We at Sportsforce would like to congratulate Tyler Kleva on his commitment to Trine University. Here is Tyler’s recruiting story and interview after his commitment. Good luck as a Thunder! 1. Share your recruiting story and status.   Our Mission at SportsForce Baseball: We are on a mission to help our select number of qualified and evaluated players maximize their recruiting offers and make the best college decision. Started by CEO & founder Andrew Beinbrink, SportsForce Baseball is a nationally recognized college recruiting advisory group with over 40 former college coaches, players, and MLB scouts in 10 different states. During the last 11+ years, we’ve helped over 1,000 players make their college commitments. Read below, why we are different from every recruiting group in the country. Why SportsForce is Different: * View our Home Page Video Unlike most recruiting companies, we do not just partner with anyone for our hands-on recruiting programs. Instead, we only partner with qualified players who meet our Five academic, athletic, and coachability selection factors. We evaluate between 10,000-12,000 players each summer and fall at top showcases and selectively advise, and advocate for only a limited number of players each year by directly contacting college coaches to help them maximize recruiting offers. Each of our expert college recruiters is limited to how many players they will advise so there is the best combination of hands-on guidance and personal recruiting outreach to college coaches. Social Media Exposure: We also utilize our growing Twitter following at @SportsForceBB which is followed by over 500 NCAA D1, D2, D3, NAIA, and JC coaches nationwide and growing fast. To Get Evaluated by Our Expert College Recruiting Staff: Option 1: Complete our Recruiting Questionnaire Option 2: Email us at scouting@sportsforceonline.com Options 3: DM us on Instagram @SportsForceBB or Twitter @SportsForceBB and share recent video, stats, or measurables (velocity, 60, exit speed, pop time, etc…) for our scouts to evaluate. Find out if Your Son’s Qualifies for One of Our Hands-On Recruiting Programs? Twitter Recruiting Education & College Needs Posts: We post ongoing recruiting education and post NCAA D1, D2, D3, NAIA, and JC needs year around. Follow us on Twitter @SportsForceBB account and join over 500 hundred NCAA D1, D2, D3, NAIA, and JC coaches nationwide that follow us and growing fast. Tagging us: If you have some good video to share with us, make sure to tag us @SportsForceBB or DM us and we will review it.

We would like to congratulate Kyle Joye on his commitment to Chapman University! Here are Kyle’s recruiting story and interview after his commitment. Good luck as a Panther!   Our Mission at SportsForce Baseball: We are on a mission to help our select number of qualified and evaluated players maximize their recruiting offers and make the best college decision. Started by CEO & founder Andrew Beinbrink, SportsForce Baseball is a nationally recognized college recruiting advisory group with over 40 former college coaches, players, and MLB scouts in 10 different states. During the last 11+ years, we’ve helped over 1,000 players make their college commitments. Read below, why we are different from every recruiting group in the country. Why SportsForce is Different: * View our Home Page Video Unlike most recruiting companies, we do not just partner with anyone for our hands-on recruiting programs. Instead, we only partner with qualified players who meet our Five academic, athletic, and coachability selection factors. We evaluate between 10,000-12,000 players each summer and fall at top showcases and selectively advise, and advocate for only a limited number of players each year by directly contacting college coaches to help them maximize recruiting offers. Each of our expert college recruiters is limited to how many players they will advise so there is the best combination of hands-on guidance and personal recruiting outreach to college coaches. Social Media Exposure: We also utilize our growing Twitter following at @SportsForceBB which is followed by over 500 NCAA D1, D2, D3, NAIA, and JC coaches nationwide and growing fast. To Get Evaluated by Our Expert College Recruiting Staff: Option 1: Complete our Recruiting Questionnaire Option 2: Email us at scouting@sportsforceonline.com Options 3: DM us on Instagram @SportsForceBB or Twitter @SportsForceBB and share recent video, stats, or measurables (velocity, 60, exit speed, pop time, etc…) for our scouts to evaluate. Find out if Your Son’s Qualifies for One of Our Hands-On Recruiting Programs? Twitter Recruiting Education & College Needs Posts: We post ongoing recruiting education and post NCAA D1, D2, D3, NAIA, and JC needs year around. Follow us on Twitter @SportsForceBB account and join over 500 hundred NCAA D1, D2, D3, NAIA, and JC coaches nationwide that follow us and growing fast. Tagging us: If you have some good video to share with us, make sure to tag us @SportsForceBB or DM us and we will review it.

We would like to congratulate Aryan Chordia on his commitment to Carnegie Mellon University! Here is Aryan’s recruiting story and interview after his commitment. Good luck as a Tartan!

The process for us was quite confusing at first as coming from Dubai we were quite unaware of how the process of college golf and college recruitment worked. However, through our initial discussions with Dave on Skype a lot of these doubts were cleared and it was great that we could fly over to the states for the summer to play, meet personally with Dave to further strategize my recruitment process and experience college recruitment first hand.

2. What school are you going to, and why did you choose them?

Carnegie Mellon – Firstly, as they are a top ten Engineering school and academics was my primary focus. Second as they have a great golf team and I connected very well with the coach.

3. How did SportsForce help in the process?

I was personally introduced to several college coaches which was otherwise impossible so it was only thanks to SportsForce that I got noticed. They expertly guided me through the process and how to interact with the coaches.

4. What advice would you give to other players and parents with the recruiting process (ex. start early, get a highlight video)?

Start early and stay relaxed!

5. How excited are you on your future in college?

Can’t wait to begin my college career and compete both in the classroom and on the golf course.

6. Would you recommend SportsForce to any other student-athletes? Why?

Definitely would recommend – SportsForce has extremely professional services and structured plans as well as being excellent at developing strong personal relationships with families and college coaches.

 

Over the last five years SportsForce has helped over 1,000 student-athletes and families successfully navigate the college recruiting and athletic scholarship process while saving families on average $50,000 in college expenses.

We would like to congratulate Austin Mowrey on his commitment to Columbia University! Here is Austin’s recruiting story and interview after his commitment. Good luck as a Lion! A majority of my recruiting began during my sophomore season and the summer before my junior year. I ended up committing in December of my junior year. 2. What school are you going to, and why did you choose them? I committed to Columbia University because it had always been my dream to play at a prestigious academic institution with a successful baseball program. As an Ivy League school, who had dominated in baseball during recent years, Columbia was the fit I was looking for. 3. How did SportsForce help in the process? SportsForce helped my recruiting process by setting up a profile on their website with a recruiting video. They also had several connections to coaches and colleges around the country. 4. What advice would you give to other players and parents with the recruiting process (ex. start early, get a highlight video)? Some advice I would give to parents and players would be to make a recruiting video. This allows coaches to see you early on in high school and evaluate your talent before they see you play. Also, [for baseball] I would recommend attending Perfect Game events and the Arizona Fall Classic. Both of these events have a large variety of scouts. 5. How excited are you on your future in college? I am very excited about my opportunities at Columbia and my future in New York City. 6. Would you recommend SportsForce to any other student-athletes? Why? I would recommend SportsForce to other student-athletes because of the work they do for you. They provide all student athletes with the chance to continue their education and athletic careers.   Our Mission at SportsForce Baseball: We are on a mission to help our select number of qualified and evaluated players maximize their recruiting offers and make the best college decision. Started by CEO & founder Andrew Beinbrink, SportsForce Baseball is a nationally recognized college recruiting advisory group with over 40 former college coaches, players, and MLB scouts in 10 different states. During the last 11+ years, we’ve helped over 1,000 players make their college commitments. Read below, why we are different from every recruiting group in the country. Why SportsForce is Different: * View our Home Page Video Unlike most recruiting companies, we do not just partner with anyone for our hands-on recruiting programs. Instead, we only partner with qualified players who meet our Five academic, athletic, and coachability selection factors. We evaluate between 10,000-12,000 players each summer and fall at top showcases and selectively advise, and advocate for only a limited number of players each year by directly contacting college coaches to help them maximize recruiting offers. Each of our expert college recruiters is limited to how many players they will advise so there is the best combination of hands-on guidance and personal recruiting outreach to college coaches. Social Media Exposure: We also utilize our growing Twitter following at @SportsForceBB which is followed by over 500 NCAA D1, D2, D3, NAIA, and JC coaches nationwide and growing fast. To Get Evaluated by Our Expert College Recruiting Staff: Option 1: Complete our Recruiting Questionnaire Option 2: Email us at scouting@sportsforceonline.com Options 3: DM us on Instagram @SportsForceBB or Twitter @SportsForceBB and share recent video, stats, or measurables (velocity, 60, exit speed, pop time, etc…) for our scouts to evaluate. Find out if Your Son’s Qualifies for One of Our Hands-On Recruiting Programs? Twitter Recruiting Education & College Needs Posts: We post ongoing recruiting education and post NCAA D1, D2, D3, NAIA, and JC needs year around. Follow us on Twitter @SportsForceBB account and join over 500 hundred NCAA D1, D2, D3, NAIA, and JC coaches nationwide that follow us and growing fast. Tagging us: If you have some good video to share with us, make sure to tag us @SportsForceBB or DM us and we will review it.

So you’ve developed your recruiting game plan, effectively marketed yourself to your target schools, and you’re starting to see some responses and interest from college coaching staffs. When you get past the initial emails expressing their mutual interest, the next stage is to get on the phone together. So what are you supposed to say?

In this edition of our college lacrosse education series, we’ll cover some of the things you need to keep in mind when you reach the stage of speaking on the phone or in person with a coach who is actively recruiting you. Like many things in life, relationships are the key to a successful recruitment, and often a phone call is an early step in fostering those relationships with college programs.

Breathe

Yes, there is a physical component to this. We’ve all felt anxiety in new situations…it’s a natural and normal reaction. Just like performing on the lacrosse field, you’ll do better when you can calm your nerves to simply perform. One of the main ways you can control this (on the field and off) is through your breathing. Before the call, do some controlled deep breathing exercises and review the information you’ve gathered on the school, lacrosse program, and coach to whom you are scheduled to speak. If you get hung up during the call and find yourself sucking air, try to take deep breaths with your mouth away from the phone while the coach is speaking.

Be honest/ this is about YOU

Of course you don’t want to lie to a coach on the phone or in person, but what we’re talking about here is providing a coach with YOUR goals and dreams. We’ve all memorized the “right answers” to questions about our game- “it’s about the team”, “I’ll play anywhere you need me”, “I just want to be a good teammate”, but that doesn’t tell a recruiter what you think YOU can bring to their program. If you want to compete for a starting spot as a freshman, say that. If you’re willing to play defensive midfield for a year or two to get the chance to compete for an offensive spot, say that, but it needs to be about what YOU want and what YOU are willing to do to make that happen. You have to realize that your coach and your program aren’t in charge of your progression, so it’s up to YOU to get better and compete for playing time. At the college level, your desire and dedication to reaching your own goals serve as an important indicator to a coach of how well you will play for them and their program, increasing your ability to secure a roster spot or scholarship offer.

Avoid negative statements

There is a difference between saying you prefer a larger university and saying you don’t like small schools. There’s a difference between saying that you’re interested in higher-level academics than something disparaging, even about another school. As a high school student-athlete, it’s likely that you have an idea of what you want, but you really don’t know what will work best for you and your family. The risk you run by going negative is in offending a recruiter. These coaches are proud and dedicated to their schools and programs, so the wrong critical or negative comment can change the complexion of the conversation and end their recruitment of you. Enter each interaction with an open mind, ready to listen to what the coach is trying to tell you about the opportunity they’re offering.

Ask questions

One of the best ways to let a coach know that you’re seriously interested is through thoughtful questions. You want to ask things that can’t be found through a quick google search. Information like majors offered, class sizes, and campus location can all be found quickly and easily. If you want to maximize your time with the coach, you want to ask questions you can’t find online:

1. What would my typical day look like in the fall? In the spring?
2. What type of player do you recruit? How many are you recruiting in my class?
3. Where do you see me fitting in your program? What can I work on to fit better in your program?
4. Does the lacrosse team live together? Is there a Greek system or a “Lacrosse Fraternity”?
5. Is there a prevalent major among the guys on the team?

These are just a few examples, but you want to ensure that you convey to the coach that you have thought about his program and you are interested in learning more from him. That kind of preparation encourages the coaches to engage with you and lets them know they’re not wasting their time with a prospect that is only lukewarm on their school.

Don’t commit to anything you’re not sure of

College coaches are salesmen. They have to be salesmen to attract the best recruits and build their programs. Because they are juggling 75 recruits to commit 15 of them, they sometimes get aggressive in asking for your thoughts on commitment to their school. Don’t let a coach paint you into a corner or solicit an answer you’re not prepared to give. A simple “I would need to discuss that with my family before I give you an answer” will usually suffice. The same applies for pressure to visit the campus – “Thanks coach, and I’ll sit down with my parents to see if that weekend can work for us as well”. The main thing you want to avoid is agreeing to something only to go back on it later, which can create issues in your relationship with that coach.

While we often talk about this college selection process as one of the most important decisions you’ll make in your life, we also must recognize that a coach’s choices affect their families and livelihoods as well, so they take this process very seriously. They want to get to know the real you so they can evaluate your fit in their program, both on the field and off. Your ability to communicate effectively and show genuine interest in their school and lacrosse program can greatly impact the opportunities you get throughout the recruiting process. You certainly don’t have to be polished and have all the answers, but effectively communicating through some nerves shows coaches your maturity and begins to give him an idea of who you are, both as a student-athlete and a young man.

We’re here again with The Realities of College Recruiting Podcast Episode 5. This week’s episode is titled, “Sport Specialization & Commitment.”

Our 5th episode once again features Ryan Thompson (former college baseball player and MLB Scout) and Andrew Beinbrink (Former All-American & MLB Player) discussing the importance of playing mutliple sports and how to minimize the pressure on your student-athlete…

How much time should you dedicate to your sport on an annual basis?
How can student-athletes prevent a “burn out”?
How can you minimize the pressure on your student-athlete?

Find out all of the answers to these questions in this week’s episode!

This podcast episode will also cover:
– The decrease of student-athletes playing multiple sports
– The importance of certain types of exercises and limitation of constant repetition
– How to manage the student-athlete’s dedication to a particular sport, especially at a young age.

Don’t want to miss an episode?

About the Realities of College Recruiting Podcast:
The Realities of College Recruiting podcast, brought to you by SportsForce, will tackle some of the toughest college recruiting questions. Our college recruiting experts will share their personal expertise and key insights that will help you maximize your college recruiting efforts. This is a weekly podcast that is hosted by former MLB scout for the Cleveland Indians, 2x coach of the year (Junior College) and current recruiting advisor for SportsForce, Ryan Thompson The Realities of College Recruiting podcast will bring you interviews with some of the top college coaches from around the country in order to help make your college goals a reality! Raise your game with SportsForce!

We would like to congratulate Tristen Alesi on his commitment to the College of Idaho. Here’s Tristen’s recruiting story and interview after his commitment. Good luck as a Yote!

1. Share your recruiting story and status

The process was pretty easy going. The hardest thing about everything was the waiting game of talking to coaches and seeing if they would reply to you and how long it would take.

2. What school are you going to, and why did you choose them?

I am attending the College of Idaho and I chose them because I like the atmosphere here. The coaches have their head in the right place in changing the program into one of the best NAIA programs in the league.

3. How did SportsForce help in the process?

SportsForce helped me contact lots of colleges in a small amount of time and getting my name out there. Creating my highlight videos and sharing my stats was huge in my recruiting process.

4. What advice would you give to other players and parents with the recruiting process (ex. start early, get a highlight video)?

Start early in the recruiting process. The sooner coaches know your name and you develop a relationship, it puts you in a better place for being recruited and being reached out too.

5. How excited are you for your future in college?

I am very excited for my future in college!

6. How much money do you anticipate your family saving in college expenses because of you being recruited?

I am saving thousands of dollars that otherwise would’ve been spent on college and will not be in debt out of college.

7. Would you recommend SportsForce to any other student-athletes? Why?

Yes, but be aware that the process takes time and since college coaches have restrictions on expressing their direct personal interest in you, you may not have as much personal interaction with a coach right away, but if you trust the process, it will be worth it in the end.

Over the last five years, SportsForce has helped over 1,000 student-athletes and families successfully navigate the college recruiting and athletic scholarship process while saving families on average $50,000 in college expenses.

We’re here again with The Realities of College Recruiting Podcast Episode 4. This week’s episode is titled, “Exposure vs. Being Exposed.”

Our 4th episode once again features Ryan Thompson (former college baseball player and MLB Scout) and Andrew Beinbrink (Former All-American & MLB Player) discussing the factors you have to consider before you go to showcases and tournaments to be exposed.…

Where do you fit from an athletic standpoint?
How do you determine which events are right for you?
What do you need to know before you’re exposed to recruiters?

Find out all of the answers to these questions in this week’s episode!

This podcast episode will also cover:
– how to evaluate which event to attend
– how to qualify a college coaches interest
– what are the key intangible measurables for college coaches

Don’t want to miss an episode?

About the Realities of College Recruiting Podcast:
The Realities of College Recruiting podcast, brought to you by SportsForce, will tackle some of the toughest college recruiting questions. Our college recruiting experts will share their personal expertise and key insights that will help you maximize your college recruiting efforts. This is a weekly podcast that is hosted by former MLB scout for the Cleveland Indians, 2x coach of the year (Junior College) and current recruiting advisor for SportsForce, Ryan Thompson The Realities of College Recruiting podcast will bring you interviews with some of the top college coaches from around the country in order to help make your college goals a reality! Raise your game with SportsForce!

We would like to congratulate Garrett Hastings on his commitment to the University of Kentucky! Here are Garrett’s recruiting story and interview after his commitment. Good luck as a Wildcat! 1. Share your recruiting story and status. It’s a long patient process, I learned a lot of how coaches think and what they are looking for. Even the small things matter because you never know when you have the opportunity to make an impression. 2. What school are you going to, and why did you choose them? University of Kentucky, SEC Baseball & Education 3. How did SportsForce help in the process? Education, more specifically Ryan Thompson. He took the time and made the efforts to walk us thru the process of recruiting and outlined ways that helped me stand out to schools. He taught me about the mental and physical ways that I needed to continue to improve. 4. What advice would you give to other players and parents with the recruiting process? Start earlier than you think, developing a plan for a group of target schools. Try to get on their radar, then keep them updated on your accomplishments and upcoming tournaments. Use your own language and talk to them straight the coaches seem to appreciate that. You definitely want to provide a highlight video long enough to outline/show your strengths and update it over time. 5. How excited are you on your future in college? Very excited, the opportunities for me are endless. 6. How much money do you anticipate your family saving in college expenses because of you being recruited? I will save some money, but travel baseball is expensive so not sure if my parents saved 🙂 7. Would you recommend SportsForce to any other student-athletes? Why? I would, they have an understanding of the process, templates and the data to develop communication for schools across the country and all athletic and educational levels. But be prepared as a family to make an effort to work together and research.   Our Mission at SportsForce Baseball: We are on a mission to help our select number of qualified and evaluated players maximize their recruiting offers and make the best college decision. Started by CEO & founder Andrew Beinbrink, SportsForce Baseball is a nationally recognized college recruiting advisory group with over 40 former college coaches, players, and MLB scouts in 10 different states. During the last 11+ years, we’ve helped over 1,000 players make their college commitments. Read below, why we are different from every recruiting group in the country. Why SportsForce is Different: * View our Home Page Video Unlike most recruiting companies, we do not just partner with anyone for our hands-on recruiting programs. Instead, we only partner with qualified players who meet our Five academic, athletic, and coachability selection factors. We evaluate between 10,000-12,000 players each summer and fall at top showcases and selectively advise, and advocate for only a limited number of players each year by directly contacting college coaches to help them maximize recruiting offers. Each of our expert college recruiters is limited to how many players they will advise so there is the best combination of hands-on guidance and personal recruiting outreach to college coaches. Social Media Exposure: We also utilize our growing Twitter following at @SportsForceBB which is followed by over 500 NCAA D1, D2, D3, NAIA, and JC coaches nationwide and growing fast. To Get Evaluated by Our Expert College Recruiting Staff: Option 1: Complete our Recruiting Questionnaire Option 2: Email us at scouting@sportsforceonline.com Options 3: DM us on Instagram @SportsForceBB or Twitter @SportsForceBB and share recent video, stats, or measurables (velocity, 60, exit speed, pop time, etc…) for our scouts to evaluate. Find out if Your Son’s Qualifies for One of Our Hands-On Recruiting Programs? Twitter Recruiting Education & College Needs Posts: We post ongoing recruiting education and post NCAA D1, D2, D3, NAIA, and JC needs year around. Follow us on Twitter @SportsForceBB account and join over 500 hundred NCAA D1, D2, D3, NAIA, and JC coaches nationwide that follow us and growing fast. Tagging us: If you have some good video to share with us, make sure to tag us @SportsForceBB or DM us and we will review it.

Raw talent and athleticism can dominate a 7/8th-grade lacrosse game, and we’ve all seen that in action. When you get to higher levels, however, the players that are putting in the work to improve their game quickly catch and surpass these “naturally good” players who don’t put as much work in to get better. Players who are building their strength and endurance in the offseason, who never let their stick go untouched in any given week, who show up to practice to train hard, and who take care of their health and nutrition habitually eventually rise to the top.

Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard

We’ve all heard the stories about Michael Jordan being cut from his high school basketball program as a freshman, Steph Curry getting very little interest from college coaches, and Tom Brady being drafted in the NFL’s sixth round, 199^th overall. If they simply accepted these circumstances and believed they just “didn’t have it”, where might they be today? Certainly not among the greatest performers their sports have ever seen.

So here are some things that highly successful athletes do to stay ahead:

1. While the world sleeps, they work

How many times do you catch yourself saying “I just ran out of time today,” making an excuse for why you didn’t go to the gym, or go for a run, or hit the wall for some stick work? I know I have. Well here is your solution… get up early, perhaps 5:00/6:00 am, and get it done first. I promise you all Fortune 500 CEO’s and Olympic athletes don’t sleep in or watch 4+ hours of TV a day, or waste hours on social media.

Think about it, do you want to be someone who reads about other people’s greatness or do you want to be someone that others read about your greatness? You decide. I think you will find that the morning calm before the world wakes up is a magical and spiritual time, and there is no greater feeling in the world than heading off to school, or your work day, knowing that you have already achieved something great… a long run, gym, or yoga class.

2. Their work creates confidence, so when life presents an opportunity, they seize it without hesitation

Opportunity is defined as “a set of circumstances that makes it possible to do something.” I am sure you all are recognizing the big opportunities– invitation to a recruiting camp, showcase, etc. But let’s really break it down and focus on the little opportunities that you may be overlooking that have the greatest impact. The opportunity to hit the gym with your parents or friends, the opportunity to play in a box league, the opportunity to reach out to a local collegiate player to train with them, the opportunity to stay late after practice and help a teammate or yourself work on your dodges, or stick handling, or shooting.

It is these little opportunities that will raise your game immensely. Gen. Colin Powell, former Secretary of State said “If you are going to achieve excellence in big things, you develop the habit in little matters. Excellence is not an exception, it is a prevailing attitude.” What he means by this is that if you are going to succeed on the grander scale you need to first succeed on a smaller scale. Start your day with making your bed. It is a little achievement but it is nonetheless an achievement and a start.

3. They create routines and hold themselves accountable

We all know routine is important, but we can all get a calendar and map out our week and think, wow, I am going to get so much done this week. But what I want you to do is get to the END of your week and say, “Wow, I GOT so much done this week!”

Look back and see how many actions you were able to cross off. This is accountability, and I promise you there is no one in your life that is going to force you to do anything. Your parents are great advocates of yours, along with your friends and teammates, but at the end of the day, the only person that can make you get up and run farther, or faster, or do a third set of squats IS YOU. This is a true testament to how bad do you want to be great? I guarantee all those lacrosse players you are watching on TV seldom had to be told to run harder, run farther, or lift more. They do it because they want to be great!

4. They fill their bodies with proper nutrients and a lot of it

Fuel. Cars need it to run, engines machines need it to run, and we ABSOLUTELY need it to run. But you have to remember that it needs to be the right fuel. If you just went to the gym and worked out hard, then reward yourself with a healthy snack and some hydration. Don’t ruin everything you have achieved in the gym by getting drive through after. That is being counterproductive.

Remember that you are an elite athlete and may look a little different than your non-athlete friends. I am here to tell you that more is OK! You are strong and fit, and your body needs more because you are burning more. So don’t feel bad about finishing your whole sandwich, yogurt, apple and peanut butter, Cliff bar, banana, and huge water. You needed it! Because at the end of the day, if you thrive at the first three–getting up early, seizing the opportunity, and being accountable, then you will never reach your potential if your body cannot keep up. Eat healthy, eat often and hydrate all the time! Be that person in the class that always has a water bottle with them.

5. They get the most out of every practice, drill, scrimmage, and game

You’ve gone to practice thinking about your upcoming math test, you’re tired from yesterday’s game, you don’t like Monday training sessions, you deserve a day off…

Highly successful athletes have bad days too, but they never give a bad effort or let themselves dog it through a drill or practice feeling sorry for themselves or making excuses. We’ve already talked about seizing opportunities, but what if your opportunity comes on a less-than-ideal day for you? Mental fortitude is another trait that is not inborn but learned and trained. It’s an everyday attitude that is built through a consistent level of effort, regardless of the circumstances.

I went to West Point and played for legendary college coach Jack Emmer. One of the many lessons I took from him was that you have to deal with what comes up and power through it if you want to win. He would say, “If we lose, there’s no asterisk next to this game because….” Fill in the blank:

“We had an Army Physical Fitness Test this week” / “It snowed 18 inches on our field” / “The streets outside our facility are flooded” / “You have a 20-page paper due”

I could recite a long list of things I heard from Coach Emmer over my four years at Army, but the lesson it left us with is that you cannot let outside factors affect your mental and physical preparation to meet your opportunities to excel. Try to use the energy from all the frustration or stress to fuel your focus during your training session or event…every thought you entertain that does not feed your success actually hampers it.

Remember, practice doesn’t make perfect…perfect practice makes perfect.

Whether you fall into the “natural talent” category or not, success at the highest levels of anything in life will require your time, effort, and focus. Make yourself better at every opportunity, and enjoy the growth you’ll achieve, knowing that you’re ready for your opportunity when it presents itself. It’s truly just up to you…do you want to think about the excuses you have or the success you want?