During a middle school basketball practice, I was being an absolute brat to my coach. This coach just so happened to be my dad.
I struggled feeding our post players the ball. Every time I tried, it ended up in the hands of the defense. So, to fix this problem, my dad introduced a new drill.
In this 2 on 2 drill, I was on the left wing, my teammate on the block. No using the right side of the court. No driving to the rim. All I had to do was pass the ball to my teammate so he could take a power dribble and score. Simple enough, right?
I drove right, crossing the rim line and scored. My dad told me, again, Dylan, you can’t drive or use the right side of the court for this drill.
After five more times of driving to the right side and scoring, his “shit” was nowhere to be found. He lost it.
YOU CAN’T *insert curse word* GO THERE.
At the time, I didn’t get it. I’ll never have that restriction in a game, so why have it in practice?
Reflecting back, this drill ended up transforming my game and how I think about improvement.
After a few practices, when I decided to do the drill the right way, I learned to enter the ball into the post.
The constraint of restricting myself to the left wing area accelerated my improvement.
Constraints accelerate improvement.
The best drills often put you at a disadvantage. Master them, and you’ll have an advantage when the playing field is neutral. Winning becomes easier.
During times of struggle, we often turn towards making things easier. This is not the solution but the problem.
If you want to improve at something, you must go through a period of suckage.
The more intense that period is, the shorter you will be in it.
So, when you’re having a hard time improving, make it harder.
How? Constraints and disadvantages.
Impose a disadvantage because, in the long run, it puts you at an advantage. Same with constructing constraints…
Having a hard time with your backhand in pickleball? Take away your forehand. Learn to play with only your backhand.
Having a hard time shooting a basketball? Take away your guide hand. Learn to shoot with one hand.
Having a hard time writing an article? Force yourself to have a 500 word count-limit and 3-part structure. (You'll never guess who did this 😏!)
Ask yourself, “What would this look like if it were more difficult?” Then, do that.
The problem isn't that it's too challenging. It's that you're not challenging yourself enough.
When things get tough, our response is to make them easier. But in reality, if we made them harder, they’d get easier faster.
Let’s go!!
Write of Passage Essay #2 = Published!
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I really enjoyed writing this piece. I hope it helps you :)
Dylan
...great advice Dylan (comment typed by nose with my hands tied behind my back)...