Being Great Is About Being Consistent

Consistency in sports is the ability to perform a task repeatedly and achieve the same or similar results. Preparing yourself mentally and physically allows you to consistently play at high levels. Ray Allen is a consistent 3 point shooter, Tom Brady is a consistent quarterback, every time Jordan took a last second shoot in the 90’s you had a feeling it was going in. That’s because every time these athletes step into competition they perform the same way, game in and game out. What we don’t see is the consistent effort they put in up to game day during film study, workouts, and practice; all in preparation for the game or big moment.

“Consistency is what counts. You have to do things over and over again.”

~ Hank Aaron

Consistency in Film Study

One thing that elite athletes do that often get overlooked is film study. Whether it be the breakdown of an opponent or the breakdown of one’s own self. You cannot watch a game with Payton Manning in it without hearing the announcers talk about the amount of film study he does. When Kobe Bryant was in high school his Idea of a date was to watch basketball tapes with his girlfriend. Because of film study they are able to go into meetings as prepared as they would for a game. This gives them the opportunity to communicate strengths and weaknesses of their opponents with efficiency to give their team the edge. This also gives them a mental reference to go to when the situation or pattern they seen on film comes up in a game. They are able to execute the proper movement or play without even thinking about it. It is programed deep in the subconscious.

Consistency in Workouts or Practice

Be consistent in making the workouts, getting to the weight room, field, or court as often as you can to get bigger, stronger, faster and more skilled for your craft. Make sure you are getting the most out of your workouts every time you step in the weight room. Pushing yourself mentally and physically to compete in workouts as you would compete in practice and games. Practice is where you prepare for upcoming games or events. The more you practice the more comfortable and relaxed you are during game time. Repetitions in practice breed consistency in games where it matters most. It’s no wonder that the greatest athletes of all time and athletes who are at the top of their sports such as Lebron James, Peyton Manning, and Floyd Mayweather, are known for their great work ethic in practice. Michael Jordan took practice so seriously that he would get into arguments and even punched teammates if he didn’t agree with how practice went.

Consistency is Key to Performance

More often than not the greatest athletes are not the tallest, fastest, strongest, or the smartest but they are the athletes that are the most consistent in their preparation. So if you had to take one thing from this article it is to strive to be consistent at working hard in your preparation and your performance will take care of its self.