What separates the good from the best?

Conducting  team camps throughout the summer months gives me exposure to a great many athletes. Each week a different location with a different team. I love the variety but at the same time each week can be much the same as the last.  Each team has a hierarchy within the player ranks. Over the years I have come to appreciate what separates the good players from the best players on any team can be summed up in one word - preparation.

There is, of course, a minimum level of ability within any team that sets a standard. For many teams this standard is remarkably similar. The difference in both individuals and teams is found in the intangibles  It is the intangibles that separate good from great and are the difference between a win and a loss.

Every team works on the same sets of fundamentals. Every player knows the basics. Not every team brings the same dedication to preparation.  Not every player will exhibit the same level of dedication to preparation.  Not every team or individual will define preparation in the same manner. We are talking about STANDARDS.

An individual player may spend countless hours on his own  preparing himself as a player but devote very little time towards being a teammate. He might shine on the ball but provide very little to his team off the ball. A talented group of individuals might never achieve to its collective potential because they lack team oriented intangibles. It is the intangibles that make the difference and this is especially true when teams are closely matched or when a coach must decide between which players make varsity or start games.

So it is that coaches should work to develop and accentuate the intangibles of both individual players and the collective team. When talent level is comparable it is the intangibles that make the difference.  And it's often not about the quantity of preparation or the quantity of effort given, but rather about the quality of the work being put in.

Every week I see players arrive early to camp sessions. It is  always the same individual or small group of players that arrive early for each session. In fact, as a rule of thumb, individuals of a team tend to arrive in a regular and specific order.  Early arrival itself does not make a difference. What one does upon arriving early can make a difference. 

Some arrive early to put in extra preparatory time before practice. This might be working on their individual game. It might be to work with a teammate or group of teammates on improving a specific facet of the team's game. It might be to help set up for practice so actual practice time is devoted to practicing.  

In the end, the players that stand out each week are those who  best combine talent and intangibles. These are the players who tend to win starting assignments and play the most. They are the ones who separate themselves from the pack largely through an intelligent dedicated approach to preparation.