Success in High School Sports is much more than wins and losses. It can be found in the way you prepare yourself to be the best athlete you can be, and not only for yourself but for your teammates and coaches as well. Here are ten ways you can put yourself in the best position for athletic success:
1. Remember the "Hydration Rule" - Drink at least half your body weight in ounces of water every day.
2. You Play Like What You Put in Your Body - If you fuel your body well, you can achieve a higher level of performance.
3. Be Nice to Your Equipment - Take care of your equipment and your equipment will take care of you.
4. Take Care of the Little Issues Before They Become Big Issues - If you have a small injury or equipment issue, don't ignore it. Get it checked before it could get worse.
5. Sweaty Means Ready - By completing a quality warm-up before practicing or competing, your muscles and blood vessels are ready to complete more strenuous activities than if you were to do anything from complete rest. A good indicator for gauging readiness is when you are able to wipe away sweat from your forehead.
6. Train in the Off-Season - Don't expect to be great on Day 1 of tryouts and practices.
7. Teams That Train Together, Win Together - Training together builds camaraderie that you otherwise wouldn't get from just practicing and competing together.
8. Perfect Practice Makes Perfect - Simulate real situations. Make your training harder than the real thing. Never practice tired. Always think “what would I do if…?”
9. The Best Ability is Availability - Make Time for Rest and Recovery. Adequate rest and recovery is just as, if not more, important than adequate training to adapt to your training.
10. Make Every Day Count - All of this is going to go by quickly.