There’s ton of advice out there about how to be a role model student-athlete. Many articles promise success as long as you follow their winning formula. HOWEVER, we wanted to list out the Top 10 things that are sure to tank your progress in athletics and sports. Here is our list of the TOP WORST habits/things to do if you want to fail at sports. We have been blessed that none of our students do these things!!
- DON’T COME TO PRACTICE. The worst thing you can do is skip too many practices. Sure, you are super tired today, and your parents are tired of the driving. And it’s raining outside, or it’s too cold, or it’s too hot, and so on and so forth. Regularly skipping practice is probably the absolute worst thing that you can do. It’s one thing if you’re sick, or if you have an emergency, or if you have a conflict, or you’re out of town, but it’s entirely different if you’re just lazy. Some of your teammates drive over an HOUR to come to class! For them, learning is a priority.
- WHEN YOU DO COME CLASS, BE SURE TO COME LATE AND UNPREPARED. Try to skip the warm-up and conditioning part of class. You’re not really learning anything during this part anyways. So it’s not really that important. Plus, you can do that stuff on your own later (although you probably won’t). Gymnasts and Olympians don’t need to be flexible or strong. All of them have been wasting their time all along. You don’t need to be strong or supple to prepare for the most difficult maneuvres.
- DON’T DO ANY EXTRA WORK ON YOUR OWN OUTSIDE OF CLASS. Never watch video/tape or visualize techniques at home. Mental practice is all a farce despite the numerous studies that show otherwise. Don’t exercise or stretch at home on your days off.
- EAT LOTS OF JUNK FOOD. All good athletes are unhealthy.
- DON’T MAKE ANY CHANGES TO YOUR OLD TECHNIQUES. Habits are habits, you can’t change them. So why waste energy trying to fix an old technique?
- NEVER CHEER FOR YOUR FRIENDS; BE COMPETITIVE WITH YOUR TEAMMATES. AND SECRETLY GET MAD WHEN THEY SUCCEED. You won’t look as bad if your teammates mess up even more than you! Remember that their failures equate to your success. 100%
- ALWAYS BE NEGATIVE. Your coaches believe in you, your parents believe in you, and your teammates believe in you. BUT all of them are wrong. You’re not capable of anything, and everything sucks! You’re not even sure why you keep on trying. Your progress is so slow lately. And despite what everyone says, you don’t notice much improvement.
- MAKE SURE TO GOSSIP ABOUT YOUR TEAMMATES & YOUR COACHES. TALK ABOUT EACH OTHER BEHIND EACH OTHER’S BACKS. The best way to make friends, is to talk about other people when they’re not around. Build an environment where nobody trusts each other. Because people always do their best work when everyone is trying to put each other down. You want to make it so that new students don’t have fun and never want to come back to this gym again, and your school/gym shuts down.
- BE SURE YOU NEVER CHOOSE ANY GOOD ROLE MODELS. Never ever wonder: “What would so-and-so do in this situation?….How would they act and what would they say?”
- TAKE CRITICISM PERSONALLY. Teachers and Coaches purposefully go out of their way to criticize you and give you negative feedback just to offend or belittle you. Everyone is trying to knock you down. And it’s only happening to you!