Consistency...

Every time before any season is about to start - high school, middle school or rec, I get hundreds of emails, txts and phone calls asking for a few training sessions before the season "because my daughter or son want to make the team this year..."

I always say no, first off all because I'm normally completely booked, secondly because if I said yes I'd be ripping the parents off, which I'm not ok with.

In order to create a long lasting success in sports as well as in life we need time, a lot of it. While a couple of sessions before the season can increase players confidence for a few days, it won't improve their overall skill, with that said will be useless in creating a long lasting success -  fasting for a week will make you loose 15 pounds, but it will not change your eating habits and you'll gain the 15 pounds right back.

One of my goals as a coach is to teach the kids how to implement what they learn on the court into their lifes, how to become successful directly as well as indirectly through sports.

Playing sports as a child is not only important from the physical aspect, but most importantly sports teach us all the soft skills we need to be successful in life:

1. Communication
2. Courtesy
3. Flexibility
4. Integrity
5 . Interpersonal skills
6. Positive attitude
7. Professionalism
8. Responsibility
9. Teamwork
10. Work ethic

All of the above are extremely important, however to me work ethic is the one that can change people's life's! No matter your situation now, you can always make it better by working harder and being more consistent than everybody around you.

Making 200 shots once a week is a waste of time, dribbling once a week for 45 minutes is a waste of time, running once a week for an hour is a waste of time. If you want to create a long lasting success you have to be willing to work on your craft daily. You don't have to make 250 shots every day, 75 is just enough, you don't have to dribble for 45 minutes every day, 5-7 minutes is just enough, 10 minute jog around the neighborhood will prepare you better for long distance running than doing so once a week.

Your daily routines don't have to take hours, you just have to do it.

To conclude, consistency which is a part of work ethic is in my opinion the most important ingredient to creating a long lasting success. One if the easiest little daily consistency exercises can be making your bed as soon as you wake up - try it!