My friend Andy made the basketball team at Vassar (congrats buddy!) and posts about something we discussed last year when we were co-captains of the varsity basketball team in high school.
Basketball coaches (and most every other coach) often say at the end of a practice, “Ok guys, this was a so-so practice, let’s be sure to have a really good one tomorrow and put in a full 100%.”
Andy hated when coaches said this because he put in 100% and thought the “We need to give more effort” line was hackneyed and ineffective because of overuse. I understood his frustration. He worked harder (100% all the time) than anyone on the team. But for most of us the reality is we do waver from 100% to 95% back to 100% effort.
Yet even if you are one of those people who thinks (or actually is) a 100%, A+ effort 24/7 kind of guy, accepting this reality can be a dangerous psychological mindset.
If you settle for 100% or A+ then you are settling. The crave to improve evaporates. If you feel like you’ve peaked then you’ve lost your “intrapersonal culture of improvement”.
One reason why I like personal development books / blogs / articles so much is they speak to the idea that we can all improve ourselves and our lives. I’m really happy right now, but why could I not be even happier? I think I’m a pretty organized guy, but who says I couldn’t be even more organized?
I think I’m working really hard at practice, but surely there are ways I could work even harder (or smarter).
This introspection and focus on improvement combats the dangerous mindset of accepting the “status quo” which translates into complacency. Like everything, this is a balancing act. I think you need to at once appreciate and celebrate your own hard work, and then strive to build on it.
Sports are the most obvious forum for teamwork and team assessment of effort, results, etc. I think the discussion here may revolve more around how each individual defines a “good” practice. Is a good practice when “you” work hard and put in 100%? Is it when everyone puts in 100%? What does 100% look like?
How someone looks at this question will have a large impact on whether or not they prescribe to the good/bad practice approach. This viewpoint is driven primarily by the position one holds on the team. A player is not required nor expected to observe the entire practice and grade that day’s results. A captain of a team probably has a little more responsibilty for this. But ultimately this is a huge part of the coaches role and therefore becomes part of their communication to the team.
Coach Darren