How do Athletes get "The EDGE"?

September 03, 2022

Great Teams - Better Leaders - 123. 1 Thought; 2 Quotes; 3 Tweets. Newsletter about Coaching, Leadership, Culture, and Teams.

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ONE THOUGHT...

MY BIKE

(Story from Jeff Janssen's Book, Championship Team Building)

This is a true story about a boy who grew up several years ago in Louisville, Kentucky. The boy’s family was poor and they couldn’t afford much more than the roof over his head. However, the other boys in the neighborhood all had bikes except for the boy. He would try to hang around with his friends but they would go riding off as hard as he tried, he just couldn’t keep up with them.

Knowing that his parents couldn’t afford a bike, the boy decided to work for one himself. He found a job at a grocery store and after about a year’s time, finally saved up enough money to buy his bike. He proudly bought the bike, rode home, and showed it off to all of his friends. It was the proudest day of his life because he had worked hard to earn his bike.

After about a week, the boy woke up one morning and went outside to where he had parked his bike – or thought he had parked his bike. Much to his surprise and shock, it was gone. Frantically, he asked all of his friends, “Have you seen my bike?” Unfortunately, none of them had. The boy was devastated because someone had stolen the bike he worked so hard to achieve.

Well, a few years later, the boy got involved in the sport of boxing. To motivate himself before stepping into the ring, the young man would look menacingly toward his opponent and say to himself, “Hey, that must be the guy who stole my bike!”

And Muhammed Ali ended up being a pretty good boxer in his time.

The above story about Muhammed Ali is all about mindset or the “edge” Ali competed with during his career as one of the best boxers of all time. The greatest competitors always compete with an edge that helps put them over the top. For Muhammed Ali, it was remembering his bike being stolen as a child. He used this as motivation that helped put him in a mental state of mind that would allow him to give his 100% focus to the task at hand.

When athletes can get "locked in" and focused on the task at hand, there is a focus that allows them to compete at a different level. The question with athletes is, HOW do you get to this spot in your sport? This is the mindset challenge of sport and the mindset challenge of coaching.

A personal example: During our 2017 basketball season, we had a team coming back that was very young and inexperienced. We had just graduated a very strong senior class with multiple 3-year starters. We had a 20-win season in 2016, but did not get over the hump to state.

Our guys coming back did not have the highest expectations, but I did. I knew the young kids we had and told people close to me that I thought we would be "sneaky good".

Our 2017 team starting lineup was made up of two freshmen at 5'10" and 6'2", (NOTE: we had never started a freshman in the history of our program), a 5'8" senior PG who was tough as nails, a leader, and a big-time competitor, a 5'9" junior guard who was an elite 3-pt shooter, and our tallest player, a 6'4" skinny athlete who was a great competitor. We called this team the team of "TOOs". We were TOO YOUNG, TOO SMALL, and TOO SKINNY to win. No one gave us a chance to win our section and get to state.

But...we were a team of competitors and ball handlers who could spread the floor and shoot the "3" unlike anything I had seen. As a team, we made 305 3-pt shots during the season, shooting 43.5% from the 3-pt line. Our starters shot 40.5%, 40.9%, 45.7%, 45.9%, and 47% from the 3-pt line. We had guys make it in state and national record books with their shooting.

All season long we played with a "chip". Our chip was the chip of the "TOOs". We won our conference, won our section, and went to state. At state, as luck would have it, we had to play the eventual state champions in the first round; A team made up of two future NBA top 3 picks in Jalen Suggs and Chet Holmgren. Our team of "TOO's" played Minnehaha Academy as tough as anyone, keeping it close at the half, but could not keep up with their talent in the second half.

We found our "EDGE" and our "CHIP" this season. And it led to a great season.

The greatest athletes and teams always find this edge. They find a purpose. They find focus. They find a way. They create a mindset that allows them to compete and win at a high level.

There are many examples of elite professional athletes who have found ways to get that edge. For many, it is a feeling of being slighted in some manner.

Tom Brady's Edge - Was a backup QB on his 0-8 9th grade football team. Was the #7 QB on the depth chart at Michigan. Was 6th round draft pick. He still uses this edge and plays with this to this day.

Michael Jordan's Edge - Cut from his 10th-grade basketball team, Michael Jordan always kept this in the back of his mind. He had to earn everything he got and competed unlike any athlete we have seen.

Aaron Rodger's Edge - A teacher told him he would not amount to anything. That he would never make the NFL. Aaron was also slighted in the NFL draft, being drafted later than he thought. This became his edge.

What is your edge?

How do you create this competitive mindset?

TWO QUOTES...

"Good players will buy-in. Great players are locked in. Championship players are all in." - Tom Crean

"At the end of the day, if what you’re telling them isn't real, it’s not going to help anybody." – Lincoln Riley

THREE TWEETS FROM OTHERS...

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