Many will carry through life without ever knowing what it feels like to want something so bad, you’ll do whatever it takes to will it into existence. On the surface, achieving a great success in life may appear seemingly straightforward; defy all odds to reach your goal. However, the amount of persistence and grit that is required to get there is far more challenging than one could ever imagine.
A few years ago, Paul Fabritz was a struggling college student coming off a foot injury and training clients out of apartment gyms. Determined to get his big break, he applied for internships to virtually every NBA team only to face rejection and frequent bouts of silence. Instinctively, he could have given up, but instead used the rejection to fuel his desire to succeed. Finally, after years of dedication, Fabritz has established a name for himself and is now known as one of the top independent NBA strength coaches in the world.
With a client roster of MVP James Harden and top center Joel Embiid, players are now flocking to his off-season training program. And, although Fabritz put in countless hours to develop a unique performance program, exposure wasn’t always easy for him. He took his knowledge to Instagram with tips and exercises every day, sparking a major breakthrough. At one point Fabritz struck gold as he was gaining over 1,000 followers per day. Now at 337,000 followers, Paul admits that most NBA players, coaches and agents find him through the help of Instagram.
Double Down on What Works
After months of reaching out to NBA teams to no avail, Fabritz knew he had to take matters into his own hands and decided to open his own training facility. He devoted his time and energy into diving deep into science-based training, and sought out to optimize the longevity of every player’s career on-court. Fabritz consistently posted free tips and strategies on how to improve your vertical, strength, and endurance to showcase his knowledge to fellow athletes and trainers who, for many, had never been exposed to such tools.
Translating science into ‘easy to understand’ in-game techniques was a large part of Paul’s immediate connection with his followers and was quickly well received. Fabritz’ s page eventually spread like wildfire attracting top agents as well as elite NBA, WNBA and Professional Volleyball players. Paul stands by the belief that one should, “never underestimate the power of social media”, which has expanded his reach and catapulted his career to the next level.
Innovate or Perish
Fabritz uses new technology such as force plates, EMG and motion tracking with his clients to understand what areas of performance need improvement. He prides himself as being a “one stop shop”, focusing on improving client’s speed, quickness, multi-directional explosiveness, vertical, endurance, and strength. Fabritz exudes a noticeable passion and investment in his client’s achievements, which keeps them coming back year after year. He is also a former basketball player himself, which correlates seamlessly into his ability to truly relate with his athletes and develop a regimen that maximizes results by understanding exactly what they need.
Desiring to improve the game for athletes well beyond his geographical reach, Fabritz developed several subscription based online programs, which allows athletes around the world to train with him without limitation. His vertical jump and explosiveness program, among various others, currently has countless athletes training with Fabritz online from every continent around the globe.
Taking the road less traveled, Fabritz was able to turn his misfortunes and dreams into a reality with a grassroots start-up and an unwavering desire to ensure that athlete’s across the world would never lose out on their dreams of excelling due to injury or lack of training knowledge. As James Cameron best stated, “If you set your goals ridiculously high and it’s a failure, you will fail above everyone else’s success”. You can catch Paul seeking out new avenues to disrupt his space and challenging the status quo in the industry daily.