Overcoming a Plateau as an Athlete

How GREAT do you REALLY want to be?

“Good is the enemy of great. And that is one of the reasons why we have so little that becomes great.” — Jim Collens, Author of “Good to Great”

The other day I had a person reach out to me, an athlete, asking for some advice. They shared with me that at the beginning of their season they were feeling strong with observable daily improvements. However, as the season progressed the once steady improvements hit a plateau and the results remained flat. This has become extremely frustrating and irritating for this athlete. Unfortunately many athletes have experienced this and with great concern. The truth is, the athlete that understands this process and learns how to develop the physical and mental edge, wins this race. The question is, how do you develop the edge and overcome a plateau phase? I’m going to keep it simple…..

Understand the Process

When an athlete reaches this “plateau” stage there is a decision to be made: 1) Quit 2) settle to just be “good” 3) or develop the mental and physical edge to become GREAT.

Think of it as a person trying to lose weight. As they begin their weight loss plan, typically they see drastic and rewarding results relatively quickly. They are “in it to win it”…..so they say! Then two to three months into the program, the results slow down and eventually plateau, and the weight is not shedding as quickly anymore. This is a normal part of the weight loss process but not everyone knows this. At this point there is a decision to be made. Are you good where you are at or do you want to be at your best?

Those that endure this stage are the ones that lose the most weight, look great, and feel like a vibrant new person. Those that get frustrated and irritated either stop working as hard or they make the simple choice to quit. This of course results in regaining all or most of their weight back. If only they understood that this plateau stage is a normal process of losing the weight, perhaps they could have mentally prepared for it and kept pushing on. We see this time and time again. The majority give up too soon…..right before the magic is about to happen.

This is the same for athletes. Athletes will see great strides in their performance early on in their training but as they become better, these improvements slow down and sometimes halt. This is a normal process of improving and becoming your best. Athletes, like any person striving for greatness, go through tremendous improvements, regressions and plateau’s over and over again. It can be grueling for anyone wanting immediate gratification. I mean, who doesn’t want results RIGHT NOW? It’s at this time however, athletes find out for themselves if they just want to be “good” or if they want to be “great!” If you follow the majority, I promise you, you will only be good. I’m hoping for you, you want to be GREAT!

Don’t Become a Complainer

I hear all the time, “I’m working so hard but I am not getting noticed or I am not getting any better.” I ask you, “What are you doing that no one else is doing? If you are sitting around complaining about it, you are probably no different than your teammate who is doing the same thing.” If you want to be respected, admired, and be at your best than you can’t follow the crowd or hang around those that cry about everything. Simple as that! Complainers LOVE other complainers. They go through life blaming everyone else for their circumstances and never get anywhere. If you want to get somewhere and make something of yourself, then act as if you want just that. Your actions must reflect that you want to be a great athlete. I promise you, if you do this you will attact people who want this for you too and help you get there. Watch the documentary “The Secret” if you don’t believe me.

When you start to feel like you’ve hit the plateau, and everyone else drops off, it’s time to dig deeper, stay disciplined, develop ways to adjust your training, and remain mentally tough. It’s not easy!! But it’s not meant to be easy. That’s why so many quit or simply settle to be mediocre. When you embrace this process- the wins, the losses, and the ties….you will outlast and surpass all the others. Be this athlete! Fight through the process.

Your Biggest Improvements Happen in the Off-Season.

One of my greatest basketball mentors used to always say, “you become the best individual player from March to October, and not from October to March. What does this mean?

An athlete should make their biggest strides in their sport in the off season. The actual season is the time to showcase your improvements and learn to work together as a team. For the mediocre athlete, the off season is the time they love taking off to hang with their friends, go to the beaches, and soak up the sun. However, an athlete that wants to be great, uses this time to put in their best work. This is when they see their biggest improvements and begin to get that mental edge because they know they’ve worked harder than everyone else. The thought of their opponent out on a boat, floating around going from one vacation to another gives them great joy because they know when the times comes, they’ve got them beat!

I’m not saying that you have to give up everything but you DO have to sacrifice when most won’t. I also won’t even go to the point of saying you have to join summer leagues, AAU programs, or even hire a personal trainer. Those all have finacial costs tied to them and not all people have that kind of money. If you can, great! Do it! But I warn you.…a lot of these programs still won’t make you a better individual athlete. They are oversaturated and little skill work is done to improve your game. Many of these programs have one or two practices and then you’re off playing a million games. Certainly, learning how to become a “team” member is important BUT if you want to become your best as an individual, it’s putting in the work outside of a “game” or even many times without a coach. What I mean is, you don’t need to travel all over the universe to develop yourself as an athlete. There are a million things you can be doing to make yourself better that doesn’t cost a cent! This leads me to my next point.

Use Your Available Resources Wisely

Youtube and Google — two GREAT resources to learn drills, techniques, and activities you can do to better your game. You don’t need to buy fancy programs or videos to get better. It’s all right there laid out for you. Just click around.

I always loved it when a player came up to me and said “coach, I want to get better at my jump shot, or I want to become quicker but I don’t know what to do.” To me, this was lazy talk. If you really wanted to get better at your jump shot and become quicker, research it. Now days it’s all at the palm of your hands. Certainly coaches are there to develop you to become a better player however, many times you don’t have access to them ALL the time, such as over the summer or out of season. The same drills your coach may show you, are the same drills you can find online (maybe not all, but most). You just simply need to take the time to do your homework. There is really no excuse not to find ways to get better. There is always something you can be researching and working on.

WATCH THE GAME!

If athletes would spend a quarter of their time they spend on their phones watching their sport, they would probably notice ways in which they can improve. As a basketball coach, I would get so excited when their was a big women’s game on TV. I would come into our practice the next day and ask the girls, “Hey, did you see the Uconn/Notre Dame game last night?” The normal response was “oh, I didn’t even know they were playing” or just simply “no.” This is a sad reality that I’m finding with athletes. Kids simply don’t watch the game like they used to. They’re too busy with their head burried in their phones. Unfortunately this is missed opportunities to improve. You don’t get better by starring at your phone texting or snap chatting. If you want to get better you must lift your head and study the sport? This is a must!

Watch the Best!

Might I also add to watch the BEST teams and the BEST athletes at their sport. You are going to learn the most when you learn from the best. For women’s basketball, UCONN has been the best in their sport, hands down! That’s not to say there isn’t other great teams to watch out there. There certainly are and I encourage you to watch them…as much as you can! If you’re a swimmer, watch Michael Phelps or Katie Ledecky. Why? Because they have proven over and over again that they are the best. Watch videos on them. Train like them! You may already know the outcome of every game or every meet you watch but that’s not the point. The point is, you need to study how the best does it…and do it like them!

Gaining the Edge

The edge is developed by doing the few things I mentioned above. It’s not rocket science. It’s working harder and SMARTER than everyone else. It’s not giving excuses when the going gets tough! It’s researching, reading and studying the athletes and teams that are the best in your sport, learning every little detail from them. It’s persistence at its best! It’s sacrificing your time and prioritizing whats most important to you. It’s action and not talk!! It’s not being afraid to be different when all of your friends are hanging out on a Friday night as you head to the gym. These little things will give you that mental edge that your opponents won’t have. When it comes to competing you know you will win because you have worked harder than the rest! It’s deciding yourself that “good really is the enemy of great,” and you don’t plan on just being good. You plan to be GREAT!