Patrick Cripps: How my one-percenters fuel my growth as a player and a person

ARTICLE

29 January 2024

4 mins read

For Patrick Cripps, captain of the Carlton Football Club, the gain is in the detail. Here, he shares how paying attention to small, gradual improvements helps him get the best out of himself – on the field and off.

As a country kid who grew up in awe of the AFL, I was floating in a dream during my first year at the Carlton Football Club. But I remember a moment at the end of that year when the penny dropped about the level of detail it takes to perform at AFL level.

I’m at my most motivated, happy, and energised when I have something to chase. I knew I had to get my body in a condition that would allow me to play a full AFL season, so the first detail I zoomed in on was my diet. When I saw how even the smallest changes to my eating habits improved my game and my mental wellbeing, I became really curious about what other little wins I could find in all areas of my footy and my life.

Instead of setting all my attention on being my best as quickly as I could, or thinking only about that one day in September, I started to focus on my ‘one-percenters’ – the small places where I could make gradual progress that would make me a better player, and a better version of myself, in the long run.

The compounding effects of consistency

Something I talk a lot about with the boys at the club is the ‘compound effect’¹ of one-percenters. It’s the idea that making small, marginal gains² repeatedly leads to a big gain over time. You might not see the result straight away, but over the course of a month, or a footy season, the consistent effort will reward you with little wins, and you’ll ultimately see huge progress.

For me, finding and planning out these small ways to be better on the footy field keeps my motivation high. Especially in pre-season, I’ll plan my weeks in detail and stick that in my locker so I can see every step that goes into what I want to improve. When you can see that granular level of what you’re working on, you start to build up your confidence that you’ll get where you’re going. As I tick each day off on my pre-season plan, I grow more and more confident that my game’s going to be at the level I want by the time the season starts.

When I first came to the club, I had older guys who helped me see how important it was to have a routine and set up healthy habits. So now I try to help the young guys build their weeks in a similar way so they can stay consistent, switch off when they need to, and know they’ve done the work.

Train for body, mind, craft, then home in on the details

I always say you can train around your body, your mind, or your craft. Once you’ve got the foundations of those areas sorted, you can break them down and look around for your one-percenters.

In a high-performance environment like the AFL, the body is a huge one. You have your weight, what you eat, how you recover, your sleep. What about your training focus? Do you need to add an aerobic session? Do you want to go after speed and power? One small thing I focus on is hydration: as soon as I wake up, before I have a coffee, I’ll have Himalayan salt and lemon in water to hydrate my body after sleep.

With your mind, what’s your self-talk like after a game? Could meditation help you relax and recharge? Could it help your concentration on the footy field? Every day I relax with a 10-minute meditation, but its mindfulness benefits are also helping me focus on my breath and concentrate when I’m on the footy field.

And then your craft. What are your strengths as a player – what makes you good? What little elements could make you better? What’s a weakness in your game that you could improve so it doesn’t affect you on the field? For me, it can even be as simple as planning how I move on my off days. I’ll walk to get a coffee in the morning and won’t check my phone until I’m back. It’s just a way to get moving and control the opening bookend of my day.

Start with one, and stay flexible

The goal of one-percenters isn’t about trying ten new habits all at once. It’s an ongoing commitment to growth and gradual improvement.

If you want to get one habit right, you want to do it for long enough that it makes you feel good and it becomes so much a part of your routine that it’s autopilot. That’s when you’re ready to think, “All right, what detail do I want to go after next?”

We’re all curious about different things. What gives me energy might zap yours. I always like to ask myself, “Is this helping me or hindering me?” And if it’s not working, I change it up. Once you find what works, it’s the ability to repeat it over and over again that gives you the gradual gains.

Success is the journey, not the moment

Footy is obviously a big aspect of my life, but it’s just one aspect. At the end of the day, I know that if I don’t reach my big goals in the way I expect, it’s not the end of the world.

If we made a list of the people who’ve succeeded in their goal, or a team that’s climbed to its pinnacle, their moment of success would obviously be euphoric – but all they’d want to talk about is how much they enjoyed the journey they’ve been on to get there.

One important lesson I’ve learnt is that success doesn’t define your self-worth. It’s just a moment that you want to go after while you grow. The beauty of one-percenters is that they reward your effort along the way. For me, they increase my confidence that I can face challenges on the field because I’m doing the work off the field. They help me come back to who I am as a person and what I enjoy in life. And at the end of the day, that’s the important stuff – that’s the stuff that makes us happy.

All or Something

A healthy mind is so important for personal growth – and finding small ways to improve it is a great way to earn AIA Vitality Points. You can earn up to 75 Points each week by using mindfulness apps like Headspace, Calm and more.

All: Add 10-minute meditations before sleep three times a week.

Something: Practise a listening exercise while you hang out the washing.

Remember, it’s the small somethings you do every day that make a big difference to your overall wellbeing and happiness.

Footnotes

¹https://jamesclear.com/book-summaries/the-compound-effect

²https://www.cnbc.com/2021/02/23/how-to-be-mentally-tough-use-the-1percent-marginal-gains-rule-says-performance-expert.html

Patrick Cripps

Carlton Football Club Captain and 2022 AFL Brownlow Medalist, Crippa as he’s well known, is passionate about health & wellbeing. He supports young people to develop their AFL skills through the Ball Magnets fitness app and helps raise funds and bring smiles to the faces of children fighting cancer working with the “My Room” charity.

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AIA Vitality is a science-backed program that helps you learn more about your health,
offers ways to improve it and motivates you with rewards along the way.

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