Practice Succeeding
It's sort of weird blogging about my son's journey through high school sports, but honestly, this is is more about MY journey. I want it to be about how amazing the journey is and how good of a parent and partner I am on this journey. But I'm going to be honest, I'm going to f*** this up. We all know this. I am going to push when I'm supposed to pull. I'm going to rage when I'm supposed to stay calm. There are a million things that I could do wrong here, and THAT is why I'm documenting this. Maybe I will catch myself doing it and we can course correct? I plan for mistakes, because I know they will be made. I know that when I make them; they are at full speed and stuff gets ugly. But I have tried hard...really hard, to treat mistakes as opportunities for growth. So, here I go.
Here's my Al Bundy moment (or at least the first one): I was an exceptional athlete. I played 3 sports in high school and tried to play college baseball, but found out early on that I was a coach, not a player. As an athlete, I had speed, quickness, a high motor, and was competitive to a fault. I made players around me better. I had teammates that wanted to play with me, wanted to go into battle with me. I was mean. I got into fights with opposing players and even teammates. Every button I could push to make us better and them not so good, I pushed.
Jakob is different. He's far more talented than I was. He's bigger than I was;
Going into his Freshman year, 2 weeks into the summer football program, he is 5'10"+ and weighs 160 lbs. When I started the summer program coming out of 8th grade, I was 5'8" and 125 lbs. That's it.
He's long. I was never long. I was a brick sh*t house with a head as heavy, hard, and sturdy as a cinder block.
He flows when he's running. I just had a high rate of turnover. Don't get me wrong, I was fast...FAST fast. I was fast in pads. I was fast dribbling a basketball. You could not throw me out stealing (it only happened one time in high school...once). I SWAM fast. This boy literally turns out the light switch and is in bed before it gets dark. The further the race, the more he beats you.
Enough comparing him to me, because that is one of the things that I do all the time and it doesn't help. Just let it be known that he is a better athlete now than I ever was.
I have coached Jake in every sport he's played, except for soccer. His mother handled that job and did it well. I'm a big believer in letting the professionals do their job. I have tried to instill in him some simple ideals.
Love the sport and it will love you back.
Love practice and go hard - you want the games to be the day off.
Be a great teammate.
Lead in your way, they are all waiting to follow you.
Make sure they have to play you.
If they happen to beat you, go shake their hand.
If you happen to beat them, do the exact same thing.
Here's the one we're working on right now: Know that you can win every match up. You've done it time and time again. In the moment, remember success. Practice succeeding.
Right now he's going through, for the first time in his athletic life, when there is time to get better, stronger, and faster, but now it's on your own. There is no one watching, pushing you. Those times are coming and coming fast, but right now he has to do stuff on his own. One of the coaches told him he needs stronger hand and forearms; he is gripping every day. He has found out what a jump rope is; the ultimate performance enhancer and individual tool. He runs by himself. When he started this program I told him, I'm not going to be there coaching or pushing you. This is on YOU. There is no “I'm talking to the coaches regularly.” His work and hustle do all the talking.
I'm going through the same thing right alongside him. I have to let him do it on his own. I no longer have to hold him accountable - he has to be accountable to himself first and in turn his teammates. I am not putting together a development plan of where he needs to be August 1 or August 21. I don't have any film to watch. No practice plan to make. It's hard. MUCH harder than I thought and I've already made mistakes, but I'm learning.
