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Its really not difficult to go from an average player to a good player. You just need to put in some effort, and you will get there. The difficult part is getting from good to great.

We see this everywhere. For example, when you were in school. Becoming a good student requires you to put in a little more effort in doing your homework and revisions before you go to school. You probably sacrifice a little more of your personal time.

However becoming a great player is not just about putting in more time to training!

To be great or even to be the best, you need to get the right mindset. Foremost, you need the commitment to be the best. You have to feel very passionately that being good is not enough, you want to be Great! It is with this passion, this desire to be great that will drive you forward.

Secondly, you need to put in hours of preparation. In my earlier post on Tiger Woods, you will realize the importance of mental preparation. Tiger spends many hours before a tournament, not just looking at his past videos, but he also spend many hours rehearsing in his mind, how he is going to play that hole when the tournament. He also mentally rehearsed what he will do when he hit a bad shot. Every player will hit a bad shot at some point or another. Only the best will bounce back faster than anyone.

Thirdly, you have to be committed to success. Great players do not become great by chance. You have to be serious in all aspects, for example taking care of your diet, avoiding junk food and eating easily convertible carbohydrates like bananas before games. Or doing the same routine regardless of environment or who is around you.

To illustrate the power of routines. Every great player has certain routine. Michael Jordan says he seldom deviates from his pre-game routine. He will always wear his North Carolina shorts and do shooting on the court before the game. He will also go through in his mind, the moves he is going to make. Some say that if you put a timer to every step that Jack Nicklaus takes when he plays a putt, you will find that he takes the same amount of time for every hole, right down to the milliseconds!

Lastly, its about concentration during the game. Do you get easily distracted when you play the game? Or do you feel like it doesn’t matter where you playing in, because when you play, you only focus on playing, whatever the audience say or do does not bother you.

Great Players Stay Focused!

During the game, there will be many distractions. The greatest player plays well not matter is it his home court or away, the type of surface he is playing on, who he is playing against. It doesn’t matter. If you have done your preparation before hand, you do not have to worry. What is important is to focused on the game.

Are you willing to take the leap from good to great or do you want to remain average?