🫵 Individual Gaps

📰 COLLEGIATE ELITES WEEKLY

Issue 032 — January 20, 2025

As former college athletes, one of the biggest gaps we see with middle school and high school athletes today is:

They’re on the team.

They go to practice.

They listen to the coach.

They put in what they think is enough.

And because of that, they assume progress should follow.

But here’s the hard truth: team practice alone is not enough if your goal is to truly excel in your sport or play at the next level.

That doesn’t mean practice doesn’t matter. It does.

But team practice is designed for the team, not for your individual growth.

🔁 WHY MOST ATHLETES PLATEAU

Team environments are built to:

• Install systems

• Prepare for competition

• Keep everyone moving forward together

What they are not built to do is:

• Address your individual weaknesses

• Sharpen your mental approach

• Push your personal standard past what’s required

So when athletes only rely on team practice, progress eventually stalls.

Not because they aren’t working hard, but because they aren’t working intentionally.

📈 WHAT ACTUALLY SEPARATES ATHLETES WHO ADVANCE

Here’s the part that often gets missed.

You can show up with purpose.

You can focus on details.

You can treat training as preparation.

But if all of that effort is still limited to team practice, your development is still capped by the needs of the group.

The athletes who advance understand something early:

Team practice is required, but it’s not sufficient.

Elite athletes separate themselves by doing the work that can’t be done in a team setting.

They:

• Take ownership of their development outside of scheduled practices

• Put in time after practice, before school, or on off days when no one is watching

• Address weaknesses that don’t get attention in a team environment

• Train with intention even when there’s no coach telling them what to do

Team practice sharpens the system.

Independent work sharpens the athlete.

That’s where growth accelerates.

🧠 THE MENTAL SHIFT THAT CHANGES EVERYTHING

At some point, every serious athlete has to make the transition:

From:

“I did what was required.”

To:

“I did what was necessary.”

That’s the moment development accelerates.

That’s when confidence grows.

That’s when coaches start to notice something different.

🎯 FINAL THOUGHT

If your goal is truly to excel, or dominate, or even get to the next level, ask yourself this honestly:

Are you just going through the motions, or are you building habits that separate you?

Because showing up gets you on the roster.

What you do beyond that determines how far you go.

Be Elite.

✅ TAKE ACTION

📍 In Seattle?

Come train with us in person at the Collegiate Elites weight room.
Get hands-on coaching, structured training, and the same environment our college athletes trust to stay sharp. 👉

🌐 Not local?
Train with a former college athlete — online or in your area. 👉