BEHIND THE CHIPBOARD: The Values of BUSTING IT

    A lot hard work goes into keeping up with the naturally-talented — and you may not beat them, but you’ll gain regardless.

   I worked out all summer, ran a lot of miles and did a lot of sprints. I even grew a couple inches. But I’m still slower than a lot of guys, guys who don’t work as hard as I do. How can I get faster?

G.K., San Francisco

   If I had known the answer to that question, I would have had a much better athletic career.

   In other words, you’re not alone. Jon Gruden, the former Raider coach and TV analyst, likes to tell a story about his older brother, Jay, who was bigger, stronger and faster (and is an NFL assistant coach). One summer, Jon vowed he would beat Jay in a one-mile race.

   He busted his rear, working out every day in the heat, while his brother watched TV and played some seven-on-seven games.

   Finally, Jon goes into the living room, where his brother is stretched out on the coach, eating some chips and watching TV. Jon says “Let’s race. I’m ready to take you on — one mile.”

   Jay looks at him, puts down his chips and puts on his shoes. They go down to the football field. Four laps. Jay gets an early lead, and never trails. He coasts to the win, then drives them back home, picks up his chips and lays back down on the couch.

   This is what is known as a talent gap, and sadly, there’s not much you can do about it. But it’s not quite as bad as it seems — a lot of guys with great talent take that talent for granted, and don’t work hard, or think about what they’re doing. They’re just better, and they win, and they go back home and have some cake and ice cream.

   So other guys, like you and me and most of the world, have to do a couple things. First, we have to decide it’s worth while to put in the effort to be as good as we can be. Second, we have to take a hard look in the mirror and try to figure out exactly what our strengths are, and what our weaknesses are. Next, we have to devise a strategy to take advantage of those strengths and minimize those weaknesses — if we’re playing football, figure out what position is best. Or maybe we back it up a step or two, and try to decide which sport is the best match for what we can do, and can’t do.

   Finally, we have to take all those decisions and turn them into action. We have to do the work (no laying on the coach), we have to think about our sport, and we have to be smarter than the guys who have all the talent. Even then, they might be better, but we’ll be much more competitive — and we will also have learned a great deal about ourselves, and how to function in a situation that isn’t necessarily the best one for us (which, by the way, is how most situations are in life).

   In the long run, the value of high school sports isn’t in winning games, or getting your picture in the paper — it’s learning about yourself, and among other things, figuring out how to work with the talents you’ve been given.

   And down the road, that work will definitely pay off, though maybe not in ways you expect. You’ll know what I mean, even though you’ll still wish you could have run faster.

By: Clay Kallam