What it takes to be really good

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Bryan Iguchi. Note the gray in that beard. Photo: Volcom

When I was a kid, school wasn't hard for me. I loved every bit of it, got pretty much A's, was considered 'smart.'

But right about the time I hit the teen years, life threw me a hard one. At a time when most people are learning how to work -- when they can no longer get by on what they already have in the way of natural ability -- I was dealing with personal and family tragedy. I underachieved my way through high school and college, and it was only gradually, in my twenties, that I began to learn how to work.

I still don't consider myself very good at 'grinding,' as they call it: buckling down and doing the un-fun tasks that go into real achievement. And that underachiever tag is always lurking in the background of my psyche, ready to pummel me when I don't do the work.

Which brings me to the following video, that I came across recently.

You may, like me, think that all a pro snowboarder needs to do to be amazing is go out and carve all day in Teton powder. Hit the slopes, work hard out there, then collect sponsorship checks.Take two minutes and watch this.

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Bryan Iguchi -- the slightly chunkier guy -- is 45 years old. Did you see him, doing box jump drills with a 30"-high box? Did you hear Cam Fitzpatrick say that Bryan 'keeps up'?

Iguchi has been a pro for 30 years. He's an ambassador for Jackson Hole Mountain Resort. He's made it. But there he is. Doing the work.

That's how you get to be really good at what you do.The obvious question here is...What are my jump drills?(There's a little more about the workout here.)