Being the underdog is a strong source of energy. And you might be able to use it for a long time as your main source of motivation.
But if all goes according to plan, it’s ultimately unreliable. If the energy of the underdog is what’s giving you the juice to win then what do you do when you’re fully expected to win?
If you’re using a temporary source of motivation, keep going with it as long as it’s giving you what you need.
And then be prepared to find something more sustainable.
They don’t get playing time. The don’t usually even take their warm ups off. No one knows who they are. You see them jump up on the bench when the star players do something good. As a viewer, their enthusiasm can even seem silly…it’s not like they’re contributing to the success.
Or are they?
Great teams get sharpened by playing other great teams…but in reality great teams are only as good as the competition they play against ever single day…ie. The bench players.
We might not care a lot about the bench players, but the star players do. And they know how great the bench players are.
Every great bench player knows they could go play for a different team and probably get more playing time. But they’d rather be an intregal part of a better team.
Lots of close games during March Madness. Lots of these games come down to free throw shooting.
For those who don’t know the game well…there comes a time in a game where if you get fouled you get to shoot a free throw. If you make that one you get a chance at another one.
But if you miss the first one the game just moves on.
This is called a 1 and 1. If you make the first you get the second one.
It’s a bad time to be a second free throw specialist. If you’re not very good at the first one but always nail the second it’s unlikely we’re going to get to see your specialty. You’re not usually going to make it to the second shot and because of that it’s much less likely you’ll even be in the game during clutch free throw time.
When you choose what to specialize in it’s a good idea to put yourself in places where that thing is needed and valued.
»» Yes, the truth is no basketball player walks around bragging about specializing in the second free throw. No one misses the first and says, ‘Hey lay off, my specialty is the second one’.
BUT there are lots of players who are much better at the second free throw than the first.
When I was on the basketball team in high school a bunch of us went to a summer basketball camp called Ladysmith in Wisconsin. The assistant coach on our team had been taking players there every few years…and the rumor was it was the best basketball camp.
We didn’t hear why, simply that it was.
Two hour morning session. Three hour afternoon session. Two hour evening session. For three days.
And it wasn’t one big pep talk or feel good inspirational story time. It was going hard. Always doing something with the basketball, always running, always focusing. Playing against taller players, shorter players, players better than you and not quite as good as you. Hours and hours of hard competition.
After ever session we were drained. And at the end of each day we were sure it was impossible to do it all again.
On top of that…Our coach made sure all of us were on the fifth floor of the dorms (the top floor)…no elevators. Nothing like five flights of stairs with jelly legs.
But we all made it out alive. Barely.
We didn’t leave the camp with a bunch of new drills that were going to turn us into Michael Jordan over the summer. And I don’t think the point of the camp was to make us adopt a seven hour per day workout schedule.
It was to show us that we could go harder than we ever thought we could. It was to show us how to push. To show us what it means and what it feels like to work. To max out our focus and our muscles. It was to show us what a two hour practice could look like back home. The coaches pushed our bodies but they knew they were actually stretching our minds much more.
We never would have signed up for it if we knew what it was. But as it turns out…it was the best.
»» Coach Coughlin, thanks for tricking us into that camp. You’re a good coach- Mr. Defense
The hot streak, the luck, the momentum, the good fortune…how long does it last?
Or rather…how long do you need it to last?
It depends on what game you’re playing.
It’s march madness again (aka the NCAA basketball tournament), and once again some of the teams that are suppose to win end up losing to the teams that are suppose to lose. It’s one of the main reasons so many people love this tournament.
College basketball is one of those games where any team can put together just enough good plays to beat the other team.
So the underdog doesn’t need the luck to last forever. All they need is forty minutes. Normally they hit six 3-pointers per game but on this night they hit ten. Normally they get two steals but on this night they get seven. Normally the other team shoots really well but on this night they don’t.
The underdog doesn’t (and can’t) magically become a way better team during a forty minute game…but the best of what they are capable of doing can magically stack up all at once. And if you play the game long enough it’s going to happen sooner or later.
Keep playing.
It’s easy to see that big moments in movies are set up via connection and story and tension. The audience feels connection with the characters, the audience has an understanding of the storyline and has hopes for what might happen next. And then the big memorable moment happens.
Music and movies are different but context, set up, connection, tension…these are the same elements that set up the climactic moment at your show. If you don’t have a climactic moment in your show, it’s time to revisit these.