In the next part of my recruiting law series,\u00a0 I move onto one that is the essence of the recruiting process and that is decision making.\u00a0 Everything in recruiting is about decisions.\u00a0 When to workout,\u00a0 what high school to go to,\u00a0 what camps to go to,\u00a0 etc.\u00a0 Every level of the process and every aspect of the process involves making decisions so it only stands to reason that being good at making decisions should be a key emphasis as you go through this process.<\/p>\n
Start Early<\/strong><\/p>\n This article is as much for parents as it is for prospects.\u00a0 The reason I say this is that the earlier a prospect can develop decision making skills the better.\u00a0 As much as I may think I am good at writing,\u00a0 I know a kid playing youth football is not likely to read this article.\u00a0 So to the parent or mentor that is reading this,\u00a0 make making decisions a key part of a child’s development.\u00a0 Don’t make all the decisions for them.\u00a0 Give them options and observe their choices.\u00a0 Review with them the results and give praise when a good decision was made with positive results.\u00a0 Likewise,\u00a0 point out the negative results when a poor decision is made.\u00a0 However,\u00a0 do not forget to point out when a poor decision was made and through fortune (aka luck) a good result was achieved.\u00a0 This is very important!\u00a0 Explain to your young titan how he “got away with one” and how he may not be so fortunate next time.\u00a0 Believe me,\u00a0 the opportunity will come where you can show him how he attempted to make the same type of decision and it didn’t work out for him.\u00a0 Bottom line though,\u00a0 like anything else you want your kid to be good at,\u00a0 making decisions needs practice.<\/p>\n Relate decision making to athletic performance<\/strong><\/p>\n Whether athlete or parent of athlete,\u00a0 you need to realize that the game is nothing but a series of decisions.\u00a0 Take the marquee position of quarterback.\u00a0 During the course of the game they are making a plethora of decisions like making audibles, choosing who to throw to,\u00a0 when to call a time out,\u00a0 when to take a sack,\u00a0 when to run with the ball, etc.\u00a0 Their ability to make wise decisions from moment to moment has as much to do with the outcome of the game as does anything else happening on the field.\u00a0 I personally find decision making to be the #1 element in evaluating the worth of a quarterback.\u00a0 As a player,\u00a0 take time after a game to review the decisions that you made.\u00a0 Evaluate how you did with your decisions and how you can improve.\u00a0 Match the decision making in one game vs. that of another.\u00a0 Every position involves a decision on every snap.\u00a0 How good are you at making them?\u00a0 The game is what the prospect loves.\u00a0 Using it to show how decisions cause you to win and lose is a fun way to learn the effects of decisions on outcomes.<\/p>\n Evaluate your offseason decisions<\/strong><\/p>\n Decisions are not just for practice and games in the Fall.\u00a0 Who you are during the season is a direct result of who you were during the Spring and Summer.\u00a0 Take a hard account of the decisions you make during that time of year and evaluate the results.\u00a0 Party vs. studying.\u00a0 Film watching vs. video games.\u00a0 Facetime with the girlfriend vs. learning your plays.\u00a0 Hanging with people with no future vs. people who are grinding for the same goals you have set for yourself.\u00a0 What you achieve in the offseason will be a direct result of which one of those options you choose and many other scenarios just like it.\u00a0 Of course,\u00a0 you want to have fun but you also want to stay on track.\u00a0 Take constant stock of the decisions you are making in the offseason and the results they are producing.<\/p>\n Self awareness and good decisions are brothers<\/strong><\/p>\n I’ve never met a good decision maker who did not have a good sense of who they are.\u00a0 Take time to really evaluate your strengths and your weaknesses.\u00a0 Take time to honestly evaluate where you stack up vs. the competition when it comes to recruiting.\u00a0 I have to admit that this is a very difficult part in the process.\u00a0 This is why I say that the earlier you start at becoming a decision maker the better.\u00a0 If you are good at decision making by the time you become a prospect,\u00a0 the easier this hard part gets.\u00a0 Choosing the right camps to go to will involve you knowing who you are.\u00a0 Skipping a camp where you are most likely to get an offer to instead go to a camp where you have no shot can be detrimental.\u00a0 Transferring from one high school to another because you thought you were better than you were could really tank your chances at getting a scholarship.\u00a0 Choosing to play for a college that is not suited for the way you play the game because you don’t know who you are could result in your college football experience being a bad one.\u00a0 Making good decisions in the recruiting process first requires you knowing who you are.<\/p>\n Strong decision makers tend to be a lot more happy in life than those who are not.\u00a0 This is definitely true when it comes to the game of recruiting.\u00a0 The transfer portal is packed tight with guys that made some poor decisions in the recruiting process.\u00a0 Not every decision to transfer is as a result of a bad move by the player but it is my experience that most of them are.\u00a0 Recruiting,\u00a0 like life,\u00a0 is all about decisions.\u00a0 Become a 5 star decision maker and you’ll score a touchdown in recruiting.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In the next part of my recruiting law series,\u00a0 I move onto one that is the essence 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