I did a Twitter post about hustle. In today’s me-first social media culture, it’s actually important to talk about why this is an important quality for both athletes and coaches. For me, hustle is an attitude and a way of carrying yourself that says that you want to be somewhere, are enthusiastic, and can’t wait to get started.
The first thing we think about with hustle is running everywhere. Here are the things I tell my baseball players:
- We run on the field when we are playing defense because we cannot wait to get out there and get three outs.
- When pitching we run to the pitcher’s mound because we want to strike out those batters.
- If we get relieved as a pitcher, we run off the mound because we want our teammate to be able to get at those batters.
- When we have our three outs, we run off the field because we want to get to our at bats and score runs.
- We run to the batter’s box because we are not afraid of the pitcher and want to get on base and score runs.
- If we get on base we run to it, even if it’s a walk, because we can always turn one base into two or more.
- If we strike out we run off the field because it’s a bad thing and we don’t want people to see us.
As a coach, the simple act of running tells me a number of things. It tells me that my athletes have a good attitude about what they are about to do. For example, if my players are dragging and slowly walking off the field with their heads down, that tells me that it’s time for a talk and that I need to light a fire. It tells me that athletes want to be there that day. This is especially huge in practice. It also tells me that my athletes are ready to contribute.
There’s one other important reason for this. There’s only a finite amount of time for practice and the game. If we waste time moving people back and forth then that’s less time to learn, get better, or win the game. Hustling saves time for things that are important.
There is more to hustle than running though. This is about how the athlete carries himself or herself. Is there head up? Are their shoulders back? This is the body language of someone who is confident and motivated. Or, are they looking down, shoulders slumped forward, with their eyes on the ground? Tells you volumes about an athlete!
When coaching in a game, observing this quality in the other team tells me a lot. It tells me if they are motivated and confident. It tells me that they may have checked out of the game mentally and that gives us some opportunities. It lets me know that we might be able to expect some mistakes from that team and to coach accordingly. It lets me know if I can take risks from a coaching standpoint.
Now, this doesn’t just apply to athletes. I expect this of coaches too. Part of this is leading by example. Don’t tell the athletes to run off the field while you slowly saunter off. If we’re preaching a desire for quick transitions and purposeful practices then we need to be leading this as coaches. When I have to visit with a pitcher on the mound I run up there and run off. What I have to say is important, but so is the game and so is giving the pitcher an opportunity to get batters out.
