jumperathletics

By T.J. Jumper

We have all heard the saying “practice makes perfect.” For Jumper Athletics we don’t necessarily agree with that statement. We believe you can have perfect moments, but consistently being perfect won’t happen. Athletes need to know that to be highly successful mistakes and failures are going to happen. Jumper Athletics believes that purposeful practice leads to excellence. Excellence is attainable. This is the long-range goal if an athlete wants to be one of the best in their sport.  

However, attending practice alone won’t make you better or more successful. Purposeful practice with matched intensity can have a high degree of influence on the level of success an athlete and/or team has. Two of the biggest limits on practices having a successful impact are not having a purposeful plan (long-term and short-term) and not meeting the necessary intensity that is needed for that purpose.

Building a long-term and short-term plan begins with having an accurate reflection of your strengths and weaknesses. Once this is known, a long-term plan (a half to a full year) of how to improve the areas that need to be strengthened can be made. These should be big areas that could be broken down into smaller skills and improvements.  Short-term planning should be what will be worked on over a month or months. This is where the smaller skills and smaller improvements are built on incrementally to reach those bigger themes. This is the idea or philosophy of mastering a skill. An example in the weight room could be that I want to be more powerful in the power clean. The power clean would be broken down into deadlift, shrugs, and front squat. So I would work on those in the short term to improve my power clean in the long run.  

Practice is about developing successful habits on a consistent basis. Practice requires mental toughness because most athletes do not enjoy practicing. They prefer the competitions. But, to be more successful in competitions, it usually results from a high quality of practice.  

Way too many times an athlete just gets through practice. This mindset is the easiest because it requires minimal effort physically. But the mindset that results in the highest gains is one that looks to dominate the practice or do it at the highest possible outcome. Granted, everyone has a bad day or doesn’t feel good. Those are the times to just get through the practice so recovery can be focused. However, this is not something that you want to occur continually or on a regular basis. An athlete should not have a habit of just getting through, because when it comes time for a competition the body will not adapt to the higher intensity. The body acclimatizes to routines. So in a higher intensity game, the body will respond as it does in practices because the body has adapted to that routine. Therefore, just getting through in practice results in more mistakes happening in competitions which directly leads to less success.

If you ever have questions, please reach us at jumperathletics@gmail.com   The next two blogs will focus on in season and out of season training.  The next blog will come out Sunday, February 13, 2022

Reflection

1. What do you want to continue doing and what needs to change related to practice?
2. How will you go about making those changes?
3. What long-term do you want to improve on?  How is what you want to improve broken down into parts?
4. What is your plan to work on those parts sequentially to improve on the long-term?

By T.J. Jumper

*Disclaimer: I was originally going to write about how the language we use with ourselves can  be beneficial or detrimental, but as I started my writing process I continued to be pulled back to how parents (something even myself went through) can become single minded-focused.  Even with the best of attention we as parents can be pulled to the success of competitions and lose track of the big picture purpose as parents of athletes. Therefore, this short blog is about how we have to balance teaching what it takes to be successful (drive, commitment, determination, and mindset X2), giving our kids opportunities, and also preparing them to be successful adults.

As we have stated before in previous blogs, being highly successful in a sport is extremely hard and takes an enormous amount of time. As parents, we want kids to learn to work hard and to understand what it takes to be successful. Then we hope that those lessons learned from athletics carry over to real life as our kids get older.  We spend a lot of time as parents of athletes working with them to be better and pushing them. Many times this consumes us. But there is a fine line of pushing too hard and pushing just enough. It is a delicate tightrope. As parents we have to provide the balance. It is highly important that kids know that a game or practice is not a final product and it is ok to make mistakes as long as they play as hard as they can and learn from their mistakes so they can improve.   

We as parents help create an environment through our words and actions. These words help our sons and daughters know they are more than the sport they play. Their sport (win or lose) should not be their identity or self-worth. There should be more to life. We want to develop well-rounded kids. I first read this idea in a blog from Rachel McCloseky in 2019 (here is a link to that blog). This is going to help kids later on in life mentally/emotionally when the sport is no longer able to be played. It will also help associate what is needed for success in his/her sport and then what it will take to be successful in other parts of their lives as adults. What should ultimately be what we want as parents.

For athletes who are highly motivated to compete at a high level and achieve their goals, being more than their sport can also be achieved as well. As parents and coaches, it is our job to help  them with this. It is important for us to develop that environment of being more than the sport with our children who are athletes that display the drive, commitment, dedication, and mindset X2. This is important because it is so hard to achieve the highest levels of success in a sport without spending a ton of time on improving in that sport, therefore when so much time is spent on the sport it is easy to associate your identity with it. 

If you ever have questions, please reach us at jumperathletics@gmail.com  The next blog will focus on the importance of practice and will be posted on Sunday, January 23, 2022.

By T.J. Jumper

The last several weeks have been focused on four characteristics of high success.  Every successful person I know and every athlete that has won major championships has shown those characteristics.  Not one, two, or three, but all of the characteristics implemented consistently.  Today’s post I am going to expand on Dr. Carol Dweck’s Growth Mindset.

Having a growth mindset is the path to excellence because the focus is on improving until expertise or excellence is developed.  When the focus is not on day-to-day improvement but on just winning or losing, improvement and growth is limited.  In the long run winning will also be limited, as others will be getting better while your growth is slower.

Slow growth and small improvement is the result of not having a growth mindset.  Without a growth mindset, practice isn’t as purposeful and too much focus is on the competition.  With the growth mindset, you are working to get better and master the skills, which allows the athlete to develop and improve habits.  One of the major problems in sports, especially youth sports is the win at all cost mentality.  This goes against the growth mindset and always results in the individual or team not being elite when it matters, which is usually older than 16 years-old.  Picture the team that is great at 10-12 years-old and the parents and players share how great their team is.  The focus is in the wrong place, the focus has to be on getting better at the game. 

You can still play to win. Being internally competitive is typically natural for a person.  During the regular season the focus should be on working to get better.  Once the post-season or the biggest competition arrives, then the focus moves to winning and little focus is on improvement.  Therefore, most of the year is improving to get better which will result in a long term plan and more success.  

So how do I go about implementing a growth mindset? Identify the skill and technique that is needed to be excellent at your sport.  Then determine what it looks like to master each of the skills or techniques.  Then reflect and self-analyze how your current level of skills compares to the master skill level.  Finally make a plan of how you will close the gap between your level and the master skill level or maintain the master skill level.  Then it is about being driven, committed, and determined (implementing all four of the characteristics for high success) to follow that plan.  This is how to self-analyze with a growth mindset that will sustain continued improvement.

So when is the best time to do this level of self-reflection and self-analysis?   The best time is shortly after a season is over.  This should be a wide or big scope.  The most crucial time to improve is in the off-season. It is good to do it after the first couple of competitions.  Once you are into the heart of your season, it is good to have a smaller scope of improvements to work on.  When deciding on the smaller improvements choose just a couple and choose the ones that  can result in the largest gains.  

During the season is when you can reflect after every competition or minimum once a week on the “4-musts”: physical, technical, tactical, social/mental/emotional.  Questions to ask yourself, “Did I play hard the entire game?  Did I lose my cool at all during the game? Did I make the best tactical decisions?  Did I implement some of the technical skills I have been working on?  These are just a few of the reflective questions that you could answer.  Then make short term plans to improve or maintain those areas of the “4 musts.”  These are all lessons learned and will make you a better athlete.

Parents what can you do to help with self-analysis

1.  Facilitate the process of your athlete(s) determining what are the skills/techniques that need to be mastered.  Then move to determining what having mastered that skill/technique looks like.  
2. Then through a conversation, have the athlete self-assess their ability with those skills/technique versus what having mastered them looks like.  Depending on your athlete’s relationship, including  a coach and getting what they think may also be useful.
3. Then as a family make a plan how each of the areas will be worked on.
4. During the season focus on the “4 musts” and have the athlete reflect on those at least once a week and determine how they can get better each game.

Also, in blog post 2, we talked about addressing tough situations.  They are included as they  serve as a good reminder that  connects to this topic.

1.  As a parent remember the training and game is not about you, it’s about the athletes, team, and the progression to be better.  Learned this the hard way when I would get too competitive and emotional at my kids’ games.  Also learned that college coaches also recruit parents, so just cheering for positives during the game.
2. During the ride home, as a parent, wait until the athlete is ready to talk about improvements.  Stick to the positives during the ride home, or just be quiet.  It takes a little bit to come down from the competitive mentality.
3. Make sure your athlete understands they are more than the sport or the game.  The sport is what they do, not who they are.  Winning or losing doesn’t dictate who they are.  There is more to life than just the sport.  Everyone, including professionals, have a life after their career is over or outside of game and practices.  In the future we will have a whole blog post about this topic.
4. When talking or praising the athlete, praise action and not the result.  For instance, “you played so hard.”  Stay away from “you are a good soccer player.”  The improvement process is not a straight line and there are many variables that play into an athlete’s improvement.  One of which is the growth of height and strength.  Also kids learn and improve at different rates.
5. Focus on the process.  The key to continued improvement is getting better technically, understanding  the game, and adjusting to the speed of the game.  Results early do not guarantee the same results as the athlete gets older.  Also, an athlete can improve their process, but you can not improve the result because it is already history once the competition is over.

If you ever have questions, please reach us at jumperathletics@gmail.com  We plan to take a little break from posting blogs because of the winter holidays.  The next blog is titled the “Cost of Accepting Average,” and will be posted on Sunday, January 9, 2022.

Part 3: Determination

By: T.J. Jumper

Part 1 of the 4 part series focused on DRIVE as the foundational characteristic.  Part 2 discussed COMMITMENT.  As a review DRIVE is your “why” and your motivation to be highly successful, whereas COMMITMENT is the work.  The COMMITMENT piece is the difference between levels of success and reaching your goals.  COMMITMENT is the time where you are purposefully working to get better when you are not obligated too.  It is also sometimes making that tough decision that an athlete makes to practice, work on their game, resting, or preparing instead of making a decision that may be more fun.

This post, Part 3 of the foundational characteristics, will focus on DETERMINATION.  DETERMINATION is how bad do you want it and what will you do to get it.  DETERMINATION is an important characteristic to possess for high success because everyone goes through challenges and setbacks.  How you bounce back from the challenges and setbacks will have a huge impact on the level of success.  Therefore, DETERMINATION is the power to overcome and persevere.  

High success is being consistently excellent.  Every athlete deals with setbacks and distractions that may take away from their ability to reach excellence or be consistently at that level.  These range from injuries, being sick, personal and family situations, social, relationships with teammates/coaches, and coaching decisions to just name a few.  The difference between being good, successful, and highly successful is how an athlete responds to these setbacks.  The easy path is to let it negatively impact you by allowing it to bring down your confidence, have a negative mindset or even impact your commitment to be better.  The best thing an athlete can do in these situations is to use it to increase their drive and commitment.  This type of mindset and work ethic is someone who has a high degree of DETERMINATION and won’t get held back from reaching their dreams and goals.

Two quotes that resonate with the characteristic of DETERMINATION are:

1. Ralph Waldo Emmerson who said, “For the resolute and determined there is time and opportunity.”
2. Adrienne Rich, “Courage is not defined by those who fought and did not fall, but by those who fought, fell and rose again.”

To me, this means that when an athlete faces setbacks and distractions, they need to be resolute and have courageous determination to continue towards consistent excellence.  How can we help an athlete have courageous determination when they face those setbacks and distractions?

Recommendations:

1.  Keep the communication and dialogue open with the athlete.  When an athlete faces a setback or distraction, let them be upset for a certain time period for example an hour, the drive home, or a day.  After slipping at the state track meet in the rain, getting injured and not placing as high as I was supposed to, my parents and coaches gave me a week.  But it was also the beginning of summer and my next track meet was about a month away.  A shorter time frame is probably more advisable if it is during the season.
2. Then make a plan with the athlete to get back at it and move forward.  This allows for the vision and the feeling that whatever is happening will be overcome.  This attitude can create a return that is better or higher than what the athlete was before.  Many times after we step back or fail, it is the prelude to greater things ahead.
3. If the athlete is dealing with an injury, encourage the athlete to put their focus on their recovery and coming back stronger. 
4. If it is a coaching decision or a social distraction, make a plan with the athlete of what to say.  If it is an issue relating to a coaching decision, the athlete should finish the conversation with the coach asking what they can improve on.  Then put a plan together to improve in that area over time.
5. Overcoming the setback builds more confidence, so encourage the athlete to keep moving forward.  

If you ever have questions, please reach us at jumperathletics@gmail.com  The next blog in our 4-part series on the Foundational Characterics to be highly successful will be the last blog in this series and will be part 4 with an emphasis on growth mindset..  This blog will come out December 4, 2021.

Don’t forget you can also follow use on Twitter @TJJumper1 and on Instagram @jumperathletics

Part 2: COMMITMENT

By: T.J. Jumper

Part 1 of the 4-part series on the 4 Foundational Characteristics that Determine High Success focused on DRIVE.  Drive is the “why” you do something and also your motivation to do it.  Before going into part 2 focused on COMMITMENT, I want to re-emphasize the importance of DRIVE.  Each person has different reasons for playing sports or any activity.  Drive is the single foundational characteristic of high success.  Drive can and often does change as kids get older.  As an 8th grader I was very driven to be a college basketball player, but as a junior in high school I was driven more to be a state champion in the high jump and earn a college scholarship.  

The three reminders about drive are: 1.  Positive drive is usually connected to what the athlete enjoys or has passion for.  2.  Athletes must have ownership of their drive.  3.  The higher the drive usually the more likelihood of success.

One question I received from the blog on DRIVE asked what I considered high success.   High success to me is when someone achieves their dreams and goals.  When it comes to sports, some may say high success is winning/placing in state or competing in college.  Some would also include all-state and/or all-conference honors in high school or even a step further in college.  All of those are great and can be used to measure success.  For me, high success is being consistently excellent at whatever you choose to do.  If you want your drive to be focused, I would strongly encourage that high success and/or excellence is defined or described by you.   Answer the  following questions:

1. What does it look like?
2. What does it feel like?
3. What does it sound like?
4. How do you know if you reached it?

Part 2: COMMITMENT

Once a student-athlete has the drive or the motivation to achieve high success or excellence, the characteristic of COMMITMENT is where/when action on the DRIVE occurs.  This is where the rubber meets the road, this is the work.  Commitment is what one is willing to do and how often to achieve his/her goal.  It is easy to have DRIVE or the want, but it is really hard to actually do the work.  

According to a Schlolarshipstats.com, 7% of high school varsity athletes will play their sport at some level of college, with only 2% of high school seniors playing at the NCAA Division 1 level.  

Therefore most athletes, 93%, will not play in college and this will include many who have stated they wanted to.  It is just as difficult to win a state title.  The purpose of sharing this information is not to discourage anyone, it is just to share the reality and the difficulty of playing sports in college or even winning a state title.

As an athlete and a coach, I have heard many kids say they want to win a state title or go to compete athletically in college.  These athletes had the drive and many worked hard.  They were committed, they all worked hard in practice, but not all made it.  

There are different levels of commitment and with the very low percentage of those actually making it, it is highly important to not only have the drive, but to have the highest level of commitment as well.  Working hard in organized practice is great, but if someone wants to win  a state title or play in college, being committed to working individually on his/her game 2-4 hours a week is needed.  Unusually these individuals are also committed to what some have called a “championship mindset” in everything in their life. They are committed to getting good grades, being a good person, eating right, getting a good night’s sleep, becoming an expert in their sport, and even working out extra.  These are also athletes who need to be reminded that they need to take a break to mentally and physically recover.  This is someone with an elite level of drive and commitment and the ones who will have a better shot competing in athletics in college.

Athletes with this drive and commitment are also the individuals who are the most successful.  They have ownership and are not required to workout by others including parents and coaches.  These athletes are given choices and guidance, but are the ones that take the action.  When athletes are directly told they need to do extra workouts, the purpose and the focus of the athlete is limited.   At the same time, we see many parents who want it more than the athlete.  Therefore, their commitment is limited which will limit their achievement in that sport and could possibly limit their opportunities to win a state title and/or play in college.  

What can parents do to help athletes get to this level of commitment:

1.  Have an honest conversation with their student-athletes about what they want to do after high school and what are their goals.
2. If they want to play college sports, share the reality of how many athletes actually make it to that level.  This should not be done in a way not to discourage them, but to provide  information.
3. Ask how they plan to go about getting to that level.  This is where the athlete takes ownership and where a parent can offer advice.
4. Ask how you as a parent can support them in getting to this level.
5. Find someone who the athlete trusts or a mentor to provide support while also providing background and discuss topics with them.  No matter how much you know as a parent, you are still the parent, teenagers listen much better to those that they trust that are also not their parents.

If you ever have questions, please reach us at jumperathletics@gmail.com  The next blog in our 4-part series on the Foundational Characteristics to be highly successful will be part 3 focusing on determination and will come out November 6.  The final blog in this 4 part series will come out November 20 focused on growth mindset.