The 6 Intangibles Elite Athletes Need to Stand Out

What follows is part 2 of our interview with top PGC Basketball Camp Director, Dustin Aubert…

If you missed part 1 (3 Biggest Mistakes Basketball Parents Make) I highly recommend going back to check it out after reading part 2 below.

Okay, with that said, let’s dive back in…

Mano Watsa: So let’s jump into sort of where some kids might’ve been at this past season. Let’s say I’m a player who is of equal skill level to one of my teammates, and maybe we’re fighting to be that sixth woman or man kind of battling it out throughout the season. When two players are of equal calibre, what would you say is the number one thing a coach is looking at when they’re deciding who to actually put in the game when it matters?

Dustin Aubert: Yeah, that’s a really good question. So I like to say when the tangibles are equal, the intangibles set you free or the intangibles make you better than the other. Meaning that’s the difference is if we are both the same height, the same speed, the same strength, but one of us is way better mentally and a way better teammate and bring more energy, obviously that player is the one that’s going to get more playing time. I’ll give you an example… there’s a kid that I trained who lives in Colorado. He’s one of the best players in that area, and he just broke his finger, so he’s going to miss the playoffs. We were on a Zoom call yesterday and it was like his perspective of, well, I’m not going to play, now I get to work on being the best leader on the team. That’s an unbelievable perspective that every coach wants. And so even if you’re a little bit less talented than me, but you are an incredible leader, you bring good energy, you’re great at picking up teammates, you’re actually more valuable than I am, especially when the game gets tough. I think physical skill can only take you so far, but when the game gets muddy and mucky, the players who have the intangibles that can keep the unit together, they’re actually so much more valuable than most parents and players realize. It is something that mostly only people who’ve played sports at the highest levels fully understand. But it’s probably the #1 thing kids nowadays can benefit from the most, which is why we make leaning and developing these intangible skills one of the main focuses of every PGC Basketball Summer Camp.

Mano Watsa: Yeah, I think that’s probably why we hear so many stories across so many different sports of, oh, that person, that guy, that girl, she’s going to make it, she’s the next best thing. And they get to that next level and they just fall apart like a house of cards and it probably has a lot to do with their mental state. Am I right?

Dustin Aubert: Hundred percent. I think they’re really good when the environment is perfectly suited for them. What I used to say is when the air conditioning’s perfect, the rep is perfect, their teammates are perfect and their shots are going in perfect.

Mano Watsa: Which never happens. Never. It’s like in golf, if you’re hitting indoors on a mat, you’ve got a perfectly flat lie every single time, and no wind to speak of but then you go out to the course and it’s blowing 20 mph and you’re hitting off a severe sidehill lie. Everything changes.

Dustin Aubert: Yeah, I’m the greatest golfer when I have the perfect lie every time. There you go.

Mano Watsa: So let’s talk some more about the intangibles. That’s something we obviously focus on so much and have such a big emphasis on at our camps every summer. What should a player do on a daily basis? What can they do on a daily basis to get better at the intangibles?

Dustin Aubert: That’s a great question. So our intangibles, there’s six of them. Spirit, communication, hustle, approach, precision and enhancement. We go so far in depth with those. But on a day-to-day, what I would tell kids is work on those in game environments. So whether you’re playing pickup, whether you’re playing three on three, you’re doing some one-on-one or you’re at practice, the game situation, what I call a “wicked environment”, a wicked environment is one that you don’t have control over. A wicked environment is a great time to work on intangibles, meaning spirit is one of our biggest ones. And spirit’s just basically the energy you bring to any environment when you don’t feel like it. So say you’ve missed three shots, good, now’s a great time to invest in somebody else with your energy. I can’t remember exactly where I saw this, but there’s a really cool study that found when you get into a head space where you don’t care who scores the ball, you one, get into flow state a lot quicker, and two, the ball finds you a lot more. Pretty interesting stuff.

Mano Watsa: What a great way to get out of your own head. What’s one thing, you talked about energy and it makes me think every day we have choices that we get to make. And as high school athletes, what’s one thing we should spend less of our energy focused on?

Dustin Aubert: It’s hard because in a team sport, like as a human, you’re one of one, but in a team sport, you’re actually one of many, right? So it’s so hard to hear, but it’s so true. It’s like the thing you need to spend less time on is, it’s not about YOU. Obviously, work on being confident. “Look good, play good”. That’s a real thing. So make sure you feel like you belong, but lose yourself and the investment of everyone else on the roster, and a couple of things will happen. People will flip that back on you. Your coaches will thoroughly enjoy it, and you’ll just play better because you’re not thinking about yourself so much.

To be continued…

In the meantime, view summer basketball camp dates & locations here.

Committed to your child’s success,

Mano