Soccer players who train more have a tremendous advantage over players who don’t. You may think it takes years to acquire skills you would need to become a great player, but the truth is that simple changes like training for an hour a day, yes every day, turning the television off and turning this time into practice can make it surprisingly easy to reach the next level.
Think about this.
If you swapped all the accumulated hours you’ve watched television for training, you’d be the greatest player in the world.
The sad reality is that the average person watches television 6 hours a day. Before we continue lets calculate what this statistic means. If you live to the age of 80, you would have spent 20 years watching the soap box.
If you’re not a mathematician, this equates to one-fourth of your life or 25% for you statisticians.
Do you want to spend a quarter of your life watching T.V?
Most players you watch on TV never owned a TV set. They started from humble beginnings and the 25% of free time they had, they spent it training, sweating, hurting and pushing themselves to the limits. That is why you watch them on the big screen while you lay on your couch.
Do you have an interest in Soccer?
Do you participate just to pass the time?
OR
Do you want to make a living from the game?
Do you want your name on every billboard in town and enough endorsements to open your own sports store?
I’ll let you in on a little secret.
There is a big difference between interest and commitment. When you’re interested in playing soccer, you play it only when it’s convenient. When you’re committed to the game, there are no excuses.
In soccer, the money, fame and spoils go to those who make soccer their life. They live and breathe soccer. It’s the players who “grit their teeth” and have the “no matter what attitude” that are today’s household names.
Do you honestly believe players like Zidane, Figo and Batistuta spent 25% of their lives watching TV?
All 3 players came from poverty and the safest bet is that they didn’t even own a television set growing up. Today, these 3 players collectively could buy all the TV’s in the world.
Spend a little time thinking about the player you’ve become or the player you want your child to become.
What would happen to you as a player if you eliminated just 1 hour of TV a day and replaced it with practice?
Eliminating 1 hour of TV a day would result in you training an extra 365 hours per year. For those that complain about not having enough time to train, I simply laugh. 365 hours equates to over 9 working weeks assuming you work a 40 hour week. By quitting just 1 hour of TV you have literally given yourself an extra 2 months of time to train.
Imagine what would happen if you gave up 2 hours of TV a day.
The sky is the limit.
The concept is easy but you’d be surprised how many players wake up every day and fight with themselves and make up all the excuses in the world not to train.
It’s too cold!
It’s too hot!
Neighbors or Home & Away is on!
I’ll train tomorrow!
Doing more of what doesn’t work won’t make it work any better. You have a choice, especially the young players. Forget about the TV and commit to training.
Give yourself every possible chance to play in the big leagues.
If you eliminate just 1 hour a day, the next time I’m watching soccer on ESPN it could be you that I’m watching.
If eliminating TV scares you, it might be a good thing to try.
Soccer players train hard to become the best which is why they are stars today. In front of television, and a big audience, great post on this matter.
The skill that deals on interpersonal relationship will help you know how to deal with human beings. The purpose is that when you understand people you can work with them and achieve good success.