10,000 hours has been considered the sweet spot for being at optimal performance in your chosen skill. Always a statistic up for debate among researchers, coaches, and teachers, where it is the quality of effort that you put in to the task will lead to optimal performance. There is no debate though in knowing that you will only progress through commitment and dedication, and that requires both time and purposeful practice. 10,000 hours equals 3 hours a day for 10 years, so when you put that in to perspective we have to ask ourselves do we put enough time in to realistically achieve our goals.
Shelter in Place has put us off the practice fields, but in to a position where we can take advantage of the situation and form positive habits of practicing at home throughout the week, even when regular club practices resume.
Our example is Ezekiel Grundler. An incredibly committed, and hard working player, who always displays excellent discipline, leadership, and a dedication to get better through practicing on his own around practices and at home. See for yourself how incredibly controlled his juggling is, and it’s from hours of extra practice, without a coach or parent telling him what to do.
Ezekiel Grundler from Fremont YSC on Vimeo.