Youth Training- “What a Champion Looks Like” Series (Part 3 of 8)
The Focus of a Champion: Mastering the Fundamentals
“You can practice shooting eight hours a day, but if your technique is wrong, then all you become is very good at shooting the wrong way. Get the fundamentals down and the level of everything you do will rise.” – Michael Jordan
While visualization allows the mind to see what can be accomplished, practice is what trains the body to accomplish what you envision. You cannot short cut practice.
Researchers have discovered, to become a master of something, you will need to invest approximately 10,000 hours to it. So, let’s do the math for a moment: If you dedicated an hour a day, every day, it would take you 27.4 years to reach the 10,000 hours mark. If you dedicated 2 hours a day, every day, it halves the time to 13.7 years (that’s 14 hours a week). And at 3 hours a day, we bring that time to around 9 years. Which is why students, who have been practicing, traveling and practicing through games and tournaments through their early years, excel in their skill. They’ve just had more time practicing compared to other athletes on the field or court.
But should that be your focus? Practice as much as you can?
If we return to what Michael Jordan explains, it’s not just about any kind of practice. In fact, bad practice can result in exactly what he said, really good at doing it poorly. So it can’t be just focusing on how much practice you get, you need to focus on practicing the fundamentals of your sport. But how do you learn them, keep them, and ingrain them so it becomes natural?
It starts with learning it properly first. Finding a solid coach who knows the fundamentals of your sport. Watching youtube tutorials on different techniques of your sport’s movements. Researching common flaws in your game, and ruling them out for yourself. Having a teammate watch your stride or position and give verbal feedback.
In fact, constant feedback is critical to building movement patterns that are correct. (And with time, become a desired habit.) Using your cell phone to video your movement and then replaying it to see yourself in action is vital. The Coaches Eye app is a great resource to film, watch, correct and film again.
Numbers help too. If your shot completion percentage is 20% and with practice that number improves, you’ll know you’re moving in the right direction. Comparing your percentages with other athletes will help you understand your strengths and weaknesses and know where to improve your game. If your team doesn’t already track stats, you can create your own:
Decide how many shots you’ll take (i.e 100). Pick a date and show up and complete the shots. Tally up your successes and give yourself a completion percentage with the date. Make notes about different things that might have effected your shots. Then practice for a week- no pressure on completion, just work your fundamental positioning, trajectory, etc. After a week, retest to see how things have changed. A week is a fairly short amount of time to see real change, but you can extend that to a month or every couple of months. The key is setting a deadline to retest and working to improve in the between time.
Every sport has its fundamentals. Every position has its role. Your job is to identify your fundamental movements. Practice those movements to excellent form- to virtuosity. And to be the best in your role.
For Michael Jordan, his role was to score. He needed consistency in his lay-up, his jumper, his 3-point shot and his free throw. And so he worked on them, and even took them to the next level, spawning the “Air Jordan” move.
But he didn’t develop his signature move without learning his fundamentals first. So, start there. And practice. Do the math if you want to be considered an expert in your sport and put in the time. It will be well worth it.
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