Most people begin a new year in January. My development year begins in August. August, September and October are not about performance. They are about assessment.
At Diamond Directors and L.E.A.D., we define development as the Deliberate Effort to Value and Empower Learners to Obtain Personal Mastery and Excellence through Nurturing Training.
Assessment tells us where a player is.
Development closes the gap.
Performance reveals who they have become.
Our focus during assessment season is developing athleticism—the ability to make things happen under pressure.
We intentionally do hard things now so we’re prepared to do hard things when the games matter next spring and summer.
Words Matter
One of my responsibilities as a coach and counselor is teaching players what words actually mean because words shape thinking and thinking shapes behavior.
Practice Is Not Training
Practice and training are not the same.
Practice builds habits.
You repeat skills until they become automatic.
Training builds performance.
You execute those same skills under pressure, fatigue, uncertainty and competition.
Practice asks: Can you repeat it?
Training asks, Can you perform it when it matters?
Belief Is Not Confidence
These are not the same either.
Belief is a feeling.
You believe before you have evidence.
Confidence is a fact.
Confidence is earned through preparation and proven performance.
Belief starts the journey.
Preparation builds competence.
Competence builds confidence.
Three Players
After nearly 30 years of coaching, I’ve found that most players fit into one of three categories.
1. The Player Who Wants to Be Great
This player has dreams but often waits for motivation.
Traits:
- Desire
- Passion
- Potential
Wanting is passive.
2. The Player Who Can Be Great
This player has ability and believes improvement is possible.
Traits:
- Talent
- Belief
- Growth
Potential creates opportunity.
Production earns opportunity.
3. The Player Who Should Be Great
This player lives with conviction.
Baseball is no longer just something they want to do.
It has become part of who they are.
Traits:
- Discipline
- Accountability
- Excellence
This player has discovered the difference between happiness and joy.
Happiness depends on results.
Joy comes from fulfilling your calling.
The Journey
These are not just three different players.
They are three stages of one player’s development.
Want → Can → Should
Desire becomes belief.
Belief becomes conviction.
Time Must Be Earned
Too many players believe they have plenty of time.
They don’t.
Time must be earned.
When you’re young, coaches often say, “Not yet.”
That means your future is still available.
Eventually, some players stop hearing “not yet.”
They hear, “Not good enough.”
The difference is production.
You must produce your way from your present to your projection.
- Assessment identifies the gap.
- Development closes the gap.
- Performance proves the growth.
My Challenge
As we begin a new development year, ask yourself:
- Do I simply want to be great?
- Do I believe I can be great?
Or have I developed the conviction that I should be great?
Then ask three more questions.
- Am I practicing, or am I training?
- Do I have belief, or have I earned confidence?
- Am I waiting for time, or am I producing enough to earn it?
Your future won’t be determined by what you want.
It will be determined by what you deliberately develop.
Remember: Intelligence tops being smart.
For more information, visit L.E.A.D. Center for Youth today.
If you found this inspiring and thought-provoking, or if you have any questions, comments or concerns, add me on Discord and let’s go deeper.
C.J. Stewart has built a reputation as one of the leading professional hitting instructors in the country. He is a former professional baseball player in the Chicago Cubs organization and has also served as an associate scout for the Cincinnati Reds. As founder and CEO of Diamond Directors Player Development, C.J. has more than 22 years of player development experience and has built an impressive list of clients, including some of the top young prospects in baseball today. If your desire is to change your game for the better, C.J. Stewart has a proven system of development and a track record of success that can work for you.
