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Part 1: DRIVE

By T.J. Jumper

Over the years, my dad and I have been asked multiple times, what does it take to be highly successful or elite in sports?  I recently heard the parents of two highly recruited athletes be asked the same thing.  The answer to the question is simple, but the work is not!  Very few are actually willing to put in the work to be highly successful.  Some would say that there is not a silver bullet to being highly successful in sports.  I would agree that there is not one program or coaching philosophy that will automatically lead someone to be highly successful in athletics.  I would also say that what works for one athlete may not work for another athlete.  What I have found through my own experiences as an athlete, coach, son of a coach, and parent is that there are 4 main foundational characteristics that a person must develop or have to not only be successful in sports, but highly successful in anything.  

The foundational characteristics to achieve high success as an individual are: Drive, Commitment, Determination, and Growth-mindset.  Everything else will add to or subtract from these four.  There are other things that are important like discipline, skill/technical work, process over outcome, coachability, confidence, championship mindset, and competing at the highest level possible, but these all crumble or are not fully utilized if the foundational characteristics are not in place.  If the four foundational characteristics are not in place potential is not reached and success is ultimately not met.

*One side note: Each individual has their physical athletic ability based on their DNA and physical make-up.  Each individual is different.  But what cannot change is possessing/developing these four characteristics and the skills of the sport you participate in.

The focus on this blog is the single most important characteristic: DRIVE.  This four part series will start with drive and then the next three blogs will focus on the other foundational characteristics of commitment, determination, and growth mindset.

Drive is how bad one wants something, how motivated one is, and how passionate one is.  Drive is the “why” behind your choices of what you choose to do or not do.  Without a high amount of drive, high level achievement and high success is not reached.  Without drive potential is not filled.  Think how many times you have seen a gifted athlete physically not be highly successful or win the big game.  The reason is because they didn’t have the drive to fully work and prepare.  A very small percentage of athletes have the amount of drive to put in the work to be highly successful.

Drive can be developed.  The drive to be highly successful comes from loving what you do, if there is a passion for the sport and a drive to be the best, high success will follow.  Athletes participate in sports for a variety of reasons: because it is fun, because their friends do it,  because they want something to do, because they like the coach, or because their parents want them to do it.  If one of these reasons is why the athlete chooses to play in the sport, then they will not have the drive to be highly successful.  This does not mean they won’t be successful or not happy.  They could still be those things, but the likelihood they would be highly successful or elite is minimal until the drive to be the best at their sport is developed or realized.  It is also on the athletes timeline as it must come from within.

Recently I read a story about a high school senior who is having an amazing fall season and started to get recruited because of his fall performance.  The coach said, it was like a different kid showed up in June at our summer workouts.  All of a sudden the kid was more motivated, doing extra work, and playing harder.  The kid said the difference was because he was driven to leave a lasting legacy and wanted to play in college.  It was because that is what he wanted to do.  He took ownership.  The drive must come  from the athlete, no one can give it to them or force it upon them.

Parents you cannot want it more than the athlete.  I struggled with this for many years.  I wanted my kids to want it like I did.  But what I found is that the kids will only progress so much and to be highly successful it had to be something that they wanted.  If kids are practicing, working out, or playing because you as a parent want them too, they won’t have the drive to take their work to the level that is needed to be highly successful.  The athlete will just do enough so they are not in trouble.  Plus, the feeling of never being good enough will be felt.  Parents, if your kids don’t have the drive to be highly successful but they are happy participating in sports then let them be happy and enjoy watching your kids be happy.

It is easy to spot a kid with a level of drive versus a kid who does not.  A kid with a high level of drive not only willingly does extra work, but does the work without being told or asked.  Many times a highly driven kid must be told to stop and go rest or that it is time to go home.  A highly driven kid is one who plays harder in practice and games than other kids.  A highly driven kid is one that doesn’t short workouts, and doesn’t stop when enough is done.  The highly driven kid makes their sport and practice as almost a way of life and refuses to be average.

I have witnessed kids with a high level drive as they were younger and then lose it by the time they were older.  I have also witnessed kids who were not driven at all when they were younger and all of a sudden be highly driven late in their high school career.  Each kid is different and if allowed and supported will find what they are highly passionate about in time.  The sad truth is that kids can quickly lose their passion and drive based on poor experiences or being excessively pushed by a parent and/or coach.  Athletes can also lose their passion if the competitive challenge is far too easy or far too hard.

There is a fine line for a parent and a coach of pushing and being excessive.  If an athlete is allowed to find a better playing situation every time they are pushed or challenged they will miss out on life skills such as working through adversity.  Sports can teach us multiple life skills that can be used later in life. If your child does not have the high level of drive then let them enjoy playing the sport and learn hard work.  If your child has developed a high level of drive then find the right challenge for continued improvement.

What can adults (parents/coaches) do to positively influence and support kids to find their drive?

1.  As adults it is not only our duty to help guide and teach kids to be successful adults, but also to be happy adults. If a kid can follow their passion or find a career that supports their passion, there is a better possibility the kid will be happy as an adult
2. In elementary and junior high school expose kids to a variety of activities.  Include activities other than what you like as a parent and as a kid.  This allows kids to find what they like.
3. Make it safe for kids to talk about what they like and don’t like.  Ask what they think they are good at and may need to improve on.  Making fun of or being sarcastic about what the kid wants to do or not do will immediately destroy the space of safe conversation
4. Ask kids one to two times a year what they would like to participate in over the next year, couple years, and even in the future.  Ask what makes them happy and find ways to support  what makes them happy.  
5. Use role models or people that the athlete thinks is good to provide examples of what it takes to be highly driven.  Feed that drive.  For instance, share how a top athlete practices 2-3 hours individually on their own skill outside of team practice.  Point out how someone else studies game tape to become an expert in their sport.  Leave it at those comments, do not add in that is what you should do.  If you want to be as good as them you have to practice the same or more.  If the kid really wants to and has truly taken ownership they will start to do those things.  Remember high level athletics is not for everyone and not everyone is driven to do so.  Pushing when they are not ready will create hard feelings and push them farther away.
6. It is becoming harder and harder to participate in multiple activities, especially in high school.  We believe that after freshman year of high school that if a kid wants to specialize to focus on their passion or start to make it to the next level it is usually ok.  But, this must be the athlete’s feeling.  We at Jumper Athletics actually promote multi-sport athletes as it is good for mind and body and can lead to less burnout.  Make sure if an athlete specializes that they at least take 1 month off from their sport.
7. Once an athlete is highly driven, then it is just about encouraging and supporting them in reaching their goals.  Always remember to check back in with them a couple of times a year.
8. Finally, remember that each athlete is different and progresses at different rates.  Drive must be something that comes from the athlete, it can’t be forced.  Drive may go up and down during the year and from year to  year.  Having open conversations will assist in guiding athletes in finding their passion and developing the drive to be highly successful.

Elite athletes that are highly successful are also those who have an elite level of drive to be the best.  An athlete must take ownership of their drive.  If forced upon them or if they are doing something because they are scared, the drive necessary to be elite will not be reached.  Drive is what separates the average from good and the good from great.

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 come out Oct. 30.  The topic will be Commitment.  We will follow that blog on November 6  with the topic being on Determination, and November 20 focused on growth mindset.

By T.J. Jumper with input from Laura & Jim Jumper

All three of the Jumper Athletic Mentors played at some level in college as well as coached at the high school level.  Athletics has taught us multiple life lessons and forced us to develop personal skills.  Many resulted from hard lessons and difficult times.  Notice the term “failure” was not used.  This is because we believe in the growth mindset and that we are looking to improve or grow from each and every situation or result.  Failure only occurs if you don’t learn from it and/or don’t improve.  We have learned that this belief allows us to move forward and maintain mental well-being.

Some may see the term “well-being” and misunderstand this as meaning everything is positive.  It is important to be “real” in the assessment and analysis of how one played or the team played.  This allows the athlete not to be high or too low after a competition, but stay even keeled and move forward with a focus on improving to reach excellence. 

Athletics has taught us the general lessons of hard work, responsibility, reliability, focus, performing under pressure, perseverance, teamwork, communicating  with others, and what it takes to be successful.  A price cannot be put on the lessons learned and how these have been incorporated into adulthood.  So many times parents and adults take away or minimize these lessons in the moment because naturally we want to protect kids.  It is important to coach, guide, and support athletes through those situations so that the life lessons are learned.  As adults we have to make sure that we create an environment where kids are not afraid to fail and have the support needed to grow.  

As adults it is very important that we keep open communication with our athletes to ensure our athlete’s mental and emotional well-being is not compromised.  If an athlete’s mental and emotional well-being is compromised, it is important to make decisions to protect and support the athlete.  This is not an easy decision at the time, as an adult you may have to remove the athlete from the situation and/or may have them seek professional help.  We have all been in this situation and have had to make these decisions and at times it is some of the hardest decisions we have had to make.  Through our own mistakes and experiences we have learned this.  Later in the  blog we will share some strategies and questions that help the athlete move forward and keep the tough situations as learning lessons.

Each of the Jumper Athletics Mentors were asked what was an important lesson(s) they learned through athletics and how did they learn it.

Jim – Communication is highly important. From coach to player, coach to parents, and coach to school.  This is also true with the reverse.  As an example, it is Important to communicate one’s role on the team to the player.  Must have open lines of communication both ways. Learned this through the multiple years of leading and coaching high school sports

Laura – You have to do what is right for you as an athlete and person.  It is okay to put yourself first.  Learned this in college when approaching her coach about an injury and the coach wanted her to continue training and competing.  After getting an outside diagnosis on the injury, had to go to the coach and discuss what was best for her long term.  This is when she discovered the business of division 1 college athletics.  Ended up making the tough decision not to train and compete because that was better for her in the long term.

T.J. – learned how to handle defeat and persevere to be successful.  Developed an understanding of what it took to be highly successful.  This was learned after slipping in the high jump at the state track meet during my high school junior season and getting injured and then returning my senior year to win a state title.  Used this life lesson in my professional life and also to earn my doctorate.

The learning lessons typically come when the athlete has a bad game, loses a contest, and/or has a tough interaction with a coach. There is a fine line in the midst of learning a lesson and an athlete being depressed and being impacted mentally and emotionally negatively.  Learning a lesson is hard and as a parent and coaches we have had our own experiences where we did not handle the situation the best.  

Here are a few suggestions to make those tough situations into learning lessons (in a later blog post we will talk about an athlete’s mental health in more detail):

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.
6. Allow the athlete to have ownership of the improvement process.  Ask questions like, “What did you do well?”, “What do you feel you need to work on?”, and “How might you go about working on it?”  Then it may be a good time to add some of your thoughts of positives and improvement areas.
7. Last and most importantly, if a game or practice does not go well, give a timeline to the athlete to be upset or frustrated and then say it is time to move on.  Our rule of thumb is you either have an hour or the car ride home and then you have to move forward.  During this frustration time is not the time to go into the improvement process.  Give the athlete space and once they are in a better emotional and mental state then you can ask the coaching questions.

Thanks for reading our first official blog post topic.  Our next topic will be the three basics that an athlete must possess to be successful.  We hopefully will post on October 17, 2021.  If you would like to get a notification when our blogs are posted or when we update the website as well as services please click on the link and give us your email.  You  can unsubscribe from our email list at any time by emailing us at jumperathletics@gmail.com  

By T.J. Jumper

Jumper Athletics was organized to formally offer services and information to help student-athletes reach their potential as athletes and people.  The services and information are for student-athletes and for the parents and coaches who support them.  Jumper Athletics will pull from more than 100 years of combined experience in athletics and athletics coaching.  The experience ranges from beginning sports to high school records, conference championships, state championships, all-state honors, all-American honors, college conference placers and champions, athlete and coaches of the year, and different halls of fame.  

The achievements were not just isolated with the three of us, but also with athletes and family members we have worked with over the years.  The mentors have developed a consistent approach to working and helping others reach their potential and dreams.  One way to share some of the information and knowledge is through the Jumper Athletics blog.  The blog will hopefully be posted on the first and third Sunday of each month.

If you would like to be notified when Jumper Athletics provides updates to its website, blog, and services please provide your email by clicking on the following button and filling in your email and submitting it.  You only need to do it once, once email is submitted it is added to our list. 

If you have specific questions or topic ideas please reach out to us at jumperathletics@gmail.com  

Thank you for taking the time to read this first initial blog and we hope you return for our future blogs.

Sincerely,

T.J. Jumper