Alex Swenson tells athletes and parents that D1 baseball requires relentless work, not talent alone. Most players face years of setbacks and discipline. Start recruiting as a sophomore or junior, and don't sabotage yourself with lateness or disrespect.
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Hey, guys, Alex here. So I talk to a lot of athletes and I talk to a lot of parents that have aspirations to play at the college level, whether it's D1, D2, D3, junior college or NAIA, and even aspirations to go on and play professionally. And we talk about strategics, the best ways to do that, especially in this new landscape with recruiting. But the thing is, some of these athletes and some of these parents don't understand how actually hard it's going to be or don't want to know or want to avoid the hard work, okay? And there's another problem with it as well is, like on Twitter or on social media, you see some of these athletes that it looks just so easy and that these offers are going out everywhere to all these other athletes. But the thing is, it's not that easy, okay? For most of us, yes, there is no doubt about 1% of those high school athletes that throw 92 miles an hour, that hit 12 home runs in a season or 700 in summer ball and just go off, okay? It is easy for them, okay? They are just God gifted, talented, and it is easy. And trust me, it is going to get harder for them, okay? But for the rest of us and an athlete, when I played like me, it is hard, okay? You need to do the right things, but you have to put in the hard work to reach your goal or any level of excellence, whether it's just trying to be a better athlete, trying to reach the college level or the professional level, or being just a better student or better at your work, or even taking it home, being a better brother, a sister, a friend, or a husband or wife, it takes hard work, okay? And we shouldn't avoid that, okay? Because it's going to make us better as a person or that skill set, going through that hard work and learning from it, okay? Because you are going to fail. You're going to have setbacks. But if you look at any level of achievement, right? A high level of achievement, do you think it was easy to get there? Of course not. It took hard work. And the beautiful thing about it is when you reach that achievement, going through that adversity, going through the hard work, there's a sense of fulfillment when you get to that level, okay? So please understand that it's going to take long hours. It's going to take obstacles and frustration and setbacks. That's the beauty of it, okay? And too many people avoid this. And I get it. It's hard, okay? We're talking about hard work. But we need to almost Embrace that. Okay. We do need to embrace that. Because this is the beautiful thing about it. This is where you separate yourself. Or I should say, this is where you can separate yourself. You have a choice here. And the truth is, most people will just stay down. Why? Why is that the case? Because. Because it's easier down there. It's more comfortable down there. It's easier to make an excuse. You don't want to maybe go through the embarrassments and frustrations again, but if you do, okay, you will eventually get through it, and it will be so much more rewarding, okay. Than staying down and maybe having huge regrets of not just pushing through just a little bit more, going through that adversity just a little bit more and persevering through that. So I challenge you. Go through the hard work. Go through the failures and the setbacks and the embarrassments, guys. That's what it takes. Do not be the athlete that says that they want to play at the college level or professional level. And you're not putting in the work or you're showing up late to practice or not running out in 90 or throwing your helmet or talking back to your coach or your parents. Do not be that athlete. Okay? Learn how to work hard. And part of learning is you got to go through it and learn and adjust as you go and catch yourself. If you have a bad mindset about this, about hard work, it's okay. This is where we can adjust and get better. Okay? And this is why you're maybe watching it all the way through this, that you know that you have a little bit more. All of us have a little bit more. I have a little bit more. Everybody has a little bit more. And that's the beautiful thing about it. We can always get a little bit better and better. So challenge yourself as you go through this process. I'm excited you've stayed this long, and I bet you're juiced up and motivated. But understand, motivation is great to get you started, but you need to stay disciplined through this process and understand that you're going to have setbacks in that. You got to go through those things, okay? You got to stick with the process as you go. And specifically, we're talking about recruiting. If you are a sophomore or junior, the time is now. Get on it. Have your good systems and go through your adversities and put in that hard work. Let me know if you got anything from this video. Hope you did. And select like and subscribe. I put out a weekly video. I look forward to seeing you in the next one.
