Slowing Down to Speed Up
October 30, 2008
Jerome Green
Slowing down to speed up is one of the most important steps in getting better at anything. The principle of learning is the fuel to the process. To get better at anything you have to be willing to fall down, learn while you are down there, and then get up and try it again. You don’t learn how to make the big foul shot to win the game, until you actually missed the big shot a few times.
Many players today don’t have the patience to undergo the process of learning how to get better. Instant coffee to instant game is what a lot of players are looking for. The players that are more gifted physically can circumvent this process for a while, but even they, in the end, end up fully achieving their full potential.
On a very practical side it looks something like this: you need to learn to keep the ball lower, while also learning how to attack the basket. So what do you do when you play? Do you revert back to your old way, the safe way, or take a chance and start learning how to do it the new way. Players don’t realize that they look bad doing it the old way and look a lot better embracing the new and failing. When you embrace the new, you are demonstrating your ability to learn and grow.
My true luvv with sport has a little to do with the actual activity. My luvv for sport is tied into the process of learning and growth. How many players are really going to the top on the court or field? How many players can go to the top of their chosen profession or pursuit of their ideas?
I watch players in the gym from age 6-18 and each one of them has some part of their game that they hold onto. No matter how many people tell them that it won’t hold up over time, they continue to do it. It becomes far more critical as you enter High School. The changes are so rapid for year to year, that if you are not working on your game, and getting better, someone you were better than a year ago can fly by you.
Slowing down to speed up is about being willing to learn. Learning is a key principle in life. I am currently watching a young player in the Hoop Masters program who came to us a few months ago. He was shy, quiet, and hardly audible. For 2-3 weeks, he would hang with me wherever I went in the gym. I didn’t know if he was going to make it. I gave him my traditional 2-3 weeks that allow new players to acclimate and then I compassionately laid it out for him. I gave him “if you really want this speech”. The speech usually ends up one or two ways. I never see the player again or he comes back more committed and more willing to work. This player chose the latter. Since our talk he has engaged at a higher level. His shyness has decreased and he is in the process of learning. Seeing principle in action always brings a tear to my heart.
There is no better time than now for all of us to learn how to Slow Down to Speed UP.