10,000 Hour Rule - The Making of a Lacrosse Expert

As a lacrosse coach I see “natural” athletes who are far and away the best in their age group at a certain time. Say a 13 year old that has the size, strength and coordination beyond his years. Yet by 15 he has peaked, reached plateau and frustrated by his lack of continued success. Or the player who tells me he spends hours every week practicing but still shows the same problems in his game. Or the kid with limited skill who trains in very unorthodox methods, challenging himself time after time, day after day to achieve the fundamentals he lacked the previous season only to come back a threat to take a starting spot on the squad.

In June of 2007 the Harvard Business Review published an article titled, “The Making of an Expert” by K. Anders Ericsson. That article has since gone on to be one of the foundations of the bestseller “Outliers”, by Malcom Gladwell. Both the article and book take a scientific approach to success, disputing the common beliefs and assumptions with hard data to the contrary. Here we will look at some of the findings and relate them directly to our sport – Lacrosse.

What is an Expert?

An “expert” must perform consistently superior to that of their peers. If you need a goal, he’s the guy you think of. He produces concrete results and those results can be can be replicated and measured. Is he the top scorer on your team every game, the top scorer in the division, league, even state? Then he may be considered an expert.

The Natural Athlete

It is clear that certain players are more naturally “gifted” than others. That may be due to genetics, early exposure to athletics or other reasons. But, there is no data to support that a gifted athlete can achieve anything beyond being the top at the schoolyard with out a lot of hard work and dedicated practice. Unfortunately some peak early because they play against lower competition and enjoy being the “big fish in a small pond” with little challenge.

Deliberate Practice

One of my favorite quotes, often heard from Head Lacrosse Coach Adam Marshall of Grand Canyon University, but attributed to Vince Lombardi is “Practice does not make perfect. Only perfect practice makes perfect. ... “. Taken in our context, deliberate practice is not the act of simply practicing daily for years or even decades. When most people practice, they focus on the things they already know how to do. Deliberate practice is different. It entails considerable, specific, and sustained efforts to do something you can’t do well—or even at all. Research across domains shows that it is only by working at what you can’t do that you turn into the expert you want to become. It’s very easy to neglect deliberate practice. Experts who reach a high level of performance often find themselves responding automatically to specific situations and may come to rely exclusively on their intuition. Moving outside your traditional comfort zone of achievement requires substantial motivation and sacrifice, but it’s a necessary discipline for those that wish to become experts.

In late 2005, Dan Dawson, a fan favorite here in Arizona when he played for the professional Sting Lacrosse Club, dedicated himself top physical conditioning. Now this is a player selected 68th overall (6th round) in the NLL Draft back in 2001. “Dangerous Dan” had already worked hard to become one of the top players in the game leading the Sting to the NLL Championship game. Still Dawson was not complacent, he began a grueling and complex strength and conditioning program (reducing to a purported 7% body fat) to become the top pick in the 2008 dispersal draft, even adding professional field lacrosse to his resume (Toronto Nationals 2009 and Team Canada 2010).

10,000 Hour Rule

Consistently and overwhelmingly, the evidence shows that experts are always made, not born. These conclusions are based on rigorous research that looked at exceptional performance using scientific methods that are verifiable and reproducible. Most of these studies were compiled in The Cambridge Handbook of Expertise and Expert Performance, published in 2006 by Cambridge University Press and edited by K. Anders Ericsson (author of “Making an Expert” noted above) The 900-page-plus handbook includes contributions from more than 100 leading scientists who have studied expertise and top performance in a wide variety of domains: multiple sports, surgery, acting, chess, writing, computer programming, ballet, music, aviation, firefighting, and many others.

In all cases the study shows that even the most gifted performers need a minimum of ten years (or 10,000 hours) of intense training before they win international competitions or become “experts” in their field. That means dedicating almost 3 hours a day every day for the sole purpose of becoming the absolute best. Lacrosse super star Paul Rabil, who shoots 111mph and is unstoppable on the dodge, put in the 10,000 hours and continues to train at the premier level. Obviously this type of focus may be for less than 1% of the population. So, you ask, how can this study help the rest of the world, even the lacrosse player looking to start on his local team, or play in college?

1. Practice with a Purpose

Chances are you will not be putting in the 10,000 hours, but make the time you do spend practicing count. Hitting the wall with your dominate hand and catching on the bounce won’t cut it. Go in with a plan to upgrade your skills, conquer one at a time and attack the next one.

2. Listen to your Coaches

As a player you must be open to criticism. Turn off the defense mechanism, ask how you can get better, work on your flaws, and then ask for another evaluation. Repeat.

3. Be Prepared to Work . . . Hard

“Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration. Accordingly a genius is often merely a talented person who has done all of his or her homework.” Thomas Edison

Bottom line is that science proves there is no substitute for pure and simple hard work. No excuses such as you weren’t a born athlete, or your just not that good. If you want it, you can get there.