#BallisLife… WHAT?
#BallisLife. The popular slogan that many athletes have adopted throughout the course of their playing career shows up on a daily basis on thousands social media posts every day. Athletes commit themselves to a sport and hold on firmly to this statement. It becomes their identity. There was a time in my life that I was one of these athletes. To most ballers who make the statement, it is not just a saying. It really is a lifestyle, a state of mind, a state of being. But is ball really life? From my experience, if you believe this to be true, as I once did, you are in for a rude awakening later on in life because of some of the habits and thought processes that come with the territory. There are some serious implications for believing that ball is life.
- It’s over. Now what?
“It really is like a death. You’re so passionate about it, you put so much energy and drive into it and then, all of a sudden, it’s just gone.” –Steve Nash
After years of going through the process of training, competing, and getting results, many athletes have an instant sense of relief when it is time to hang ‘em up. However, this instant sense of relief is very often followed by a void left by the sudden disappearance of a sport that has been the biggest part their lives. There are countless stories of professional athletes that have had severe bouts with depression after their retirement. The case of ex-NFL great Junior Seau’s suicide woke many people up to the reality of post athletic career depression. When players compete at a high level, the sport becomes their identity. And it is not just the professional athletes that struggle. This identity crisis that occurs when a playing career ends devastates high school and college players across the country every year.
According to Mark Anshel, a sports psychologist at Middle Tennessee State University, when you take away an athletes ability to compete, they lose some sense of “sports self-esteem.” Anshel, who has counseled student athletes for more than thirty years, states, “When you take that away, the very core of their importance … you take that away from their lives, they feel they become less of a person. They’re less valued as an individual and it’s a real blow to their personality, to their self-esteem, to their sense of importance to the world.” This is disturbing reality of the #BallisLife mentality. Think about what the statement actually says. If ball is life, when ball is over surely life must be as well. Sadly, in many cases, depression follows.
I remember when it happened to me. The end of my college career was something I was somewhat prepared for. I knew it was coming. The last eleven years of my life were spent obsessing about basketball. Honestly, I was tired. The daily grind had taken a toll on my mind and body to the point where there was a short sense of relief after the initial heartbreak I felt when it ended so abruptly. This relief was slowly replaced by the sense of darkness that Steve Nash describes in “The Finish Line” documentary by Grantland.com. There would be no more stage to perform on, no more competitors to best, no more spotlight. I was a basketball player. Now I am not. I was not really sure who I was because too much of the fabric of my being was tied into Josh- the basketball player. The emptiness inside began to get heavier with each passing week. There were days that I did not even want to get out of bed. Honestly, it is something that I still battle with to this day.
2. Obsession
An unhealthy obsession with your sport is another detrimental issue that goes hand in hand with the ‘ball is life’ mentality. Athletes can become so consumed with their game that they tend to obsess about it constantly. I learned the dangers of obsession the hard way throughout the course of my playing career. I often felt as if I had to obsess to reach my potential. I justified it by saying I was just trying to be the best I could be. Ironically, by obsessing at times I was actually keeping myself from achieving the thing I desired most- being the best I could be in that moment. My mind was overworked and cluttered. Mental and physical fatigue would be the inevitable result of my obsession habit, and it was my game itself that suffered the most. The pressure would become heavier the more I became obsessed. It was a vicious cycle of slump-stress-work-obsess. Wash, rinse, and repeat. Every single time I had a shooting slump during my career I went through these stages. Something was missing. Something that is vital to our lives- BALANCE. Whenever I would come out of a slump, it was always due to letting go of my obsessive tendencies and intentionally living a more balanced life. Stop obsessing and you will play better.
3. Physical implications- Too old too early
There is a common misconception in youth sports that a child must specialize in one specific sport to give themselves a chance to get a leg up on the competition and receive a college scholarship. In 2013, UCLA conducted a sports specialization study surveying nearly 300 NCAA Division I athletes found that 88% of college athletes surveyed participated in more than one sport as a child.[1] Sport specialization not only can lead to burn out, but often leads to life-long physical problems due to overuse of certain movements of your body.
John O’Sullivan, best-author of “Changing the Game”, wrote an ebook entitled “Is It Wise to Specialize.”[2] It goes in depth on the long term effects that early sports specialization can have on athletes. The research excerpts in this e-book are eye opening. Just to list a few:
- Children who specialize in a single sport account for 50% of overuse injuries in young athletes according to pediatric orthopedic specialists
- A study by The Ohio State University found that children who specialized in a single sport early in life led to higher rates of adult physical inactivity. Athletes who commit to one sport at a young age are often the first to quit, and suffer a lifetime of consequences.
- In a study of 1200 youth athletes, Loyola University professor Dr. Neeru Jayanthi found that early specialization in a single sport is one of the strongest predictors of injury. Athletes in his study who specialized were 70-93% more likely to be injured than children who played more than one sport.
- Early sport specialization in female adolescents is associated with increased risk of anterior knee pain disorders compared to multi-sport athletes. It also led to higher rates of future ACL tears.
As a child, I played soccer, baseball, and basketball. I enjoyed playing all three, but my passion for the game of basketball could not be denied. By the start of my 7th grade year, I was working on basketball year round. I would take a break from the game for a few weeks after the season was over and that was about it. Fact of the matter, I simply played too much basketball and I am suffering the consequences today. All of this research was not around while I was growing up. We just did not know specialization could be an issue. I have had three micro-fracture surgeries on my left knee. The cartilage is completely gone and I am under doctor’s orders to never run again. If I do not comply I will be facing a knee replacement surgery before I am 40. I am proud of what I accomplished in the game of basketball as well as grateful for the all of the experiences with my teammates. However, I wish I did not specialize in basketball at such a young age. My obsession drove me to overuse my body. I will suffer the consequences for the rest of my life.
4. Career implications
“Choose a job that you love and you will never have to work a day in your life.” -Confucius
A mistake that I see players make all of the time is choosing a college because they will get a chance to play basketball. This is a catastrophic mistake that haunts many former basketball players for a lifetime. #BallisLife hoopers rarely know what they want to do as a career. Why? Because, to them, ball is life, and they just have not put much thought into real life after basketball. This thinking is incredibly short-sighted. I am not judging, because I was guilty of doing this myself. Take it from my experience. Start thinking about your interests off the floor now. Try new things. Figure out something you could be interested in doing about for the rest of your life. Please, choose a college because it is where you want to go to school, because they have a major that interests you, not because you will get to play a sport. You can find your passion, and you must pursue that passion so that you can find a career that will be enjoyable and fulfilling. There is a chance that it may even be a career in basketball such as coaching or training, but leave no stone unturned. You have to step outside of the game sometimes to really see all that is out there for you.
#BallisNOTLife
I have often thought about what I would say to my younger self if such a conversation could occur. If this conversation could occur, it would probably go something like this:
- Ball is not life. Enjoy your career, but understand that it will be over before you know it. Lord willing, life after basketball will make up over 80% of your life.
- Post athletic career depression has caused so much mental anguish in even the toughest minded competitors in sports. It is of paramount importance to take steps to ensure that you have a solid foundation under you when your career ends. Face forward and realize that your identity must extend beyond basketball.
- Chill with the obsession. Obsession can become a nasty habit can rear its ugly head in anything you do later in life. Your work ethic, focus, and passion are positive forces that drive you to be the best you can be, but an unhealthy level of obsession can turn your best attributes into your Achilles’ heel. It is imperative that you find balance your life. Allow yourself to have a life off the court. Enjoy the meaningful relationships you have with your friends and family. Pick up some hobbies that you enjoy outside of basketball so that when the time comes for your career to end, it will soften the blow.
- There is a fine line between training hard and over-training. Over-training is real, and it is counterproductive. You are doing more harm than good to your body mind. Do some research on over-training because the research on this subject speaks for itself. Know your body. Train hard, but train efficiently. Try to find another sport or form of physical activity that will help you get stronger, stay in shape, and sharpen your motor skills. Take care of your body, because you do not want to be a 35 year old who needs a knee replacement.
- Do not go to college just to play basketball. Go to college to pursue a passion that will lead to a career that you enjoy. If that means a college that did not offer you a scholarship, so be it. I know you feel like playing college basketball is all you desire right now, but you will feel drastically different in less than eight years. Go to the right college for your future after basketball whether a scholarship is available for you or not. If you feel like you must further your playing career (and I know you feel this way), do all you can to earn your way on the right school’s basketball team if the scholarship is not on the table.
It is so refreshing when you come to the realization that ball is not life, but it also can be painful. The sooner you come to this realization the less painful it will be. You will also be more prepared to meet real life (the majority of your life) after sports when that day comes. My desire is that each of you enjoy your time on the court, train hard, relish the moment, but be prepared for life after basketball.
It is a big world out there with infinite possibilities. Don’t let #BallisLife make it small.
[1] https://www.amssm.org/News-Release-Article.php?NewsID=69
[2] http://changingthegameproject.com/wisetospecializeebook
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