I had a nice high school athletic career, but it was by no means perfect.  It could have been better if I could go back in time and tell my younger self all the things “not to do” and what “to do”. 

Maybe that is why you see so many parents getting way too invested in their childs’ sports.  Because they know what they didn’t do in high school and were a “so-so” athlete.  They see you going down the same path and want you to do better.

Of course some of them cross a line and make idiots out of themselves.  But that isn’t what this post is about.

Here are some of the things I should have done differently and might have had more success as a high school athlete:

  • Putting in just a little extra time on my sport.  Parents my age talk about when we were younger we played all the time with our friends.  We played pickup games all the time.  We did a lot more than this generation in that regard.  Which is true, but by no means did I do this all the time.  I probably spent more time lying around then running around.  Instead of ipads, we had comic books.  Or we would go to the pool…and lie around.  If I could have focused just one hour a day on dribbling, shooting, hitting off the tee, etc. maybe that would have spurred me on to go longer sometimes when I was really bored at home.  Going to practice is the bare minimum.  What else are you doing outside of “team required meetings” to make you a better athlete.

  • I should have been more dialed in on the weight training.  When I was in high school, lifting weights with the team wasn’t a big deal unless you were playing football.  Even then, it wasn’t as intense as it is today.  I did get into weights for a couple months my senior year, but I was pretty much on my own.  The surfer dude trainer I had eventually told me I was good to go and I did the same workout every time I was in there.  I was very skinny in high school.  If I had a better idea how to lift weights and was put on a solid program, I could have been a little bigger and stronger for my sports.  This would have definitely made me FASTER as well.  Who knows how much better I could have done at that point.

  • Figuring out what to eat.  Along the lines of lifting, if I was going to gain weight I needed to eat more/better/etc.  My mom (who I know will be reading this) did as good a job if not better than most parents about what to eat and what not to eat.  But, if I had really figured out how nutrition could have helped my performance I might have been a little better with it.

  • Understanding what the pains in my body mean.  I’ve had some pretty horrific injuries later in life.  One can’t begin to think that it started with what I did as an athlete.  Instead of ignoring pains, you need to seek out experts and figure out why you have those pains.  Not just “rest it for 2 weeks and see how it feels then.”  Tendonitis for example is caused by overuse and/or imbalances.  If you are getting those, you need to really examine where your imbalances are occurring and fix them.  Otherwise, you will be potentially looking at big surgeries several decades removed from your playing days because of what those injuries eventually will manifest into.

  • I wish someone could have explained our modern concepts of recovery to my old coaches.  The more I learn about recovery the more I look back on my high school career and thought how much better I could have been if I knew about proper recovery.  How much sleep to get.  Not going 100% in each and every practice (which is controlled by the coach NOT the athlete).  Having a complete day off in-season.  How to control time management for the athletes and their sports.  All these I feel would have led to a better high school athletic career.
  • Finally, eliminate the excuses.  I talk with athletes and everyone has a reason why they didn’t get the success they want.  But, a lot of those reasons, nay excuses, are external.  If you truly did all you could to make yourself the best athlete possible – did the training in down time, the lifting, worked on your game when you weren’t told to – then maybe some of those external influences of excuses get reduced.  If you say that kid was just faster.  Yes, that kid might have been faster, but did you do all you REALLY could to improve your speed.  If you had, maybe you would have been faster.