Being the Best: The Other 22

Practice is two hours of intense drilling, wrestling, and conditioning. You work hard. You sweat. You bleed. And then it's over. Now what?

You have 22 hours ahead of you before the next practice. What you do in those 22 hours will determine whether your body and mind will recover and improve from your work, or if you are going to make choices that end up with you being one of those wrestlers who watch others get better while shrugging your shoulders and using the excuse that they must be more talented. While talent does play a factor in athletics, it is a small percent of success. That's why those 22 hours between practices make all the difference.

Ask yourself if any of the following points apply to you, and consider how meeting--or avoiding--each has brought you to where you are now:

• You get at least 8 hours of sleep per night, even on weekends.
• You eat foods that are high in protein, vitamins, "good" carbohydrates (like vegetables and fruits), and a moderate amount of fat.
• You rarely eat junk food, such as chips, cookies, soda, Gatorade (which is only effective after a hard workout), fried food, or fruit juice (which is similar to soda). (Eating a cookie every once in a while is okay. Eating them every day is not).
• You find time to train outside of practice: you run or lift a few times per week, or you go to a club practice to further hone your wrestling.
• You write down your goals and plan what you'll do each day to reach them. (These should not be based solely on wins. Focus them on improving specific aspects of your wrestling, such as learning how to ride legs.)
• You watch your previous matches to see, not only your strengths and areas to improve, but how your opponents wrestle and react to you.
• You picture yourself wrestling in your mind when you have downtime, imagining yourself executing moves precisely and attacking constantly (studies show that we can learn by watching and thinking because of mirror neurons in our brains--it's how babies learn).
• You shadow wrestle to improve.
• You keep up with your priorities, like family, homework, and obligations, so that they don't pile up and overwhelm you.
• You communicate with your family, friends, and coaches, so that everyone is on the same page.
• You let your body heal by resting if it is overtrained (extremely sore, tired, and you're constantly irritable).
• You wrestle/ train all year, and go to camps to learn more/ different techniques.
• You support your teammates and watch other matches, whether on Youtube or live, etc....
• You don't see a loss or tough opponent as the end of the world. Rather, you plan on how to improve on your performance.
• You identify people or things that take away from your training focus, or who are negative, and you move toward those who support you.
• You find ways to unwind/ relax, so as to lower stress--these should not interfere with your training or goals.

It's always a battle of self-discipline to work on these points, and you shouldn't beat yourself up about trying to be perfect. Even if you choose the one or two that you most need to change/ work on, master those, and then choose another one, etc..., you will get better. These points are what separate the elite college recruits from the rest of the wrestlers in the nation: they result in self-discipline. The guys at the top aren't necessarily born with it, but they do have clear goals, and they do make and stick to plans to get there. They also try to find resources that will teach them even more about how to improve.

Why isn't everyone a champion? Talent does play a small part. However, look at all of the wrestlers that you think have talent, and make a separate list of who has discipline and who doesn't. Then, when states rolls around, take out your lists and see where they fall. My money is on those who attend to the points above.

Decide for yourself: are you the person who will commit, or are you that guy who has an excuse? Consider what are you doing during the "other 22 hours," and, if it isn't what's listed above, are you really satisfied with how you support yourself and your team?

--Coach Heckathorne