Tebowing=Practice, Patience and Perseverance

I’ve got a confession, “Tebowing” was never my thing. And, ugh, Tim Tebow appears to be back in the NFL and back in our lives. It’s been a few seasons since he was last on an NFL roster to start a season and as of this month; he has a contract with the Philadelphia Eagles.

A few years back, while playing for the Denver Broncos, Tebow was a polarizing figure.  He was a successful winning quarterback despite his own personal play. The dude’s play was so bad he actually set records in futility. That’s the kind of fame even a Kardashian wouldn’t be proud of. But instead of being overly critical of his play, people overlooked it and started copying his kneeling prayer. This phenomenon became known as “Tebowing.”

Good grief, Tim Tebow

After that magical season, Tebow struggled to stick with an NFL team because the NFL is a passing league. And no team wants to hitch its wagon to a quarterback that isn’t an accurate passer, (that’d be like hiring a salesman that can’t sell). His attempts at throwing reminded me of the old Peanuts cartoon of Lucy pulling away the football from poor Charlie Brown. Epic Failure!

However, I respect and admire Tebow’s never give up attitude and willingness to be coached. Too few people value the concept of practicing anything for the sake of trying to change something to improve. We as a society just want to do, because it's not sexy to actually work in order to change something. But it's the behind the scenes stuff that breed improvement. I read a few weeks ago an article about Tebow and his current throwing coach attributed his failure to throw accurately was because former coaches never corrected his mechanics. They claimed they fixed it but under duress, Tebow would fall back in to his old habits. Supposedly, his current coach has fixed this problem. How? Practice. By his estimation, Tebow has practiced the same throwing mechanics 10,000 times. 10,000!

Ok, so you’re probably asking, “what’s your point?” The purpose of my Tebow example is simple; it’s about improvement and always working toward getting better. To me, there is no “perfect” anything. There’s no perfect squat, deadlift, swing, throw, etc., there’s only improvement. Are you working toward improving your skills? That’s Tebow’s legacy and greatest influence, to never give up or be satisfied. This is what “Tebowing” should mean.

"You must unlearn what
you have learned."

Would you take something you aren’t good at and practice to change it 10,000 times? Just because you are able to do something, doesn’t mean it’s right or safe. If your back squat is busted, why do you keep doing it? More importantly, why are you adding more weight? When you think about it, it’s semantics. Like Tebow throwing  under duress, your body will fall back into old or dangerous habits to “just” do it. Poor training techniques will eventually catch up with your body. Work to improve your back squat using other techniques. Sometimes not doing something is the best way to improve it.

I love when people succeed in their goals. Unfortunately, I don’t think enough people do it. There can be a number of reasons why someone doesn’t achieve their goal but it usually starts off with failing to practice and trying to improve. Be honest about your abilities and program to master them. Tim Tebow did and look where he is now, he’s in a position to realize his dream to be back in the NFL. Best of luck in your training!