A lot of kids think that an athlete has to have extraordinary talent to get to the top of the sports world. Well you might be surprised by expert strength conditioning coach, Kurt Hester’s belief that hard work beats talent, when that talent doesn’t work hard.
Kurt grew up in South Louisiana and learned a very young age that he would have to work to help his family out financially. Here is his inspiring story…
I was raised by a single mom and started mowing lawns and washing cars around our neighborhood at the age of twelve to help buy food, clothes, athletic equipment, and whatever we couldn’t afford. As I got into high school, work became construction and roofing jobs.
If you have not ever lived in the south then you truly have never experienced blistering heat. We are talking Africa heat and humidity, where people lose up to 10 pounds of water a day while outside working. It was brutal.
With every dog day of summer I always felt a sense of accomplishment and mentally tough from working long and physical days. Almost all task given to me were done to the best of my ability, no matter how mundane they appeared. The more physical the task, the more I pushed myself to work harder. It was like a game to me and I wanted to win!
Every day I would play a game in my head where I would try to outdo my coworkers, not because I wanted to be the best at my job, but because the job was a game and I wanted to be the best in the game.
This mentality carried over into athletics and my professional career as a strength coach. Even to this day I will walk into the weight room and push myself harder than guys half my age.
It is a state of mind that even if I tried I couldn’t and I will carry this attitude to my death.
I simply have to be my best and I have to compete. This applies to every aspect of my life.
I have trained well over 12,000 athletes in my career. There were some athletes, who were exceptional, while others were just average. I found a high percentage of the average athletes went further with their careers.
While training professional athletes quite a few of them have been former 1st round draft picks and had very short careers, while some professionals with average genetics had long productive careers.
Detroit Lions defensive end Kyle Vanden Bosch was a college All-American and a NFL Pro Bowl selection. By his own words he will tell You that he is not a gifted athlete and that’s the reason he has had success at all levels in football, it is because he out-worked everyone on and off the field every day.
On the first day of working with him it was evident he only had one speed – 100% effort! In every game he feels offensive lineman have more talent than him but by the fourth quarter he is still going 100% while they are playing at 80% and then he owns them the rest of the game.
While I was training Tim Tebow, prior to the NFL draft, I saw first-hand why he became college football’s all-time athlete. It was not because he had tremendous talent, I had athletes from other schools that were far more gifted, but because of his intense desire to work hard.
On most days his schedule would look like this:
5:00 am – 7:00 am Plyometric & Speed Training
8:30 am – 6:00 pm Fly out for promotional engagement
7:00 pm – 10:00 pm QB Technique & NFL Play Calling
11:00 pm – 12:30 am Strength Training
He trained diligently at every aspect of his game every day and it was done at 100% effort.
He is successful not because of talent, but because of the will to succeed. Every draft scout picked him to go in the third or fourth round of the draft and he went in the first. Why? Because through the interview process coaches realized that his drive and ethic made up for his lack of a NFL throwing motion.
“If he is out there working and I am not, when we meet he will win”. – Tim Tebow
Most athletes fit into 6 categories:
Great athlete / Great work ethic = 2%
Great athlete / Poor ethic = 10%
Average athlete / Great ethic = 15%
Average athlete / Poor ethic = 43%
Poor athlete / Great ethic = 20%
Poor athlete / Poor ethic = 10%
The athletes in the great athlete / great work ethic and average athlete / great ethic comprise only 17% of athletes and these athletes typically go further and have longer athletic careers.
I have seen far to many athletes in great athlete / poor work ethic, never finish high school or never play college sports. If they do make it to the professional ranks it is usually a short-lived career.
Again, why? Because of the one word that today’s youth look upon as negative “WORK”.
The athletes that possess the ability to work harder and push themselves to higher and higher levels, usually succeed despite the abilities that were handed to them at birth. They demand more from themselves in the weight room, in practice, on the field, and in the classroom.
Life is too short for coulda, woulda, shoulda! Success in athletics and in life comes down to dedication. How much effort are you willing to put in today?
Kurt Hester serves as D1’s director of training. TD1 The Dominant One Athlete Challenge is a non-profit organization that focuses on athlete development on and off the field. The program trains and develops athletes in nutrition, steroid-abuse, community service, and physical growth.
The Challenge is 10-weeks with different tasks to be completed along the way testing the athletes knowledge, character, and physical skill with an elimination tournament pitting the top 20 athletes in America against each other for a $50,000 grand prize college scholarship and up to $100,000 in total prizes handed out. Click here to find out more.
Do you want to have the right set of mind and skills for your sports? Then you are ready to take on our Advanced Mental Toughness training! Click here to find out more: http://mentalstrengthacademy.com/advancementaltoughness/category/welcome