Application Activation

Humans possess the knowledge to improve almost any situation.

We know how to eat proper nutrition.

We know how to learn hard things.

We know how to build great relationships.

Obviously knowledge is not the problem, however, the gap between knowledge and applied knowledge is where the problem lies.

This conundrum also effects high school athletes, who despite being more skilled and knowledgeable than ever before, often lack the ability to apply their skills and know-how when it matters most.

As a District Athletic Director for more than a decade, I see many students who have greater expertise than some coaches.

All the training, camps, clinics and high level competition has created extremely knowledgeable athletes.

Yet, the gap remains. So many athletes struggle to make a major impact despite having all the skills and talent they could possibly want.

Failure to apply knowledge is an age-old problem. However, just like everything else, we do possess the tools to overcome this issue.

What follows are tools to help high school athletes apply their skills to achieve greater results.

Apply in Your Time

Application starts with actively inserting our knowledge into our daily doings.

One sure fire way to accomplish this is for athletes to schedule specific times to address deficiencies and add anything they are working to improve into their daily calendar.

Calendar Cheat Code

One look at someone’s calendar will quickly tell you what is important to them.

While most high school athletes do not use calendars, they should at least plan several times throughout the week when they can address specific issues that are holding them back.

This may be strength and conditioning, shooting/ball-handling, or even mental training (Checkout our weekly Mindset Masterclass).

Scheduling specific time to address issues or sharpen skills is the first step to application activation.

Apply in Your Mind

As with everything we do, we aim to align our mind before we align our grind. This is because all change starts in the mind.

High school athletes do not quickly adapt to mindset training such as meditation and visualization.

This is likely because for the majority of their lives, someone has been thinking for them.

Still, our goal is to get high schoolers out of growth mode (naturally occurring growth) and into go mode (actively occurring growth).

The word go implies accerleration as with driving a vehicle. Just as young adults recieve the keys to the car at the age of 16, it is also around this time when they are recieving the proverbial keys to life.

As parents, we want to see our kids begin to take control and make decisions for themselves, driving themselves towards a bright future.

Consequently, high school athletes need to begin to practice positive thought patterns which will direct them on their journey towards success.

Now, how does this relate to applying skills?

Simply put, student-athletes need to think about the problems they are facing.

Myron Golden says: ‘Thinking is the hardest job most people never do.’

This is because it is much easier to react and do something rather than think through an issue.

When we are stumped on a test, it is much easier to guess rather than think through the problem.

When we have been wronged, it is much easier to react in anger than think through the emotions we are facing.

We all understand that thinking through an issue often produces a better result.

Student-athletes should aim to develop a daily habit of 5-10 minutes of Think Time.

During this time, athletes are encouraged to think through any issue they are facing.

Perhaps they are having a problem with turnovers, shooting, or not recognizing what the Coach wants.

Simply thinking through these issues will cause them to understand the issue more fully and come up with a game plan to address it.

Our mind is our MOST powerful muscle.

Thinking is the hardest job most people never do.

Myron Golden

Apply in Your Grind

Behavioral change always begins in the mind and ends in the grind aka taking action.

Once we have established consistent and positive thinking patterns surrounding applying our skills, we must apply these actions to our every day doings.

To do this we must go from adopting a new mindset to adopting a new grindset.

A grindset is a standardized process of going about our normal work.

Successful professionals have a grindset.

Whether it’s a pro player getting ready for a workout or professional accountant getting ready for the workday; they each have specific things they do to prepare and prime themselves to work at a high level.

Pro athletes prepare their gear, nutrition and may even have certain stretches and drills they do before taking the court.

Professional employees prepare their breakfast, supplies, and may read reports or trending topics before starting the day.

High school athletes should employ similar patterns daily.

Three specific events exist for each high school athlete almost daily: school, practice, and training.

High school athletes must leverage the times before, during or after these three events, to practice their grindset.

Perhaps this is a 15 min run before school to address a cardio issue; or staying for 30 minutes after practice to address a ball-handling issue, or arriving ten minutes early to a training to meditate and address an aggressiveness issue.

Your grindset is your habit of developing proficiency in a core area daily.

No matter what any high school athlete desire’s to apply, focusing on their time, mind and grind when help them to produce desired results when it matters most.

Dr. Jason Parker

Player Performance Specialist

JP3 Training & Performance