Stuck in Skillwork: Solving the Training Puzzle.
Edition 52
It pains me.
99% of athletes don’t come CLOSE to reaching their potential.
Like the strongest, biggest football player who plays like he’s the smallest, they never dominate like they should. Because their focus is too narrow, they lose.
The basketball player who only focuses on their skillwork is like the bodybuilder who only trains biceps.
They're both going to get dusted by the competition that trains everything.
Just like how tracked stats are a slice of the impact pie, skillwork is a piece of the training puzzle.
Most athletes only focus on skillwork because that’s all they know. But, if they'd zoom out to see the training puzzle, they’d see why they aren’t playing to their potential...
The training puzzle has two parts:
Body:
How you improve your body: (Physicality, Strength, Speed, Jumping Ability, Movement, Mobility, Balance, Conditioning)
How you recover your body: (Stretching, Sleep)
What you put in your body: (Diet, Nutrition, Hydration)
Skillwork: (Shooting, Passing, Ball-handling) ➡️ (The athlete who only trains this will never dominate.)
Mental Game:
Preparation: Understanding strategy, Knowing plays (yours and opponents), Staying eligible.
Execution: Regulating Confidence, Composure, Mass Practice vs. Distributed Practice, Strategic Aggression.
Leadership: Team Elevation, Building and Maintaining Relationships.
Mental Well-being: High IQ, Mental Flexibility, Positive Attitude, Emotional Regulation.
The most impactful athletes don’t just train skillwork. They’re constantly solving the training puzzle.
They don’t need to “just lift.” They need to lift properly, with enough intensity, and recover properly. And if they do that consistency, they’ll build muscle. See, lifting alone isn’t enough.
Now, I know what you’re thinking: “Dylan is full of crap. I don’t have to focus on everything to succeed.” ERRR. Wrong.
Imagine you focus on every single piece but your eligibility. You don’t get good grades or get in trouble with the law. Can’t play.
Imagine you focus on every piece but your sleep. You’re exhausted. No energy.
Imagine you focus on every piece but your confidence. Ever seen an unconfident athlete dominate? Makes two of us.
Imagine you focus on every piece but your conditioning. You’re gassed in minutes.
Imagine you focus on every piece but your recovery. Counterintuitively, this actually makes you injury prone.
Imagine you focus on every piece but your skillwork. You lack the foundation to be great.
Imagine you focus on every piece but your IQ. You foul out every game.
Dare I keep going?
You need to focus on every piece. You can’t complete the training puzzle without every piece. Identify the pieces that you focus on already. Start focusing on the others.
At the start of this piece, I wrote, “99% of athletes don’t come CLOSE to reaching their potential.” And… I still believe that.
I also believe if 99% of athletes would train every piece of the puzzle that they’d get WAY CLOSER to reaching their potential.
Congrats on finishing this piece. You’re closer towards solving your puzzle. Go work on your other pieces!
Happy Solving,
Dylan :)
P.S. Let’s riff:
What piece do you need to improve the most right now? (Answer this to find your biggest opportunity to 10x your impact)…
What pieces are you naturally drawn towards focusing on?
What pieces have you been overlooking?
What pieces did I miss?