Practice is where you hone skills and improve mentally as well as physically for competition.\u00a0 Duh, right?\u00a0 Who doesn’t know that?\u00a0 Well, what’s missing in the process for young student-athletes is\u00a0a clear understanding of how to approach daily practices.\u00a0 It’s not the repetition that counts, though.\u00a0 That may sound offbeat, but in truth, lackluster effort in practice shows up at game time.\u00a0 It’s the striving for perfection before, during and after training, which pushes\u00a0athletes to be better and faster than expected.<\/p>\n
Why are some high school teams great year in and year out?\u00a0 It’s because coaches focus on the little things at practice, which makes them perform at their best during competition. \u00a0A particular step here, a specific movement there, anticipation versus reaction — all these play an integral\u00a0role in winning formulas.<\/p>\n
And\u00a0the best coaches know that it happens one athlete at a time.\u00a0 Coaching staffs\u00a0that stop practices to hammer home the nuances of a play\u00a0or a throw or a strategy are the staffs which continually groom their kids and watch them grind their way toward excellence.\u00a0 Athletes who are lucky enough to be part of these type of programs learn that just being at practice isn’t enough.\u00a0 They learn that practice is where genuine improvement happens but real change is done in addition to practice.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
But, not every athlete has a coach that cares about the little things or pushes them to pay attention to detail.\u00a0 Some coaches out there aren’t detail oriented and because of that athletes fall short. \u00a0Coaches that don’t care about the little things miss the opportunities to develop each\u00a0athlete to his or her full potential.<\/p>\n
However, athletes dedicated to reaching the college level can still motivate themselves to\u00a0achieve success. In these less-than-ideal scenarios, it’s\u00a0easy to get discouraged and lay down.\u00a0\u00a0Character, work ethic, and personal drive\u00a0have to take over.<\/p>\n
Regardless of the circumstances, there\u00a0are practice fundamentals all\u00a0high school athletes, who genuinely want to\u00a0play college sports, should adhere to every day.\u00a0 Here they are<\/p>\n
Several minutes before taking the field, court or track, turn off the distractions in your head and set goals.\u00a0 Minor goals are fine.\u00a0 Quicker first step.\u00a0 Better follow through.\u00a0 Perfect technique.\u00a0 Strive to perfect that one deficiency which has held you back.<\/p>\n
Proper preparation requires ample time to get set for practice. Don’t lollygag. Get to the locker room ASAP.\u00a0 And, then get to the practice area\u00a0right away.\u00a0\u00a0Being there early will help you to achieve #1 consistently.<\/p>\n
When you step foot onto the practice surface, determine that it’s time to get to work.\u00a0 No interferences allowed. Today is the day you will get better, not just go through the motions. Know that today, this practice, you are competing with thousands of other hard-working athletes for the\u00a0college roster spot you want. So, take training seriously. Get 1% better at every practice or training session.<\/p>\n
Injuries happen, but some can be avoided, in most cases\u00a0by correctly warming up\u00a0before practice. Resist the temptation\u00a0to mess around\u00a0with teammates who aren’t as focused as you are.\u00a0 That’s when unnecessary injuries occur.\u00a0\u00a0Hit the floor, grass, court or track and stretch everything, head to toe. Also, during warm-ups is\u00a0the ideal time to think about your practice plan.<\/p>\n
To\u00a0get better, you have to love practicing. Recognize its\u00a0valuable to you and your teammates.\u00a0 Vow to make the most\u00a0of every minute.\u00a0 Push yourself and others will follow.\u00a0 Push yourself consistently, and you will become a leader.<\/p>\n
What do excellent students in the classroom do?\u00a0 They ask questions. Practice is your classroom. Be smart. Ask questions. Listen. Repeat the advice over and over. Ask for feedback. Then, when you have it right, repeat, repeat, repeat. That’s how you reach perfection.<\/p>\n
Be mentally tough<\/a> in practice, from start to finish. If you are mentally tough at practice, it will show up in your performance when it counts. As fatigue creeps in during practice, recognize it and fight it off. It’s your enemy. Although you may be physically worn down, your ability to mentally push through and beyond fatigue will show up for you when times get tough in competition. And, you can confidently look across at your opponent and know that you have more in reserve than he or she does. That confidence will give you a huge advantage.<\/p>\n After every practice or training session, take note of what you worked on and what you got better at today. You could and probably should take note of the things you need to improve on as well. Once you’ve recapped everything, you did think about how you are going to improve next time? What drills are you going to do to improve the skills? Writing these things down, recording them helps you to focus on the little steps forward you want to take. It allows you to see your progress every day and that is a valuable tool to\u00a0possess.<\/p>\n Practice is where you hone skills and improve mentally as well as physically for competition.\u00a0 Duh, right?\u00a0 Who doesn’t know that?\u00a0 Well, what’s missing in the process for young student-athletes is\u00a0a clear understanding of how to approach daily practices.\u00a0 It’s not the repetition that counts, though.\u00a0 That may sound offbeat, but in truth, lackluster effort … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29,"featured_media":14831,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nsr-inc.com\/scouting-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1124"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nsr-inc.com\/scouting-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nsr-inc.com\/scouting-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsr-inc.com\/scouting-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/29"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsr-inc.com\/scouting-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1124"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsr-inc.com\/scouting-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1124\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14832,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsr-inc.com\/scouting-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1124\/revisions\/14832"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsr-inc.com\/scouting-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14831"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nsr-inc.com\/scouting-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1124"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsr-inc.com\/scouting-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1124"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsr-inc.com\/scouting-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1124"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Recap<\/strong><\/h2>\n