At first glance, today’s headline probably sounds like BS. I’m sure there are those among you who are saying “I see lots of high level coaches and healthcare experts who talk about the importance of rest and recuperation as part of an overall training strategy,” or something to that effect.

That is very true, and I am definitely an advocate of not only building some unscheduled time into the season but also taking time off post-season to recover both physically and mentally. But that’s not what I’m talking about here.

Today’s subject is more about the approach players need to take whenever they are practicing.

We tend to think about practice time in terms of quantity. A question coaches are often asked is “How often/how long should my daughter practice?”

The implication is if you fully fill out the practice time card you will magically get better. All you need to know then is what the numbers are.

But that’s not how it works. The real question is how focused are you in the time you do practice?

Think about two players. The first one is more oriented to the time-based approach.

She goes out for a half hour every other day to practice on her own in addition to attending two or three team practices a week.

Sounds like she ought to be seeing huge gains, doesn’t it? Yet her improvement is slow, and she gets frustrated because she’s investing all this time for very little reward.

Yet the answer lies in HOW she is practicing. When she’s on her own, she basically goes through the motions, doing what she has always done.

Maybe she’s a pitcher who needs to work on her leg drive. But that takes a lot of effort and concentration, which is hard, so instead she just continues to pitch the way she’s comfortable.

Yes, she is out there putting in time. But as far as effort goes she’s pretty much taking the day off.

Then she wonders why her speed isn’t going up the way she should.

Player B, on the other hand, is driven to get better all the time. When she goes out to practice, whether it’s on her own or with her team, she is legitimately trying to improve some aspect of her game all the time.

If she’s a pitcher who needs to improve her leg drive, she’s out there doing her assigned drills and pushing her body to the max with every repetition to try to see improvement. And she doesn’t try to throw a full-distance, full-motion pitch until she feels herself generating a higher level of energy.

If she’s a hitter who has a problem with dropping her hands to swing, she takes dry swing after dry swing with her hands in the proper position before she even thinks about hitting a ball. She starts slowly so she can get it right, and gradually builds the speed up, always being careful to ensure she continues to keep her hands up.

If they start dropping, she backs off a little on the speed, recovers the proper form, then starts increasing speed again.

The same is true with her approach to fielding, throwing, running bases, and every other softball skill. She tries to make every repetition count because she knows that the more she does things correctly, with intensity and a purpose, the better she will play when it’s game time.

And the better chance she will have of becoming a champion.

The reality is we are whatever we do repeatedly. If we are sloppy and lackadaisical in our approach to practice because we don’t feel like it today or it’s just easier, that sloppiness or lack of effort will show itself on game day.

But if we are focused and have a goal in mind for every minute of practice time every day, when game time comes around performing at a high level becomes much easier.

It’s easy to say you want to be a champion, win trophies, play for a particular high-level team, etc. The question is, are you willing to pay the price to get there?

True champions don’t take days off when they are practicing – or playing. They work on their weaknesses and give their all with every repetition, even when it’s frustrating.

The next time you go out to practice, give this approach a try. Dedicate yourself to accomplishing a goal, and be single-minded in your effort to achieve it.

And if you find you can’t give your all that day just stop, because you’re probably wasting your time at best and possibly even making yourself worse. Then come back when you’re ready to go 100% on every repetition again.

I think you’re going to like the results a whole lot better.