From the outstanding book "Legacy" by James Kerr comes a great story of perseverance and resilience: Champions do extra. It's true in all kinds of sport. There's the story of marksman Karoly Takacs who was denied a place in the 1936 Olympics as, in pre-war Hungary, only officers could qualify. Undeterred, he set his sights on the 1940 games. But in 1938 a hand grenade shattered his his right hand -- his shooting hand. He trained himself to shoot with his left hand but the 1940 and 1944 Olympics were cancelled as war ravaged Europe. Finally, in 1948, thirty-eight-year-old Takacs competed in his first Olympic event, winning gold and setting a new world record, a right-handeder shooting left-handed. Champions do extra.
The following comes from Angela Duckworth's outstanding book "Grit." It gives a great example of Tom Seaver's decision making process on a daily basis and shows what the absolutely best often use a mindset. Seaver thinks in terms of whether even the smallest of choices he made each day would make him a better pitcher:
Consider Hall of Fame pitcher Tom Seaver. When he retired in 1987 at the age of forty-two, he’d compiled 311 wins; 3,640 strikeouts; 61 shutouts; and a 2.86 earned run average. In 1992, when Seaver was elected to the Hall of Fame, he received the highest ever percentage of votes: 98.8 percent. During his twenty-year professional baseball career, Seaver aimed to pitch “the best I possible can day after day, year after year.” Here is how that intention gave meaning and structure to all his lower-order goals:
"Pitching… determines what I eat, when I go to bed, what I do when I’m awake. It determines how I spend my life when I’m not pitching. If it means I have to come to Florida and can’t get tanned because I might get a burn that would keep me from throwing for a few days, then I never go shirtless in the sun… If it means I have to remind myself to pet dogs with my left hand, then I do that, too. If it means in the winter I eat cottage cheese instead of chocolate chip cookies in order to keep my weight down, then I eat cottage cheese."
Kevin Eastman once asked Kobe Bryant how long did he work on a move. Kobe's reply? "Until." Meaning there was no time limit. It is rumored that Mamba might work on the same move for two or more hours straight -- until he had reached the level of execution he desired. The best stay with it until they have it. Or as David Foster Wallace said, "If you are immune to boredom, there is literally nothing you can't accomplish." Hall of Fame Coach Marianne Stanley once shared a story of talking to Coach John Wooden and asking him what made Bill Walton such a great player. His response was "He didn't get bored with the repetition that you need to be great."
How many players are good but don't work at something long enough and hard enough to excel at it? The word Marianne used was "mastery." She said the great ones didn't mind the constant repetition because their goal was to master the parts of their game.
I love this passage from one of my players Seimone Augustus:
“The most common questions I get asked as a professional basketball player is, ‘What drills do you do to get better? How many shots did you take a day? What all did you focus on to be a better player? I hate being asked that. My answer is the same — I can’t count the number of shots I took, I can’t tell you what drills I did because I used everything from a lawn chair to a bowling ball glove to help with getting better, as well as watched a VHS tape of Pistol Pete until it didn’t work anymore. An still when you reach what you think is your goal or dream, people will still doubt you and will be uncertain of your success at the next level. But all you can do is keep working, believe in yourself, stay focused and let the universe take you on an amazing ride!”
Kobe's professional trainer was fast asleep.
Could you blame him? It was 3:30 am in the morning. All a sudden his phone
starts ringing. It's Kobe. He must be in trouble, or in some kind of emergency.
His trainer is freaking out, and nervously picks up the phone.
Kobe says that he's doing some conditioning
work and could use his trainer's help. The trainer then proceeds to get ready
and head over to the gym. He arrives around 4:30 am.
What did he see? He saw
Kobe by himself practicing. Drenched in sweat, it looked like he just jumped in
a pool. It wasn't even 5am in the morning yet.
The following comes from Stack.com in which Kyle Korver talks about the work ethic of Lebron James. You can see the entire article here which also includes some video of Lebron and the Cavs workout out on VersaClimbers.
Here is what Korver had to say:
"Behind the scenes, just how hard he
works. He's a machine. You don't see guys this late in their careers, guys
who've had this much success, be the first guy in the gym. He's still
there," Korver said. "I was blown away." Korver would know—this
is his 14th season in the NBA.
As an example of LeBron's unparalleled work
ethic, Korver pointed to the morning after a regular-season game against the
Utah Jazz. The night before, the Cavs had defeated the Jazz on the back of a
Herculean 33-point, 10-rebound, 6-assist effort from LeBron. The next morning,
LeBron was in the gym before anyone else.
"He played [38] minutes, he played hard.
And the next morning, he was on the VersaClimber when everybody else got there,
in full sweat doing a massive strength and cardio workout," Korver said.
"He was like, 'The playoffs are coming! I've got to be ready! I've got to
be able to play big minutes and play at a high level!'"
One of the most important elements to your practice, especially when you are working without your coaches, is that it is both deliberate and intentional. In other words, don't just pick up a basketball and start shooting. What shot are you working on? What move are you trying to develop? Make sure you are concentrating on the elements of execution and going at a pace and speed that will translate to success on the court. We had Kevin Eastman speak to our team last season and he told some stories on Kobe Bryant and the "intentionality of his workouts." Eastman had been told that Kobe might go to the gym and spend two or three hours working on one move -- ONE MOVE! When Eastman ran into Kobe they talked about that and he asked Kobe, "How long do you work on a particular move?" To which Kobe replied, "Until." That's the mentality of a professional and a great player. They don't get bored with the repetition of developing their skill. They work "until."
There is an incredible lengthy yet well-worth the read article on Steph Curry written by Sally Jenkins. It’s a great read andyou can read it here in it’s entirety. For players, here are a few take ways.
Success leaves footprints and they are often attached to work ethic. Jenkins talks about Curry and is shot regiment:
Curry shoots around 2,000 shots a week: He takes a minimum of 250 a day, plus another 100 before every game. It’s a counterintuitive fact that a player with the supplest shot in the NBA, whose overarching quality is feel, has the hands and work habits of a woodchopper. “My hands are actually kind of rough,” he says after practice at courtside. “I got a lot of callouses from the shooting.” He turns his palms up. The wrists and fingers are narrow and tapered, but the palms are gnarly and hardened, with flaking slabs of skin coarse to the touch. There’s a tub of hot manicure wax in the locker room, which some guys dip into for softening. “But it doesn’t do much for me,” Curry says.
Jenkins writes of his perfectionist attitude — for the best, it’s always in the details.
Instead of resting, he embarked on a concerted effort to improve his range and reactions. Practice is the alchemy that transfers effort into effortlessness “in the flow of the game,” he says, and he’s obsessive at it. During his shooting sessions, if he doesn’t make five of seven from each spot on the floor, he penalizes himself with extra shots. A free throw is not complete until he made “an absolutely pure, clean swish,” Warriors shooting coach Bruce Fraser says.
She also writes about his imagination — something that the best players seem to have which allows them to expand their game at a different level and rate.
Curry is not only a habitual worker; he’s an innovative one. He spent the summer exploring methods with his trainer Brandon Payne that included wearing strobe-flashing, vision-impairing glasses, and a drill that required him to tap flashing lights against a wall while dribbling. “His drive is understated because of his personality,” West says. “You don’t necessarily understand how competitive he is unless you’re around him every day and watch him carefully.”
Few things are more important that having confidence and belief in yourself and your abilities. Of course what is sometimes overlooked is all the preparation and hard work that must come before -- otherwise you are dealing with false bravado. In his book "Go For The Magic," Pat Williams told a great story about hitting great and Hall of Famer Stan Musial. During Musial's playing days with the St. Louis Cardinals, one of his teammates entered the clubhouse whistling and obviously in a great mood. As he walked past Musial he said, "I feel like I'm getting two hits today. Every feel like that Stan?" In which Musial replied with a smile, "Every day!"
Remember that big shot Ray Allen hit for Miami to force a game 7 and eventually lead them to a championship? What it you were told he'd practice that shot numerous times? That great ones prepare for everything.
Spoelstra, of course, had heard stories about Allen. People called him "Everyday Ray" for a reason.
He was obsessive and then some about his basketball routines. He'd come to the gym early and often, repeating the same motions, the same routes over and over.
"Like a wide receiver," Spoelstra says.
But even still, Spoelstra couldn't believe what he saw during that first workout in September 2012, the week before Labor Day.
Spoelstra laughs about it now. Allen was laying on his back under the basket. When a Heat assistant coach blew the whistle, Allen would get up off his back, backpedal to the corner as if being chased, and somehow precisely place his feet in the slot between the 3-point arc and the out-of-bounds line with only inches to spare. All in one motion. All without looking down.
After all that, Allen would catch a pass and rise up for a 3-pointer.
"Pat [Riley] and I invented so many dumb drills over the years, but that," Spoelstra recalls, "that ... was a new one on us."
After watching the then-37-year-old do it dozens of times, Spoelstra stopped him.
"What on earth are you trying to accomplish here?"
Allen replied matter-of-factly.
"Offensive rebound, say I get knocked down after a layup and need to jump out for the corner 3," Allen told him. "Gotta get in the habit. You never know."
Allen performed that drill religiously for the ensuing weeks. And nine months after that September workout, Allen made perhaps the most famous clutch 3-pointer in NBA Finals history to force a Game 7.
Offensive rebound. Backpedal out to the corner 3. In one motion, without looking down. Bang.
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.
The following comes from the book"Burn Your Goals"byJoshua 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.
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 MartÃnez, 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."
One of the problems with young athletes today is that when they see the best they believe in large part that they have achieved greatness naturally -- though their talent. The great ones can at times make it look easy. I spend a lot of times sharing stories of hard work and sacrifices of sports finest with my teams so that they hopefully realize that greatness comes with a price and that it must be earned. One of the greatest hitters in the history of baseball is Ted Williams. What made him great was a tremendous desire to be the best. In the book"The Kid" written by Ben Bradlee, Jr., there was a story of someone who told Ted when he was young that he went to see too many movies and that it might strain his eyes. Ted stopped going to the movies. In 1936, Ted signed a minor league contract with San Diego. Here is story from the book:
Frank Shellenback (William's manager) was impressed early on by Williams's work ethic, drive and determination. After home games Ted would ask Shellenback for a couple of old baseballs. When the manager asked what he did with them, Ted said he used them for extra batting practice after dinner at the park near his house. Shellenback found that hard to believe, having seen Ted come in to Lane Field at ten in the morning for extra hitting in addition to the regular workout every day. As Shellenback told the Boston Herald's Arthur Sampson in 1949, one evening he drove to Williams's neighborhood to investigate and saw the rookie "driving those two battered baseballs off over the field. Ted was standing close to a rock which served as home plate. One kid was pitching to I'm. A half dozen others were shagging drives. The field was rough and stony. The baseball I had given him were already showing signs of wear. The stitching was falling apart. The covers were rough as sandpaper. Blood was trickling from Williams's hands as he dripped a chipped bat. But he kept swinging. And hitting. Ted made himself the great baseball players he is today."
Kobe Bryant was once asked: What makes one guy a champion and not the next guy?
"It's drive. It's the will. There are certain people that have a tremendous hunger. There are certain people that have a will, determination, hunger that you need to be the best in the world. Those people -- and those people alone -- become champions."
Look me in the eyes.
It’s okay if you’re scared, So am I.
But we’re scared for different reasons.
I’m scared of what I won’t become, and you’re scared of what I could become.
Look at me.
I won’t let myself end where I started, I won’t let myself finish where I began.
I know what is within me, Even if you can’t see it yet.
Look me in the eyes.
I have something more important than courage, I have patience.
I will become, what I know I am.
Talent is a gift. Greatness is a choice. Talent can take you to a level of ability that produces good results. But talent by itself will not take you to the elite level. Exceptional performance is the result of an uncommon level of focus and discipline in the pursuit of greatness. Build skill every day and consistently get better. Be coachable. Train and practice Above the Line. Be intentional and on purpose. Complacency is the enemy of exceptional. Grow beyond your talent! Embrace discomfort. Discomfort marks the place where the old way meets the new way. Discomfort indicates that change is about to happen. Push through the pain. If it doesn't challenge you, it will not change you.
I am obviously a huge Seimone Augustus fan -- was incredibly blessed to have coached her. But there is a reason I'm a "fan" of Mone -- she gets it! And she got it at an early age. You can read here a blog post I wrote a few years ago about what made her one of the best to ever player the game.
Yesterday, in Instagram, I saw this post from Seimone and wanted to share it because I thought it was outstanding:
The most common questions I get asked as a professional basketball player is, ‘What drills do you do to get better? How many shots did you take a day? What all did you focus on to be a better player?I HATE BEING ASKED THAT.My answer is the same — I can’t count the number of shots I took, I can’t tell you what drills I did because I used everything from a lawn chair to a bowling ball glove to help with getting better, as well as watched a VHS tape of Pistol Pete until it didn’t work anymore.An still when you reach what you think is your goal or dream, people will still DOUBT YOU and will be UNCERTAIN of your success at the next level.HINT: Steph Curry in the photo below.But all you can do is KEEP WORKING, BELIEVE in yourself, STAY FOCUSED and let the universe take you an amazing ride!
Another great passage from Coach Urban Meyer's book "Above the Line." We read this one to our team last week. As players, you all want more playing time, more opportunity, but what are you doing to maximize that opportunity when it arises. This is a great story:
The outcome is that you are prepared to make the play when your number is called. There is no better example than Kenny Guiton. In 2012, Kenny was a junior backup to quarterback Braxton Miller. Throughout all of our practices that fall, Kenny was the most mentally and physically engaged player on our team. When Braxton was running players, Kenny was 10 yards directly behind him, make the same reads and checks, executing the play mentally. Then, when the ball was snapped to Braxton, Kenny would perform the correct motions just as if he were taking the life rep. That was our culture at work. He was preparing in case his number would be called. That October, Kenny's number was called. We were down against Purdue by 8. On the last play of the third quarter, Braxton went down and was injured for the rest of the game. Kenny game in. It was the final drive of the game and down by 8 points with 60 yards to go, forty seconds left on the clock, and no timeouts left. He led the offense down the field, and threw the game-tying touchdown pass to receiver Chris Fields with only three seconds left in regulation. On the very next play, Kenny tied the scored on a perfectly executed pass play to tight end Jeff Heuerman for the 2-point conversion. After taking the game into overtime, running back Carlos Hyde dived over the line for the game-winning score. We won that game and kept our undefeated season intact because Kenny Guiton fully embraced our culture of competitive excellence. Our third core believe is power of the unit, and it means that our players have an uncommon commitment to each other and to the work necessary to achieve our purpose. People see the remarkable performances of these players on Saturday, but they do not see the tireless work that those players and their unit leaders put into training and preparing to compete. And they did the work not knowing when, or even if, their numbers would be called.
