We primarily coach middle school and high school athletes, but a handful of truly elite players have trained in our program, too.

Pro hockey, soccer and basketball players.

Olympic medal winners.

Dozens of Division I college athletes from a wide range of sports.

Like their younger counterparts, no two individuals are exactly alike.

But if you watch enough of these high achievers train, and you'll see obvious patterns emerge.

Behaviors clearly fueling their success, things you wish every other athlete would mimic.

Habits have a powerful effect on our long term outcomes, they influence the success we achieve in all aspects of our lives.

Roughly 40 percent of our daily acts run on autopilot, ingrained thoughts turned into action unconsciously.

Formed over many years, habits act as a headwind or tailwind, either hindering or fueling our path to excellence.

For youth athletes with big dreams, I recommend adopting the following habits, ones consistently displayed by elite athletes in our program who have reached great heights.

If It's Not Done Right, It Doesn't Count

Lots of our newer and younger athletes rush through their exercises, like they're math problems on a worksheet they just want done.

Our most advanced athletes take the opposite approach. They only go as quickly as they can complete a drill to perfection.

Sometimes that means doing extra reps, even extra sets.


Heck, one pro hockey player chose to stay on a single exercise for five extra sets, refusing to move on until he got it right!

That may be a bit extreme, but the emphasis of quality work above all else is a common trait among high performers.

There's Joy

Top performers make training fun.

Some laugh, some smile endlessly, some crack jokes.

One girl, who later went on to become an Olympic medal winner, routinely sang between strength training sets.

Although it comes in different forms, the common link is all of our star athletes make working out a positive experience.

Doing so has a long-term benefit, because it makes it easier to get back in the gym for that next grueling workout, the one you'd likely skip if you hate the process.

More joy equals more consistent training, which in turn leads to superior results

Ability To Lock In

Of course, the fun ends when it's time to get to work.

Once top performers get under the bar, or step into a competitive drill, their entire demeanor changes.

No witty comments or laughs.

The look in their eyes gets intense, a true game face appears.

It's the same approach elite athletes take when coaches provide instruction, anytime an opportunity to learn presents itself.

They stand at full attention, looking you in the eye and taking in every word.

Top performers know how to get the most out of every critical second of their practices and workouts, using an almost obsessive focus in the moment.

Dedication Shows Itself Over Time

Even the greatest athletes get sick from time to time.

They get busy and go on vacations, too.

But they don't use a missed day, or week, as an excuse to fall completely off their training plan.

In fact, the missed time typically fuels even better performance on their return, almost like they feel empty without having gotten better in awhile.

Dedication to training and sport is best measured in months and years, not days and weeks.

Put these four habits together, and it's not hard to see why a small number of athletes reach the pinnacle of their sport.

They train effectively, achieving a handful of small gains every session.

Multiplied over many sessions throughout their careers, their results pile up, and their abilities stand out.

And you know what the beauty of this is?

None of them require a special talent, only discipline and determination.

Two things literally any youth athlete can use to fuel their own rise.