This week in the PAC

Headed to Washington DC to present at the local annual USA Hockey Coaching Clinic's, which is required that all bench coaches involved with USA Hockey maintain a certain level of certification. This is a great way to build relationships, learn from our mistakes, give back, set goals, encourage debate and discuss disagreements. From the clinic's I have attended and presented at my impression is that the coaches are there because it is required.

In creative positions like athletic coaching, when there is little to no choice it can cause people to become suspicious, defensive and resist from the very beginning. The other pearl I found was once the coach has met the requirement which is basically just showing up, they have a choice which is to decide how they want to spend their time at these clinic's.

Your choice, or is it?

"When I was a little boy, my parents told me what to do, and scolded me when I didn't. When I went to school my teachers told me what to do, and caned me if I didn't. When I joined the army, the sergeant told me what to do and God help me if I didn't, so I did! When I got my first job my boss told me what to do too. So when I reached a position of some authority, what did I do? I told people what to do, because that is what all my role models had done. That is true for most of us, we have been brought up on telling and we are very good at it."

Athlete's Education

Identify the learning process while educating your athlete's. 

1. Ego motivated athlete is more concerned with proving himself to others rather than improving himself or others. These athlete's are easily identified in the weight room with "how much can you lift" on the field with "over complected celebrations and trash talk. And they can be very difficult to coach because they tend to be preoccupied. 
2. Task/goal motivated athlete this athlete loves progressive tasks,  fiercely competitive, focus on achievement, feel successful when they gain skill and knowledge while thinking about how to get better at tasks. 
3. Team motivated athletes learns and performs best when they interact with groups of people, they don't enjoy working independently or focusing on topic's separately from the team.  
4. Learning motivated athletes enjoy practice and becomes aware of his or her skill set through continuous practice. They set out to seek knowledge and awareness of there skill, i.e. faster times, performance in the gym, wins and losses.... body awareness and team or sport awareness. The learning motivated athlete steers clear of anyone trying to pull them down or people that have a negative outlook on themselves and others. 

A State of Health Coaching Youth Sports

Early specialization = early drop out

Lack of confidence in playing skills = withdrawal from activity

Lack of physical education k-12

Kids under train and over compete

Long competitive youth seasons with increase risk in injury

Limited experienced and knowledgeable coaches

The best most experienced coaches teach the best athletes

Parents under educated in the athletic development process

Youth progress to the next level without acquiring the proper skills 

Coaching what is it?

Sport coach, bench coach, strength coach, conditioning coach, skills coach, rehab coach and so on... What is the principle behind coaching athletes, is it different with each coaching group? Are there general rules and concepts? I find a ton of information on the how to apply techniques, tactics, rehab, performance programs, sports specific with some general thoughts, cues and ideas but no real meat and potatoes. What does coaching athletics mean to you?

An Intelligent Nervous System

Great athletes' will talk about calm experiences of "Slowing Down Time" a process of taking in large amounts of information much more quickly than usual and storing that information in the subconscious mind. The perception of time will have different effects on different athletes but time will remain the same. What separates the good from the great is the ability to bridge the gap from the subconscious and the conscious mind. The great athletes can see each individual movement, it's sequence of segments and scan through the universal principles in their mind to figure out which movements to apply to their current position for an optimal result. Over time this process becomes natural to the athlete and eventually they see movements in a blink. 

The Fuel

FEED THE FURNACE. The goal is to find the foods that fuel the body, game in - game out.

The furnace is your metabolism and it's role is breaking down and digesting food, converting food to energy, storing food for energy, repairing damaged bones and tissues, making new cells cleaning out toxins and manufacturing hormones. A functional metabolism will produce good energy, which then produces normal weight, good muscle mass, strong bones and excellent psychological and physical health.

Functional Foods that Improve Energy

Protein - eggs, meat, poultry, fish, wild game

Carbohydrates - fresh or frozen fruits, 100% fruit juice, starchy vegetables, such as sweet potato, yams, potato, carrots, beets turnips etc... and above ground starchy vegetables

Fats- saturated fat from lean meats and poultry, cheese, butter, coconut oil, olive oil.

Dysfunctional Foods that Suppress Energy Production

Vegetable protein (soy, legumes, nuts, seeds)

Carbohydrates from grain and legumes

Polyunsaturated fats from vegetable oils

A Common Thread

Common threads I look for within the experts are a set of principles that have a universal application with acute variables and progressions for a specific outcome. I can see the different philosophies and programs (which is a good thing due to the fact the amount of people out there) but if there is a lack of agreement on the general set of principles with respect to the body, there will be chaos.  

There are brilliant people in the rehabilitation/ health / fitness/ performance/ coaching world, I would even say GENIUS but as history will show they have been unable to agree with each other. Can we rely on them alone to help us understand the true drivers of success and happiness in health, fitness and vitality? 

The players coach

"Quality leadership means knowing when it's time to guide athletes and when it's time to allow athletes to guide you" - The players coach. 

quality's of the player's coach

Values

Intense curiosity

Quest for knowledge

Honesty

Truthfulness

Courage to question

Acceptance after proof/verification

Team Spirit

Wiliness to fail

Wiliness to change

Achieving things, not avoiding them

Fundamental before Skill

What athletes' want in a Coach - nfhs

Competence

Approachability

Adaptability

Support

Fairness

Motivation

Personal Concern

Are YOU Running with the Devil?

• lacking sleep 
  
• over consume alcohol
• smoking
• recreational drugs
• surrounding yourself w/ negative or "know it all people" 
• lack proper recovery 
• poor eating habits
• lack proper hydration
• late nights
• anxiety
• stress
• over training

Check your Ego

"How an individual perceives success influences on the way they behave, think and feel in an achievement setting"
1. Ego Involved

• More concerned with how to prove rather than improve their ability
  
• Selfish
  
• Winning is everything
  
• Preoccupied
  

2. Task Involved

• Feel successful when they gain skill and knowledge
• Focus on achievement
• Primarily think about how to accomplish or get better at a task
• Fiercely Competitive

According to Warren Bennis great leaders didnt set out to be learders. "They'd had no interest in proving themselves, they just did what they loved-with tremendous drive and enthusiasm-and it led where it led" Mindset Dweck, PH.D. pg.82