Former NFL Running Back, Herschel Walker (pictured
above), is known for his legendary workout routine that he developed as a kid
and used throughout his career. Walker, who attended the University of Georgia,
would complete between 750-1500 push-ups and 3500 sit-ups every day before
college practice even started. His daily discipline is an example of “Mastering
the Boring.” After so many hours and repetitions, he became a master in his
sport.
In
the book, The Talent Code, author Daniel Coyle discusses the belief that it takes 10,000
hours to master a skill. Let's break down those 10,000 hours into years:
If
you have one two-hour practice every day, it takes 5,000 days to reach 10,000
hours.
5,000
days is 13.7 years (13 years and just over 8 months) if you practice 365 days
of the year!
Now,
there are only so many basketball drills a person can do with a time frame of
13 years and 8 months. There will be a
lot of repetitiveness
involved
if you choose to dedicate yourself to intense training.
Any
basketball player that chases greatness and wants to excel will face the
challenge of boredom. Most players get bored if they go to the gym and do the
same drill every day. Most players don’t know that greatness has routine. The
fact is, people don’t get bored. People choose to be bored.
Choosing
an intense level of dedication means choosing to “Master the Boring.” Who will get worn down by the "mundane" repetition, and who
will see the value in the process? Those that love the sport of basketball
absolutely love the process of being in a gym alone and working on their craft.
There are some athletes who want the recognition, rewards, and attention when
playing for a crowd, but are not willing to do the work when no one is
watching.
“Master
the Boring” means taking pride in the simplest of drills and
putting your entire focus on one task until it becomes a habit and then
continuing to practice it to maintain it at that level. “Master the Boring” refers to fundamental skills like making a certain number of
three-pointers, working on form shooting, footwork, doing ball-handling, making
free-throws, and choosing one or a combination of drills to repeat every day.
It’s not flashy or cool to work on these skills, but they
will separate you from the competition and help you and your team win
games.
From
the time I was a senior in high school, I used a 10-minute ball-handling
routine. My focus was to pound the ball as hard as I could throughout different
drills. I wanted to make myself lose the ball. I continued this routine
consistently for the next 12 years of playing basketball (through college and
professionally). At first, it was exciting, and I found myself getting better
pretty quickly with my ball handling. Then, I hit a period where I felt like I
was getting worse with my ball handling. I would begin to think to myself,
"Why am I doing this? Why am I spending time on this?" I continued to
push through this doubtful self-talk and stuck with my routine.
Additionally,
during my career, I found myself wanting to take it easy on days that I was
tired and not wanting to do my drills. I felt alone sometimes because it wasn't
easy to separate myself from the standards that were set at practice. Sometimes
it was easy to think that simply fulfilling the expectations set by my coaches
or team leaders was enough to get better and even be successful. But, falling
into that group mentality wasn’t always going to prepare me for excellence.
I
trained myself to be different in my approach - putting time in alone at the
gym when my teammates chose to spend their free time outside the gym. I learned to talk to myself and convince
myself that I was sticking with it.
Steve
Nash once said, “If I did what everyone else does, then I would be out of a
job.”
Eventually,
I reached a point where my routine became second nature to me. Even after 10+
years, I found myself excited to get to the gym early to go through my ball
handling. I was excited to see how fast I could go and how good I could
get.
Honestly,
the path to "Mastering the Boring" is not a smooth, joyful path the
entire way. There are ups and downs that you will find you have to battle
within yourself. There will be days when you don't feel like it. There will be
days you don’t feel like going to the gym to shoot, or you will tell yourself
"it's too cold, it's rainy, I am sore today, I have a game today, it's my
day off...” This is where successful people separate themselves not only in
basketball, but also in school, work, or really any other life
challenge.
"Master
the Boring" is about developing simple routines and having the ability to
get excited about accomplishing them every day--turning them into habits. Not
all days are fun, but if you can push through this phase, you will reach a
point when the “boring” becomes a part of who you are…and you will never go on
a date again…
Kidding.
Really, if you become a “Master of the Boring”, you will learn what it means to
accomplish greatness.
Questions
to ask yourself:
1. Do you want to choose the path to “Mastering the
Boring”?
2. If
so, what is your daily plan/routine?
3.
Who can you share your plan with? (It can be done alone, but if you share it
with someone else, they can help you along the way and keep you accountable and
motivated.)
Action
Steps:
1. Choose a skill that is important to your position on
the court: ball handling for point guards, shooting for wing players, footwork
for post players, or free throws.
2. Determine the amount of time or the amount of reps you
will do for that drill.
3. Find a teammate to share your routine with so that
they can either participate with you or hold you accountable to your daily
routine.
4. After completing your routine, use positive self-talk
to reinforce your accomplishment: “I just got better,” “I am proud of myself
for doing my routine today,” and, “I just prepared myself for the biggest game
of the year”.
-Robby
Bostain
@RobbyBostain
Blue
Collar Basketball
#MasterTheBoring
