No Such Thing As A Bad Athlete

No Such Thing as a Bad Athlete

The competition out there is getting tougher and tougher. With young children beginning to specialize earlier and earlier, the bar is being raised ever so slightly each year.

Here is my fundamental belief about all athletes.

 “There is no such thing as a bad athlete. There are some

athletes who mature faster, some athletes that develop faster,

and some athletes that figure it out faster. But given the

chance to properly develop, recruit, and hold muscular

positions in the manner a muscle was intended, any athlete

can improve to a level way beyond his or her expectations or

the expectations of others.”

There are some kids who “just have it.” Some kids just seem to be able to do it all. They seem to have been given a little bit more in their snack packs when they were born. You’ve seen them, the kids who can do anything on the field or court and make it look easy. There are

many reasons for this that scientists are still arguing over. It’s the same as the kids in school, who can just pick up a book, read it once, take the test, and get a perfect score. They’ve been given an extra gift. If your child doesn’t have it, don’t worry. It’s no indication that your child can’t or won’t succeed to high levels in sports. There are no scientific indications that your son or daughter can’t succeed to higher levels. It just may take longer.

I can show you countless number of kids who started out labeled as young “phenoms,” and as time went on, they ended up fizzling out. The reason for this is that some kids mature faster than others, and at an early age, that makes a big difference. Some children advance quicker physiologically than others, giving them the appearance of being gifted. But as time continues on and the other kids begin to mature, the playing field starts becoming more level. When these types of players rest on their laurels, thinking that they are the next Cristiano Ronaldo, their talent levels slowly erode as time goes on. They need to learn the discipline of hard work to continually take their talents to the next level. I’ve seen firsthand young, less-than-average players work their way up to Division I scholarships. They understood that, through endless hard work, they could develop the talent needed for that level of play.

Let’s face it parents, we’ll do some crazy things for our kids. If you really want to help your children become better athletes, help them believe in themselves. This is by far the number one thing you can do to help them. This is more powerful for your children to learn early

than hiring a dozen personal trainers.

To become any type of true athlete, it is going to take hard work. Nothing, but nothing, takes the place of hard work...nothing. Success can be achieved by both proper mental and physical preparation. Most athletes don’t understand what it takes to become a real athlete. Most

athletes think that because they spend an hour or two in the gym working out a halo instantly arises over their heads.

“Real Athletes Do The Things That Other Athletes Don’t

Want To Do”

As helpful as many parents are to their children, there are other parents who push them way too far in practice and in life. Some parents I’ve witnessed refused to feed their children who they thought were not at an acceptable weight to play competitive tennis. Another athlete told to me that, in order to prepare the young tennis player to become more mentally tough, the European parents put him in the closet for up to two days in order to learn to not to show weakness on

the court. Can you believe that? I mean I thought some of the U.S. parents were crazy. Well, I still do, but that’s another story. Locking your child up in a closet or refusing to feed them — my God, what’s wrong with these people?

As I’ve gotten to know numerous professional athletes, it is apparent that some of this parental “passion” can and has left long lasting mental scars on some of these athletes. The last time I looked, a child is still a child, and children continue to require motivation, compassion, discipline, and love. In the immortal words of my dad, Robert T. Conway, Sr., “I’ve never seen a child die from too much love.” I’ll be the first to tell you that I believe in hard work, mental

toughness, and desire, but there is a fine line that can be crossed in attaining those goals with a young athlete. When that line is crossed not from good intention but by being over-bearing or degrading in coaching, pathology can set in, and long-term harm can take place.

There are certain athletes that have internal drives that cannot be coached. They have a passion for excellence fueled by internal psyches that no coach on this earth can answer how to develop. When you have an athlete that is self-motivated and has a “drive” for success, you will have a champion on your hands. If you have to continually prod your young athlete to practice or play, it’s time to look into another sport. They either have “it” deep down inside, or they don’t. If they don’t have it, it’s okay. Just realize that the chance of getting to the very top of the sport is not as good.