THE HARVEST OF CAPABLE

There’s a day when you go from incapable to capable. Today was the first day of the first 6ixth Man Basketball Fundamentals Clinic and this was the theme of my subconscious. I knew today wasn’t the day six athletes between the ages of 13-16 go from incapable to capable. But I wondered when that day would be. I wondered how much a day like today has to do with the long-term objectives of a kid trying to excel at basketball.

The day started with a plyometrics circuit, fancy jargon for exercises that promote explosiveness in the lower extremities. The circuit alone left my clinic attendees exhausted before we effectively entered the second hour. But I could read these young ones. I know that they want so badly to be what they currently are not. They want basketball to be fun but they also want to master the task at hand. But today was one of those reminder days where patience either becomes a watchword or abject frustration ebbs and flows until heightened to tidal proportion.

The guy running the clinic, me, had to develop that same patience so as to appreciate the process of exploration as kids conquer physical and mental adversity to continue training. We always hear about paying the price or doing the drudgery in route to triumph as if it’s a linear transition. Today and my recent camp experience in Maui is/was proof that transformation is anything but a straight line. Somewhere though, between vomiting and dehydration lies a very real encounter with the requirements of unlocking potential. Just because there’s something valuable enclosed in a casing doesn’t mean it can be easily harvested. Kids learn this at camps and clinics and I see glimpses of such truth almost daily. To the young athlete’s surprise, potential is often buried deep and seemingly impossible to excavate. But four hours, one day, or one week after a commitment to coaching and proper execution a 14-year old may begin to see the CAPACITY to which some coach learning patience is referring.