5 Ways Sports Translate to School

The following is adapted from The Sport of School, by Christian Buck.

“Why don’t they work that hard in school?”

You may be very familiar with the student-athlete who puts countless hours into their sport to improve their skill, but for some reason won’t put that same effort into their classwork. Parents, coaches, and mentors are searching for answers. How does someone take a relentless drive on the playing field and bring it into the classroom?

The good news is that there is a solution. What if those students viewed school as a sport? Then they could take that same mindset, competitiveness, and work ethic they use on the field and apply it to their studies.

Here are five basic fundamentals in sports that can be translated into school to help improve academic performance. I suggest sharing these with your student.

1. “Show Up”

On the field: Successful athletes show up. Participating in a sport means that athletes must be there for most, if not all, practices as well as games. Excelling at sports, on the other hand, comes down to what they do once they get there. Successful athletes stay engaged by paying attention to the coach, practicing with intent, and being mindful of the objective of each drill.

In the classroom: Successful students go to class — no matter what. Attending each class is essential to improving in school. Once there, it is up to the students to push themselves — pay attention, do homework with intent, and be mindful of the day’s lesson.

2. Set Individual Goals

On the field: Successful athletes have clearly-defined objectives. Even in team sports, individual athletes perform the best over time if they set challenging yet realistic goals to increase motivation, and a quantifiable way of measuring improvement. Those goals might be to start on the varsity team (short term) or play Division I (long term).

In the classroom: Successful students create goals such as earn High Honors (short term) or go to an Ivy League school (long term). By setting goals like these, they can measure on a daily basis whether or not their actions are moving them closer to their goals. The highest performing students focus on the greatest amount of mastery they are capable of achieving.

3. Focus on the Process, Not Results

On the field: Successful athletes (and teams) focus on the task at hand. Athletes improve their performance and lower anxieties by focusing on the next shift, shot, play, or point — living solely in the present. The best athletes and coaches understand that staying in the present will give them the best chance of achieving the results they want.

In the classroom: Successful students stay in the present and focus on the task at hand. Their focus is on the next assignment, as that is the only one that matters. We want students to approach every assignment the same way — giving it everything they’ve got — no matter the previous grade.

4. Daily Intentional Focus to Improve

On the field: Successful athletes practice with daily intentional focus. Every aspect of a practice session is done with purpose, making conscious choices on the field with clear reasons about why they are there or what skill they are trying to improve.

In the classroom: Successful students study and approach each class with clear intentional purpose. They know spending time without spending energy has little value. Understanding this helps them avoid running on autopilot.

5. Control the Controllables

On the field: Successful athletes focus on the things they can control. Bad weather, hostile conditions, poor refs, opponents, and so on, do not distract them from the ultimate goal. Focusing on the uncontrollables increases unwanted negative emotions and distracts them from executing the present tasks.

In the classroom: Successful students do not get distracted by things that are out of their control: teachers, classmates, subjects, and so on. For students to perform at the highest levels, they must stay focused on the things they can control: attitude, effort, and preparation for each assignment.

Make School a Sport

Instead of wondering why student-athletes’ effort in the classroom doesn’t measure up to their effort on the field, let’s get our student-athletes to start treating school like a sport, which is a language they easily understand. Using these five strategies can help them build the bridge between working hard on the field and working hard in the classroom.

For more advice on translating sports to schoolwork, you can find The Sport of School on Amazon.

For ten years, performance consultant, Christian Buck, has worked with college teams from Brown, Harvard, Yale, and Amherst, some of which reached the NCAA Final Four and National Championship. Alumni of Coach Buck’s academic coaching program, The Sport of School Academy, have gone on to elite schools such as Cornell, Dartmouth, Notre Dame, Georgetown, Penn, Columbia, Johns Hopkins, Tufts, Wesleyan, Michigan, Colgate, and many more. Coach Buck is also the author of Thinking Inside the Crease: The Mental Secrets to Becoming a Dominant Lacrosse Goalie. Learn more about Buck and his consulting work at www.ChristianBuck.com or on Twitter @CBuckConsulting.