Fall ball is coming to an end and we are less than 4 months away from the start of the 2017 spring season. There is no substitute for work, effort, drilling, training…whatever you want to call it…it comes down to one word…PREPARATION. What are you doing to be prepared for your season? You can break lacrosse drilling down to 2 basic areas – Movement and Stick Work. If you’re in shape and are comfortable in your right and left hands, in most cases, your coach will find a role for you. On the other hand, if you’re out of shape and you’re not comfortable with your stick, you don’t have a chance. Without those basic, big-picture skills, nothing else matters. It doesn’t matter what offensive and defensive schemes your coaches implement – your weaknesses will weigh you down and anchor you to the bench. The secret to being a world-class athlete is that those men and women are willing to sacrifice everything to be as prepared as humanly possible with the chance of their best not being good enough. That’s a rare mentality. That’s exactly what separates the good from the greats. When you prepare with that philosophical mentality you will always get an opportunity and then you will be as ready as you possibly can be. Your best may or may not be good enough for the men and/or women making the final decisions but you will have peace of mind knowing you did everything within your control to compete at your highest levels.
Kids get overwhelmed in their preparation because they focus on results – will I make the team? will I start? How many goalies are trying out? How many midfielders are they keeping? All legit questions but are meaningless for an athlete to spend anytime dwelling on. Your job as an athlete is to focus on your process – fitness level, stick work, body weight, strength, speed, attitude towards teammates, perseverance…etc. Coaches make decisions. Athletes compete. Make sure you’re ready to compete. Don’t look back and your lack of preparation is the reason as to why you didn’t reach the level you wanted to. Sports are not about what you want but what you’re willing to do to accomplish that want.
Follow our weekly challenges to help keep you focused on your process. Nothing is going to happen over night. Your goal is to make progress through your process little by little everyday. We will post our weekly challenges every Sunday on our social media.
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