- a missed shot, a turnover, a poor play be a teammate, a bad call by an official -- then they are not give 100% of their mental capacity to the most important play of the game -- the next one.  After all, as Sue Gunter would constantly tell her teams, "The next possession is the only one we have control of."

By now I am hopefully that you've all heard of The Players Tribune.  If not it needs to be a must read for you.  It is articles that are written completely by athletes.  Not coaches. Not writers.  It gives you an amazing perspective and insight into what some of the best are thinking in so many different situations.

One of the more recent entries came from Cal Ripken, Jr. in an article titled "The Best Play I Ever Made."  One of the take aways from the article was when Cal had failure on the field, an error or poor at bat, he always seemed to follow it up with success -- a good defensive play or a hit.  This is the Next Best Action attitude.  This is a look into Cal's mentality: 

"More often than not, whenever I made an error, I’d get a hit in my next at bat. If I struck out a few times, I’d be more likely to make a nice play in the field. Whatever I was struggling with, I tried to excel in another area to balance it out. I always viewed baseball as a constant internal battle within myself. You have to keep your emotions low when pressure is high, but play with passion when pressure was low. It’s not about focusing on perfection so much as on consistency."

ARE YOU COMPETING OR COMPARING

The following comes from the book "Burn Your Goals" by Joshua Medcalf and Jamie Gilbert and I challenge those student-athletes reading this to take some time and reflect and then ask are you competing or comparing.

A lot of times in many contexts in life much of our inability to scratch our potential or play hard is down to the fact that we are comparing rather than competing.  Competition is great between players on the same team.  Someone beats you and you try hard to improve to play better next time.  The Bible talks about this as iron sharpening iron.

Comparison is different.  Comparison is about worth.  He beat me so he is a better person.  She trains with the national team so she is always going to get the starting spot.  He has closed more deals for the company this year so why should I even bother to try harder?  Comparison usually leads to diminished or inflated worth and takes our focus and energy away from things we can control.

WISE WORDS FROM COACH WOODEN

"Your strength as an individual depends on how you respond to both criticism and praise.  If you let either one have any special effect on you, it's going to hurt us...You have little control over what criticism or praise outsiders send your way.  Take it all with a grain of salt.  Let your opponent get all caught up in other people's opinion.  You don't you do it."

THE IMPORTANCE OF YOUR CHOICES

"There is a choice you have to make

In everything you do;

So keep in mind that in the end

The choice you make, makes you."

-Coach John Wooden

MAKING ADJUSTMENTS TO IMPROVE UPON TALENT

Nolan Ryan is a Hall of Fame pitcher -- and with great reason. While his lifetime winning percentage was .526, Ryan was an eight-time MLB All-Star, and his 5,714 career strikeouts rank first in baseball history by a significant margin.[1] He leads the runner-up, Randy Johnson, by 839 strikeouts. Similarly, Ryan's 2,795 bases on balls lead second-place Steve Carlton by 962—walking over 50% more hitters than any other pitcher in MLB history. Ryan, Pedro Martínez, Randy Johnson, and Sandy Koufax are the only four pitchers inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame who had more strikeouts than innings pitched. Other than Jackie Robinson (whose number was retired by the entire MLB), Ryan is currently the only major league baseball player to have his number retired by at least three different teams: the Angels, Astros, and Rangers. Ryan is the all-time leader in no-hitters with seven, three more than any other pitcher. He is tied with Bob Feller for the most one-hitters, with 12. Ryan also pitched 18 two-hitters. 

What you might know know is that through his first five seasons with the New York Mets his record was only 29-38.  No one in major league baseball had a more talented arm or could throw the ball harder, but talent is never enough if you are interested in being the best.  

Here is how Ryan explained is process of improvement in "Good Leaders Ask Great Questions" by John Maxwell:

"All I knew was to throw as hard as I could for as long I could.  Early in my career in the big leagues, when I would get in trouble I would resort back to that mindset.  Finally, after being unsuccessful with the approach -- I learned that when I was just throwing hard I was throwing wild and walking guys and losing games -- it finally dawned on me.  If I didn't make an adjustment or change, then I was going to be one of those players who was very gifted, but didn't make a lot out of it...A lot of people get here with the God-given ability, the gift that they received.  But to stay here and have a lengthy career takes a commitment to make sacrifices that most won't continually make.  Talent may get your here, but it takes work, real work, to stay here, and it takes development of the mental side of your game to separate yourself on this level."