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Winning At Sports Through Unsociable Practice
by John Sherry on 10th October 2011
How dedicated are you to your sports?
Do you give up social and party nights to be prepared for an important match?
Are you regularly on the treadmill before everyone else has got up or after they have gone home?
And when practice is done do you decide to stay on and put in another half hour anyway?
A tough call but one worth making perhaps?
Well, yes. It seems that this is indeed a decision successful sports stars DO make and, more crucially, continue to make sometimes for years. It’s what marks them out for potential champion status.
It also guarantees (if anything can) that they will draw out of themselves their very best abilities and results.
Witness swimmer Adrian Moorhouse.
When he finally captured Olympic gold in the 100m Breaststroke at the 1988 Seoul Olympics, he immediately noted that he didn’t win the race on the day or in the heats, but in the 12 years in a row he got out of bed at 5am, whatever the weather or his mood that morning, to train in the pool. Just for one dream day that might come to pass.
It did. His efforts paid off.
He had put in unsociable practice and was now reaping the rewards.
Here’s another famous example.
Today we know the legend that is David Beckham, England’s foremost football star of the last decade and world soccer icon, not to mention elite global brand.
This is no fluke because that profile was forged on the practice pitches many years before and not just on raw ability.
As a junior at the Manchester United football academy he would often be first in to training and would stay behind with a bag of balls to practice taking corners and pretend free kicks working on bending and controlling the ball. It was what helped catapult him into his senior debut at the tender age of 17 and within two years he was scoring in the Champions League for the Red Devils.
He became famous for his ball mastery on and off the pitch even having a worldwide hit film, ‘Bend It Like Beckham’, named after the skills developed from those early dedications.
But where did it all begin again?
Yes, the unsociable practice hours at times and in ways others would shirk at. The honing of talent through working when other sports talent thinks it’s done enough.
Maybe, then, that should be your activity too!
Finding that bit extra to elevate your abilities by giving a little extra that others are not.
Be creative about this. As well as obviously practicing before and after normal sessions try to think of slightly different ways to train.
For example if you are a football player go to the park and try and bend shots around trees or if you’re a golfer attempt blind shots onto a green and then put various obstacles in your own way and look to move the ball round them and near to the pin.
Rocky Balboa used to punch meat in the freezer room early in the morning proving it’s not all about boxing and sparring in the ring.
Where can you do it different and when you can you do it when most have given up? What unique ways can you train more to gain more? How can you be unsociably improved at sports?
Put in the unsociable hours because it’s the extra mile, the road less travelled, the hardest climb to the peak, that most won’t or don’t do. And those that do tend to succeed at a much higher level.
Do you put in the unsociable hours? Why do you do it? What difference is it making? Or do you think that it’s a step too far? Tell me your thoughts.
So many reasons to go beyond fatigue and desires to chill out for a moment. it’s not easy to make the daily and consistent efforts beyond what is called for, but it is the only way to go beyond and achieve the level one dreams of and aspires towards. Not easy, but if the desire is strong enough, one doesn’t need ‘easy.’
Yes Aileen, two words, two inner qualities, that make champions of peope; desire and will. When they are strong good results tend to show up sooner or later.
Hi John,
My daughter Kristy would go to basketball practice 15 minutes early and stay 15 minutes longer. It’s what allowed her to stay up with her teammates. Without a right hand she found a way to help keep her in the game. After two years of playing in college, she just couldn’t keep up due to her physical challenge. Most people would have never thought she could do what she did. She’s still a maniac in the gym doing cross fit with a special hook for pull-ups. Crazy, eh?
What an amazing daughter and person you have Tess – she is an inspiration. She’s turned this on its head. Her iron determination to keep up meant she put in the extra dedication. She will go far, she IS going far already. She shows that it’s up to us what’s possible not any circumstances we may face. She is going to teach others much I feel.
A wonderful post John!
Granted, it’s not easy to stay an extra 3 hours at the sports centre, and let entire social circles fade away, all for the sake of a little extra practice.
But then it’s not easy to become a world champion.
Choose your goal, then go for it
Yes Stuart but you can pick up a social life for years when the hard work and sports champion building is done. There’s choices and there’s priorities to sports stars!
Hi John,
“Unsociable Practice” is a great way to look at it. The great artists, musicians and athletes all experience this monastic drive. Our Authentic Self intuitively senses that there is a greater purpose than what the world voice is offering. It is important to endure no matter how awkward it may feel at first. Success comes to those who are considerate to our Authentic Selves first, even when that means being inconsiderate to social mores.
The unsocialite champion in sport knows the party is at the end when the medal or the prize is in their hand, Rob. Till that point they need to unfold their gold through dedicated, unrelenting effort, and that begins when everyone elses has often stopped. But I can see you know that. Appreciate your unique input Rob.
i go to the gym regularly and it happened many times that i missed important events just not to miss exercising
i am happy am dedicated to it and it pays off
Excellent Farouk, like your dedication to your own physical well being. You put health before financial wealth, perhaps others may follow suit.
I have left competitive sports a long time ago. But recently, I started competing against myself again. I want to be fitter and stronger again. So I started a routine of running 5km everyday. Most days, I am up running at 4.30-5am in the morning. No one is there at the park where I run. Sometimes, a group of youngsters would be there from the previous night. They have wilded their time away. I was contrasting my own health development efforts compared to their aimless wander.
I also know of great footballers from South America starting their unsociable behaviours on the beaches as well as the back streets of the cities. These areas are where stars are born.
Great story Jimmy, appreciate your sharing. Those who unsocialise to be able to practice or be more dedicated in their training do tend to unlock another greater desire and performance within them. It’s as if they’ve put a key in a golden door. And you don’t need to be a pro sports star to experience it. Good luck on the roads Jimmy!