Episode Transcript
[00:00:07] Welcome back to Unleashed Athletics. I'm your host, Brian Bonn. I am so excited for this week's edition. We are talking about the athlete, but parents don't miss out on this one. This one is just as much for you as it is for them.
[00:00:27] As an ad and coach, I have had so many families tell me about their son or their daughter playing on the best clubs or high school teams and they say that they have the it factor, otherwise known as a gamer. I have to tell you that it's hard to believe. It is hard to believe that they must be a student because they played on the best team or they have this it factor that everybody speaks about. Being clear with you, being on the best team doesn't really mean that you're a great player. Now, you might become better because you're playing with great players around you.
[00:01:11] But please don't think because you play on the best club team that have won championships, Super Bowls that that means you must be one of the best players in the state at your age, whatever that might mean. You can't skip the work just because you're on that great team or you come up with a big hit every once in a while. It does not mean that you're one of the best. You have to do the work. If you tell me your son or daughter is a gamer but they don't practice well or they might not look the same as the rest of the kids, I'll tell you to get to work. The best gamers I have seen are not only the ones that are highly skilled and athletic, but when the big moments come, everybody that's there wants that person to have the ball. Whatever sport that might be, whether it's up to bat, being the quarterback, running the football, that big set in a volleyball match, but everybody wants them to touch the ball in that moment.
[00:02:19] That is when you've done the work. They went the extra mile. And that's really important that you hear that not only are they doing it on the court, but they're doing it off the court as well. They dominate because they knew that they looked across the way, they saw their opponent and they knew they were going to beat them.
[00:02:41] That's a next level athlete.
[00:02:43] That's the it factor. It's a gamer mentality.
[00:02:48] It isn't. I don't do the work and I'm just athletically gifted. I personally don't believe in gamers alone. You can't just show up and be successful and when you do, it'll run out on you. It just doesn't exist. The it factor. The it factor is that gamer mentality. It's the fact that you can look across the way. Just like I said a minute ago, you can look across the way and you can see that you put in more work than that person across from you. You are mentally already in a positive space and you are going to win that battle. So with that said, we got to get to work on this. Here are four things that will make you the best athlete in your sport that you love. One, metrics matter. Test the things that really matter in your sport.
[00:03:42] If it's baseball, go hit the ball and see how fast it comes off your bat. Go pitch the ball and see how hard you throw the ball that matters. In lacrosse, if your offense go take a shot on goal and see how hard you're putting it on net. If it's football, actually, if it's any sport, you gotta run and you gotta be fast and there's a metric and a distance that you should be working on for that.
[00:04:10] If it's a ten yard dash, be the fastest ten yard distance runner that there is. And if you need to run a 40 or a 60, get really good at that as well. But don't skip the metrics.
[00:04:22] Metrics never lie.
[00:04:25] They never lie. You can talk about stats, you can talk about averages, you can talk about all those different things, but at the end of the day, coaches and parents, metrics never lie. They will always tell you the truth.
[00:04:42] Do the tests that matter in your sport. The second thing you need to do is win in the dark when no one else is practicing or working. Are you?
[00:04:52] While you are working, make sure that you're not only working on the things that you're really great at, but you're also enhancing the things that you still need to work on. I see so many players commit to this is what I do, and I'm just going to do that really well. Be versatile. Show them that you can get better in your areas of weakness. This isn't just for the game that you love so much. This is also for the game of life.
[00:05:21] You will have to get better in areas of weakness. Attack them when no one else is looking.
[00:05:28] The third thing is chop wood, carry water, and really speaks about falling in love with the process. Daily stepping stones will get you to your goal. And if you don't do the stepping stones, the goal you'll never see. So if you want to throw a football 50 yards and you can only throw it 30 right now, you can't just wake up the next morning and think you're going to get to 50 yards. You have to put a plan in place that makes sense to get you from 30 yards to 50 yards. And then you have to fall in love with that process every single day. And then you rinse and repeat again.
[00:06:10] Fall in love with the process so that your goals are achieved. And once you achieve those goals, go even further. Extend your distances, continue to fall in love with the process. What a great habit to have before you step into your college years or your professional years.
[00:06:29] Number four, and probably the most important one that you need to hear today.
[00:06:34] Comparison is the route of destruction.
[00:06:40] Comparison is the thief of joy.
[00:06:44] If you are looking around and saying, I wish I could be more like so and so, why can't I look like so and so? How come I'm not as strong as so and so?
[00:06:57] You are stripping yourself of your joy.
[00:07:01] Don't allow that to happen. Going back to the last goal, set proper goals for yourself. Achieve proper goals for yourself and watch yourself thrive the entire time. But if you're looking to your right and looking to your left and listening to your little man voice on your shoulder, comparison will absolutely steal the joy from the sport that you love.
[00:07:29] So please, please, please, when it comes to comparison, lay off of it. Parents, don't compare them to somebody else on their team. Players, don't get it in your head that you have to be more like that person. Just be yourself, set your goals and be the very best that you can be on a daily basis. So the four things you can do that will make you a better athlete at the sport that you love. One, metrics matter. Test the things that really matter in your sport. Two, when in the dark, when no one else is working or practicing or watching you, what are the things that you're doing that make a difference? Number three, chop wood, carry water, fall in love with the daily process. And then number four, do not let comparison be the thief of joy for you. You be you. You are perfectly made and you will be better every single day if you follow these steps. I am so excited to hear what you have to say about this. This is a hard topic and it's a real topic, but I want you to go do the work.
