Is Talent and Hard Work Enough?
Take home message
YOUR ON-FIELD SKILLS PROGRESS YOU.
YOUR OFF-FIELD SKILLS KEEP YOU THERE.
For Coaches
It takes knowledge and hard work to be a good coach. What else do you bring to the team?
For Athletes
You need talent. You need to work hard. You also need to be a good team mate.
In sport, talent and hard work get you places. An athlete certainly needs talent to play, and at the top level, everyone is talented, so the harder workers rise to the top.
I wasn’t talented as a player. I did not possess outstanding speed, fitness or strength. Quite unremarkable. (My lack of skill actually serves as a nice reliever of tension when my athletes watch me try to hit a ball!). I can work hard and as a coach, that’s probably a prerequisite. That may explain a recent tweet I saw that suggested that sports coaches favour the talented and S&C coaches favour the hard workers.
I recently heard from a friend that his child’s sports coach had told the team that there are lots of talented sports people, but it’s hard work that makes the difference. That appeals to me! A coach encouraging a young athlete to develop a work ethic - music to my ears.
In my opinion, I think there are examples of athletes who seemed to have all the talent but never quite seemed to make it. As a junior, talent was enough to win and they did not learn to work hard - they did not need too. Then once at higher levels, more players are talented and the ones that combined talent and hard work succeeded - talent was not unique, it was not enough. Perhaps that reinforces the coaches advice regarding hard work, so it’s good advice to developing players: talent and hard work will get you places.
But in my opinion, within team sports there’s a third factor and an exceptional podcast helped clarify this for me. Behaviour: “Your talent will get you as far as the dressing room door, your behaviour will decide if we keep you there or not”. This was a quote presented by Prof Damien Hughes in recent podcast (it is a great listen). I think it is fantastic. I know I am lucky to work with a great group of coaches and athletes where behaviour is understood and lived. I appreciate not every coach or athlete has that privilege. So it is important for me to continue to support and develop behaviour. How would I do it if I was not as lucky as I am?
Players cleaning the floor and bikes after a heat chamber session. Not waiting for the staff to do it.
As an S&C coach in a team environment, you have to live the behaviours before you can expect others too. You have to live the culture you want. An easy one is turning up early, not just on time. Being organised for the session with a few contingencies in mind when aspects don’t go to plan. Putting the team’s needs above your own. Tidying up after the session. Using manners (I know that sounds childish, but “please” and “thank you” go a long way in my mind). And it is probably because these are all behaviours I want to see in my athletes: turning up early, being prepared for their session with a plan in mind of what they want to achieve, packing up after training and thanking the coach for the session. I’m lucky to work with junior athletes from time to time. I’m not there to drive fitness or technique, it’s about participation. But I can teach working as a team, packing up together and using manners. Being a good team person. I can also model and help shape the behaviours I know they will need in sport and life.
My belief in behaviours is further reinforced by observing some of the top players I have been fortunate to work with which has contributed to their success and longevity in addition to talent and hard work. They expected more from themselves and their team mates. They expected more from me. They were respectfully demanding. They wanted high standards and I wanted to deliver. Even when they were not present, I found myself asking, “What they would expect now? What would they want me to do here?”. They were role models and leaders on and off the training track. They were diligent for themselves and for the team. I believe it is my responsibility to learn from those great examples and make sure I teach them to athletes coming through. Often they instil behaviours that last after they have gone, but like all behaviours or habits, they fade without reinforcement. I can help those behaviours endure.
To the young athlete, you do need talent. You do need to work hard. You also need to understand that those are not enough. You have to have high standards in all that you do and contribute to your team. I think even individual sports, athletes need to work with their coach, with their managers and conditioning staff. I have been fortunate to be around a successful team and I have spoken before about how the culture makes it everything easier. These are the behaviours I try to instill in young athletes I work with. Thank the coach and manager at U/12 training and the umpire after the game. Don’t leave training until all the balls are counted in. Don’t walk past the cone or marker - pick it up. Leave the sideline bench and dugout tidy for the next group (ie. sweep the sheds). Show initiative and warm-up before being asked. Encourage your teammates - it doesn’t take talent to talk. These behaviours are noticed and creep into other areas of your life.
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Thanks again. BA.