Coach Harrison Bernstein joined the Gonzaga Football coaching staff the summer before my junior year. In addition to coaching the defensive backs, Coach Bernstein and his staff from Satori Sports developed and ran our summer conditioning program. While he was new to Gonzaga, his background as an assistant strength and conditioning coach for the Washington Redskins made his advice feel like gospel to our team.
While the conditioning program focused on the full range of movement required on a football field, the “final exam,” if you will, was the 40-yard dash, an event that carries something of a mystique in the football world. Despite players rarely running 40 yards in a straight line during an actual game, the 40 has long been a proving ground for high school and college athletes hoping to reach the next level.
Coach Bernstein and his staff walked us through every detail that contribute to a good 40 time, but most importantly, they emphasized the technique behind a proper start. Keep in mind, trying to teach me how to run a faster 40 was a bit like trying to help a glacier slide across the plains at a slightly faster pace. Still, I did my best to pay attention and learn.
Like many of my teammates, I had a tendency to pop straight up out of my stance or waste movement because my legs, arms, and shoulders weren’t working in sync. And naturally, when you’re trying to run as fast as possible, it’s easy to become erratic and out of control. To combat that tendency, Coach Bernstein would repeatedly say, in a calm and rhythmic manner:
“Slow is smooth, and smooth is fast.”
-Coach Harrison Bernstein
Life is full of paradoxes, and this coaching point was no different. It turns out that sprinting like a bat out of hell while flailing your arms and shaking your head around isn’t the most efficient way to get from Point A to Point B. His message was that by focusing on proper technique with smooth, controlled movement, we would actually become faster.
The working world can feel a lot like a 40-yard dash. There’s pressure to explode out of the blocks, exert maximum effort immediately, and prove to yourself and everyone around you just how badly you want success.
While that motivation isn’t inherently harmful, a closer look at people who achieve sustained long-term success often reveals a different approach. Their pace may not look as explosive at the starting line, but over time, their consistency, efficiency, and attention to detail ultimately get them across the finish line faster.
Coach Bernstein’s advice also applies to smaller day-to-day work assignments. Under pressure or facing a tight deadline, it’s easy to rush through a project or paperwork, only to realize later that mistakes were made and the entire thing needs to be revised thus doubling the amount of time and effort required.
It can feel good to come flying out of the blocks, guns blazing. But eventually, most people learn that long-term success comes from mastering the finer points of their craft, not simply relying on raw effort alone.
The end result? A pretty good 40 time.
“Slow is smooth, and smooth is fast.”
