Anybody who does our program always starts off with an individual assessment. We have to see what each athlete is about, what their goals are, and what they need to work on before we can put together the appropriate program.

The assessment is completely separate from our program. Athletes can do our assessment and never see us again. But, if you are going to work with us then the assessment is mandatory.

Lately, I have told all of our coaches that the last thing we discuss with the athlete is one item that I want to be very clear on. I tell them I have one more thing to say to the athlete specifically and I wait until they are looking me in the eye and then I say the following:

“You have to WANT to do this. If you are at all hesitant about committing to any length program, then maybe this isn’t the right time for you. Ultimately, you will hate coming here and you will waste my time and more importantly, your parent’s money.”

I want them and their parents to understand, yes this is a business and we will have a business transaction. But, I do not want them to feel that we are in it for the money. We want to make every athlete better, but if they are being forced to train with us then they are going to be on the short end of the stick.

Let me break it down like this. And I’ve talked about this before, but if someone is being dragged here to train with us, one if not all of the following things will happen:

  • They will do any little thing to delay training – slow coming in, take long water breaks, go the bathroom a lot.
  • They will mope and complain.
  • They will half-a$$ their drills.
  • Will not do anything until they are asked to do something.
  • If we give them drills to do on their own, will skip some or fly through them just to be done.

Bottom line is, we are here to help you get better.  I’m not here to babysit or force you to do something you don’t want to do. I assume that if you are committed to training with us, you realize that we are going to ask you to work hard to give us the best chance possible of making you a better athlete.

If you don’t want to be here, that is absolutely fine. Don’t commit.  You will NOT hurt my feelings. I want to work with athletes that want to be here.  Athletes who we don’t have to continually encourage to run their fastest.

The athletes that do want to be here, we love working with. We have a great contingent of senior athletes that come in and do what is asked of them, thoroughly.

Benton Wilson of Dublin Jerome, Aziza Ayoub of Jonathan Alder, Cannon Riddle of Hilliard Darby, and Jackie Tu of Dublin Coffman are just a few of our seniors that we don’t have to worry at all about if they are giving us 100% effort.

And, no coincidence in this, all these athletes have had success at the absolute highest level!!

We just worry that we are giving them an intense enough workout to match the intensity that they always bring to training. They are a great example for our younger athletes to watch. They show the work you need to do and how to represent yourself in a positive manner.

If you WANT to get better, then find a great coach and take the instruction to heart. Don’t cut corners, don’t dog a drill, give it the same intensity that you would give for game-time situations and I know you will be that much more pleased with the end result.

Photo courtesy of Greg Westfall on Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/imagesbywestfall/