Tim Grover is one of the biggest names in sports that you probably have not heard of. He is the former strength and conditioning coach of athletes like Michael Jordan, Dwayne Wade, and Kobe Bryant. Each of the aforementioned were his private clients for multiple years before and during their championship runs.
I have been watching some recent interviews with Tim on various sports programs, and they are very enlightening. Entrepreneurs of all stripes would be wise to review some of the things Tim speaks of. The stories he has are packed with gold. Here are some of those nuggets.
1. Obsession with Detail
Tim was obsessed with little details that many other trainers didn’t bother with, and he used every bit of that information to better his clients.
For example, one of the criticisms Tim had towards other trainers was that they would always ask their clients, “how do you feel?” when beginning a training session. To Tim, this was unacceptable. A trainer should know how their athletes should feel based on what kind of movements they did prior to that session.
Before meeting to train Michael Jordan, Tim watched and rewatched the entire game Michael played the night before and tallied all the steps Michael took during the game. He also broke down how many steps he took right vs left, how many shots he attempted, how many minutes he logged, and a laundry list of other tiny details no casual fan would ever keep count of. Based on all of this data, Tim would already know going into his session with Michael Jordan where he should be sore and where he needed to strengthen areas that were prone to injury.
This was absolutely extreme compared to what most athletic trainers were doing at that time. Was Tim’s constant search of details due to obsessive-compulsive disorder? Or was this part of the reason why one of the greatest athletes to ever live kept Tim around?
It is common for ultra successful people to keep advisors around that watch the details they have neither the time nor the inclination to assemble themselves. They use those details to help them stay focused on what makes them successful. In Michael Jordan’s case, winning basketball games was the goal. Tim’s job was to keep Michael healthy throughout the season to achieve that goal. The details were the foundation for how Tim did that.
2. Learning How to Stop
Kobe Bryant was described by Tim as a Lamborghini that had bad breaks. Kobe was always accelerating, and he could never stop. This eventually led to a multitude of knee problems early in his career, which led Kobe to team up with Tim after Michael Jordan recommended him.
After Tim took full control of Kobe’s training regimen, the plan was to build stronger stopping muscles and lower the amount of concentric exercises. This would lead to a lengthening of the stabilizer muscles and create more space between his knees and cartilage. Exercises for achieving this goal included intense weight lifting, with the focus primarily on negative movements (lowering the weight slowly). Doing this kept Kobe competitive into his later years, and you can actually observe the changes in his offense as he grew older and developed more controlled movements. Instead of just bulldozing past people like he did when younger, he would jog at 30%, utilize misdirection, reset, then execute a blow by that did not utilize speed but instead rapid changes in direction and fakes to beat his opponent. The term “too much sauce” was commonly used to describe his offense.
Kobe already had the speed to beat most opponents. Tim mainly helped him get better at controlling his speed.
This is similar to how all entrepreneurs begin and how they evolve over time. We all start off with sheer will. By outworking everyone, we stand out just by effort alone. However, as one gets older and wiser, it becomes less a game of sheer will and more a game of precision.
When a company opens up one bar, they go through the process of construction and then implementing systems. During this time, the operator is typically very hands on and working long hours to get procedures and systems in place so things run smooth. When they go to a second bar, many of the mistakes made during the first run are avoided, but there is still a ton of sheer will and long hours being put into running things smoothly and getting systems in place. When a company gets to their third, fourth, and fifth bar, you usually start to see openings of newer venues go much smoother, faster, and with less overall stress to the operator. This is the difference between speed and controlled speed.
3. Enlisting Big Support for Slight Improvements
Tim was retained to be Michael Jordan’s personal trainer, which meant he was not officially hired by the team but rather on Michael’s personal payroll. Michael wanted Tim’s undivided attention focused on him so he could make the improvements he sought to make.
Tim humbly stated that, “Guys like Michael know that you aren’t going to make them 10% better. They’re looking for that extra 1%. The slight edge that gets them to the next level. And people that operate at extremely high levels know they have to invest more to make incremental improvements once they’ve reached a certain point.”
But because incremental improvements are worth so much money on the professional stage, they are willing to make the investment.
4. Talking Trash to Get into his Own Head
Michael Jordan often talked trash to anyone he was facing. But, as Tim described it, Michael did not do this to intimidate his opponent, but rather to get himself mentally fired up to win. He did not like anyone telling him he could not do something. When at the beginning of his career critics said he couldn’t shoot, he hired all the trainers required and worked on his jump shot tirelessly until he became one of the best shooters ever. When he was told he couldn’t be the best defensive player and also highest scoring player, he took on that challenge and worked relentlessly until he was the best at both ends of the floor.
His insane work ethic was in part driven by this constant need to prove others wrong. If no one was talking negatively towards him, he would search for something to latch onto. He was easily offended by even the tiniest comment an opposing player would make towards him, and he could take a totally innocent comment out of context and blow it up in his head so he’d get in the right head space to completely dominate. He always played angry about something.
Anger is not discussed often as an attitude common with ultra successful people, but it does play a large role in motivation. Michael Jordan used his anger to fuel his competitive drive to win hundreds of basketball games. If Michael lost a game, he’d be back in the gym early with Tim the next morning, preparing for the next game with a furious rage. Michael Jordan hated losing and so should every entrepreneur reading this.
At some point, a champion has to say: No, losing is not okay, and now I will destroy you for trying to stop me.
Kevin Tam is a Sculpture Hospitality franchisee with more than a decade of experience working directly with bar, restaurant, and nightclub owners on all points of the spectrum. From family-owned single bar operations to large companies with locations on an international scale, Tam works with them all and understands the unique challenges each kind of company faces. He’s also the author of a book titled Night Club Marketing Systems – How to Get Customers for Your Bar, a regular writer/contributor for Bar & Restaurant, and publisher of an eBook called: The 5 Commonly Overlooked Areas That Kill Your Food Cost.
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