What Work Ethic Means to the High School Student-Athlete

Deciding to Commit is the Tipping Point

To many high school athletes whose desire it is to advance to the college level, work ethic usually relates to how hard they practice and then play their sport, and that estimation is an individual perspective at best.   They hear coaches, parents and fans say, “Work hard!”  They hear it over and over again.  That’s all good, but work ethic for the aspiring student-athlete takes on a deeper meaning.  It is more than what you do at practice and in a game, meet or match.  It’s how you approach your sport before during and after practice which truly defines an athlete’s work ethic. 

An athlete’s mental buy-in is crucial.  Without psychological commitment, making the leap from high school to college athletics is doubtful.  Those that do, win out in the end.  Those that don’t risk seeing their dreams deteriorate into coulda-beens and shoulda-beens. 

There is a point, a tipping point, when young athletes have to decide if they are all in or not.  Will they push aside distractions?  Will they assume responsibility for there own future?  Will they truly commit to achieving what few others will ever have the opportunity to experience?  Will they reach within themselves to discover the will and the dedication necessary? 

Parents and coaches can’t do it for them.  All the encouragement and planning and opening doors won’t force them to redirect their efforts.  And, winning or losing are sideshows to what happens inside an athlete’s heart about moving forward or staying put.  Some have it.  Some don’t.  Some will give it a cursory try.  The special few, however, will want to delve evermore deeply into their beings in an attempt to get there.  They are the athletes whose inner strength emerges and is manifested in the form of uncommon work ethic. 

And, here’s what they will do:    

• Always early.  On time is late to the athlete with a great work ethic, not because they want to be seen as early but because they want desperately to be there.  They cannot wait to get started.  They know that today could be the day which puts them another step closer to realizing their ultimate goal.     
• Pre-practice routine.  A focus on fundamentals is their first thought once they step on the court, field or pitch.  They have a routine which hones their fundamentals to a higher level.   The repetition isn’t boring.  It is today’s challenge to reach perfection.
• Practice approach.  Pushing, pushing, pushing.  An excellent work ethic dictates that the athlete goes at practice harder than anyone else.  They concentrate more on their coaches’ instructions.  They get in what could be described as Practice Zone where the perfect execution of even the most simple drills is always the driving mentality.  
• Post-practice routine.  Athletes that make the mental jump to total commitment understand that there is always something to improve on and which if they work hard enough will make the difference between winning or losing a game, getting a scholarship offer or not.  So, when everyone else walks away, it’s fundamentals one more time.  Another two, five or ten minutes can make that significant difference a reality.
• School work.  Academics must be an integral, daily part of the athlete’s life.  Nightly studying, reviewing the day’s classroom work and preparing for the next day’s assignments are attached to athletics on a straight line, not a dotted one.  So, the athlete with a superior work ethic will designate time to study every day and, yes, even sacrificing other things on the weekends to make the good grades that will inevitably draw attention from college  coaches.