Tag: leadership

December 8, 2016

WYC 100 – Personality Science – James Leath & Will Drumright discuss Hot Topics in Sport Psychology from the AASP

The Association for Applied Sport Psychology National meeting was a few weeks ago – so for Episode 100 we invited 2 of our favorite sport psychology guys who attended to share with us some lessons learned.

James Leath has been a WYC guest previously in episodes 61, 50 and 31. James’ first interview on the show, WYC Episode 31, was a huge hit and is the #1 downloaded episode all-time on the show.

Will Drumright is a sport psychology coach who has worked with Dr. Rob Bell, providing mental skills and performance psychology training to coaches, athletes, and teams. Will focuses on the high school and middle school athletes. Will is also a professional Ultimate Frisbee player and coaches the local high school Ultimate Frisbee team.

Both guys now work for IMG Academy, one of the world’s premier training schools for athletes in many different sports.

Twitter: @jamesleath; @wcdrummy15

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Listen Now:

Listen on iTunes: iTunes link

Listen on Stitcher: Stitcher link

Listen on Google Play Music: Google Play link

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Energy Building

Rock-Paper-Scissors-Cheerleader – Great activity to start meetings/practices

How has sport psych work evolved over the past year?

Looking at the individual not just the athlete
A move from strategy and X’s and O’s to focus on developing people
Be-Know-Do
Personality science vs brain science

More emerging trends

Are you teaching your kids about failure? Don’t rob them of what it feels like to not be good enough. A carefree childhood sets up your kids to not know how to deal with failure, a bad coach, or a bad boss.

How about youth coaches?

Listen to podcasts, read blogs, read books
Great books on how kids learn/succeed:
- How Children Succeed by Paul Tough
- Influence-The Psycology of Persuasion by Robert Cialdini
- Talent is Overrated by Geoff Colvin
- The Talent Code by Daniel Coyle

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Today’s Sponsors

I Youth Football helps coaches, organizations, or parents teach football skills to kids ages 3-11. Not only does I Youth Football guarantee your players increase their skills, they will give you individualized pricing based on your situation. So if you are a coach or want your local organization to run I Youth Football in your area, visit them at www.iyouthfootball.com and reach out. It’s simple to set up, and a nice way to earn a little side money while helping kids learn the game of football. To get $100 off the program be sure to use this coupon code: winning

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August 3, 2016

WYC 087 – Youth Basketball and Football – Pelle Nejman talks learning styles and developing culture

Pelle Nejman is a Philadelphia native and graduate from Penn State’s Sports broadcasting school. He is a teacher and coach in Danville, Pennsylvania. He has coached football and currently coaches girls basketball.

Listen Now:

Listen on iTunes: iTunes link

Listen on Stitcher: Stitcher link

Listen on Google Play Music: Google Play link

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A few days left to sign up: Coaching Mastery – with John O’Sullivan

Many of you know that I work closely with John O’Sullivan and the Changing the Game Project. John’s is an internationally known writer and speaker, as well as a former professional soccer player and longtime coach. We share a lot of each others content as we work to transform youth sports and make it a better place for coaches to coach, and for players to play.

This week – for the first and only time in 2016 – John is releasing his amazing online video series called “Coaching Mastery.” He first ran this course in the Fall of 2014, and since then coaches from nearly every sport, from over a dozen different continents, have called it one of the most unique and inspirational coaching courses they had ever done. I was lucky enough to be one of the select few coaches John offered it to last year, and the things I learned really blew me away.

See, this course is not your traditional X’s and O’s course. It is all about things such as the psychology of performance and leadership, how to build a winning team culture, and even how to educate your team parents so they don’t drive you up the wall. He has some amazing interviews with some of the world’s leading experts in sport science and psychology, coaching, and leadership. The things you will learn in this course will take yoru coaching, and your teams, to a whole new level.

This course is truly one of a kind.

If you are interested in this type of coaching, John has asked me to invite all of you to his FREE video series, where over the next 2 weeks you will learn many of these things, and hear from some amazing experts. You also get a free eBook copy of his international bestseller Changing The Game: The Parents Guide to Raising Happy, High-Performing Athletes and Giving Youth Sports Back to Our Kids just for registering for the FREE series. All you have to do to get over an hour of this one of a kind coaching and leadership training, plus a free book, is go here and sign up:

Click here to get started

I know I am looking forward to the 2016 version of Coaching Mastery and I am confident that many of you will get a ton from this free video series. Its all new content, and I can’t wait to get started.

Again, if you want to join, just sign up here.

I look forward to hearing your thoughts on this course.

(I am an affiliate for this course, so if you decide to sign up – please sign up through one of the links above – Thanks!!)

Quote

‘Things may come to those who wait, but only things left by those who hustle’ – Abraham Lincoln

My Cringe Moments

I talked WAY too much

Teaching Skills

Different learning styles – Some kids are visual, some audio, some hands on – So use multiple styles to teach
Break everything down into small groups. If he has 15 girls, he will break down into 5 stations of 3.
When running plays – split the court in 2 and stand in the middle and have 2 groups running a bunch of reps

Mental Toughness/Achieving Peak Performance

It starts with you being calm as a coach. If tension is building in a game- call a timeout and tell a joke and be relaxed.

Culture – Discipline/Rewards/Teambuilding

It all starts with establishing standards.
Post-game meetings: It’s best to praise and acknowledge accomplishments.
HUGE IDEA – Tell some of the other teachers at the school about an accomplishment that a kid on your team did – it’s really big for a kid to have another adult acknowledging them

Connecting with and Impacting Kids

Talk about the elephant in the room. After starting a season 0-7, Pelle started their next practice on a white board with the words ‘Why do we suck?’ – Girls got a kick out of it and had fun brainstorming about how to get better

The One that got away

After a terrible call by the refs at the end of the game – Pelle skipped the handshake line and chased down the refs in the parking lot – big regret

Best borrowed/stolen idea

Mini-games and it’s all about the # of touches

Favorite coaching book/quote

Quote: ‘Talent is a gift, but character is a choice’ – John Maxwell
Quote: ‘Things may come to those who wait, but only things left by those who hustle’ – Abraham Lincoln
Quote: ‘Develop a cause beyond yourself, try to make the world a better place because you were here’ – Joe Hermann

Parting Advice

Develop a culture that you believe in with your team – and stick to it

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Related Episodes

Episode 22 – Kevin Furtado – Girls basketball coach

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July 26, 2016

WYC 086 – Championship Culture – Live from the Way of Champions Transformational Coaching Conference

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Today’s episode is a bit different from the norm, instead of interviewing a great coach, this week’s episode is a compilation of the interviews I did while at the conference. There are a few sound bites with me sharing a lesson I learned, and definitely don’t miss the 18 minute interview with the leaders – I call them the 3 J’s – Dr. Jerry Lynch, John O’Sullivan, and James Leath. So hopefully this is a great way for you to be able to absorb a little of the great content even if you weren’t able to make it out to Colorado. Also – just FYI – they are planning to do 2 or 3 more of these conferences around the country next year, so stay tuned at changingthegameproject.com or wayofchampions.com.

Listen Now:

Listen on iTunes: iTunes link

Listen on Stitcher: Stitcher link

Listen on Google Play Music: Google Play link

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Coaching Mastery – with John O’Sullivan

This course is truly one of a kind.

Click here to get started

Again, if you want to join, just sign up here.

I look forward to hearing your thoughts on this course.

(I am an affiliate for this course, so if you decide to sign up – please sign up through one of the links above – Thanks!!)

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Interviews & Sound Bites from WOC Conference

Craig – Description of how to create self-affirmation 3×5 card
Craig – Description of fun Rock,Paper,Scissors,Cheerleader Energy Builder
18 minute interview of Dr. Lynch, John O’Sullivan, and James Leath: Self-affirmation; Building Energy levels at the beginning of practice; Building championship culture in our families; Taking ONE action; Simplifying your playbook; the importance of relationships: Video Link
Craig – 11 attributes of culture: Dr. Jerry Lynch uses the acronym STRONG FACTS to list the steps to build championship culture.
- Selflessness
- Trust
- Respect
- Oneness
- Never Quit
- Gratefulness
- Fearlessness
- Awareness
- Confidence
- Thoughtfulness
- Sacrifice
- I summarize the last ‘S’ in the acronym, Sacrifice, from atop the Flatirons at Chataugua
  - ‘The pathway to greatness is through suffering’
Interview with Maureen Monte: Author of Destination Unstoppable – Team success; Focus on the human system of success
Interview with Alicia Steinhilber – From Nashville FC Youth Soccer – Discusses the Iceland Thunder Clap and the New Zealand All Blacks ‘Haka’; Playing with the heart; Eye contact with your audience/team
Interview with Athletic Director and 2 basketball coaches from the host school Shining Mountain Waldorf School – Mike Hawkes, Tim Crouthers, Chris Bremner – The power of positivity; Learning to teach vs. spitting out information; Building confidence, especially in females; Eye Contact and being in a circle to start practices
Interview with Kevin Peters – Be a storyteller
Interview with Josh Severns – From Nashville FC Youth Soccer – Building culture is a process not an event. Trust takes time to build. It start with being a good example; Meditation and breathing.
Interview with Kevin Kirk – Golf Performance Center at the Woodlands – The power and influence a coach has
Interview with Tony Libert – Parents and coaches – Release the game to the kids; ‘Coaches are a flashlight not a search light’
Nate Sanderson, girls High School basketball at Springville High School and Breakthroughbasketball.com coach, shared a powerful 4 minute video from his team’s state championship game last year – the amazing thing to watch in the video is observe what the teammates do for each other after any mistake. Nate’s quote: ‘We needed to interrupt the negative thought process in the midst of games, so we implemented what you see in the video.’
- Video link

There are more than a dozen other great videos taken from the conference, check them all out here: WYC Facebook page

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July 15, 2016

Special Insight on Culture – Live from the Way of Champions Transformational Coaching Conference

We’re taking a break in our 10 part series on culture this week to allow you to be able to peak inside the brains of some of the leading experts on creating championship culture.

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I was blessed to be 1 of the 68 coaches who attended this conference, and since I know many of you would have loved to be there, I wanted to share a few powerful lessons I walked away with. Also – just FYI – they are planning to do 2 or 3 more of these conferences around the country next year, so stay tuned at changingthegameproject.comor wayofchampions.com.

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I could write many pages of notes on the lessons I learned, but I know many of you are like me, where you learn more through audio and video, so here are the most powerful videos that capture the essence of the conference:

18 minute interview of Dr. Lynch, John O’Sullivan, and James Leath. Broken into 2 parts:
- Part 1
- Part 2

Nate Sanderson, girls High School basketball at Springville High School and Breakthroughbasketball.com coach, shared a powerful 4 minute video from his team’s state championship game last year – the amazing thing to watch in the video is observe what the teammates do for each other after any mistake. Nate’s quote: ‘We needed to interrupt the negative thought process in the midst of games,so we implemented what you see in the video.’
- Video link
Dr. Jerry Lynch uses the acronym STRONG FACTS to list the steps to build championship culture.
- Selflessness
- Trust
- Respect
- Oneness
- Never Quit
- Gratefulness
- Fearlessness
- Awareness
- Confidence
- Thoughtfulness
- Suffering
- I summarize the last ‘S’ in the acronym, Suffering, from atop the Flatirons at Chataugua, in this 1 minute video:
  - Video Link
  - ‘The pathway to greatness is through suffering’
There are more than a dozen other great videos taken from the conference, check them all out here: WYC Facebook page

Also, for you audio learners, next week’s WYC podcast will be a compilation of the audio I recorded at the conference, so look forward to that. WYC Podcasts

Next week we’ll dive back into our 10 part series on culture and look at recognition and rewards.

Team first – Link to post
Team Cornerstones – Link to post
Positive Environment – Which dog are you feeding? – Link to post
Recognition & Rewards
Captains
Parents
Building Trust
Seek First to Understand
Coaching your own kid
Perspective & Giving Back

July 15, 2016

WYC 085 – Performance Training – Bryan Schwebke talks Building a Strong Base

Dr. Bryan Schwebke is the founder of Paramount Performance as well as a performance physical therapist, coach and consultant. Bryan has worked with some of the world’s best athletes as well as many college and youth athletes. He is dedicated to providing athletes and their parents with the guidance, education and tools to safely and efficiently reach their goals.

Website: paramountperformancept.com

Facebook: /ParamountPerformancePT

Twitter: @ParamountPfrmPT & @BryanSchwebke

Youtube: Paramount Performance

Listen Now:

Listen on iTunes: iTunes link

Listen on Stitcher: Stitcher link

Listen on Google Play Music: Google Play link

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Quote

‘On the day of victory, no fatigue is felt’

Topics/Questions

What is the biggest problem you notice with the athletes you see on a daily basis?
- Their base isn’t strong enough to support what they are trying to do
What do you think is causing this problem?
- Throwing kids into strenuous environments too early – specifically travel teams
What happens if you don’t have a strong base ?
- Performance is decreased and recovery time from injury is increased
How can you fix or build a strong base? How do you know if you don’t have a strong base?
- You probably don’t. Have them evaluated by a physical therapist and create a gameplay. This could start around 5th grade.
What is the Athlete Centered Model and what is your Performance Team?
- Instead of having 4 or 5 different people coming up with a gameplan for an athlete (physical therapist, nutritionist, skills coach, personal trainer) – have all of them work together to come up with a joint gameplan
What are the biggest restrictions to coaches and parents not being able to give their kids a good base.
- Lack of education and understanding where to invest your time and money as a parent
Multi-sport athletes have advantages
- Story on multi-sport athletes: Steve Boyle podcast

Self-confidence & Peak mental performance

Visualization can be key to recovering from injury
It does NOT mean you are weak if you need to practice and work on the mental side of the game
Visualization – free throw shooters who had 60% average
- Practiced 500 shots per day – improved to 70%
- Visualized their shot for 20 minutes per day – improved to 83%
- Practiced 500 shots per day and visualized 20 minutes per day – improved to 85%
Website: paramountperformancept.com

Functional warm-ups

Make sure it’s applicable to the sport you are playing
Needs to activate the muscles
A couple good examples:
- Alan Stein’s basketball warm-up – Link
- Amanda Kephart’s warm-up description – Link

Outside of practice:

1 – Forget your ego – You probably aren’t an expert in performance training – learn from others

2 – Promote multiple sports

3 – Promote education for parents and athletes on why it’s important

4 – There’s more to being a coach than just practicing – bring in other experts – nutritionists, personal trainers, sports psychologist

Favorite quote

Quote: ‘On the day of victory, no fatigue is felt’

Paramount Performance

Check them out – they can help you find and vet local trainers in your area
Website: paramountperformancept.com

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July 7, 2016

WYC 084 – Youth Basketball – Ryan Hohman talks Starting your own Youth Sports Program from scratch

Ryan Hohman has lived in the Pennsbury School District for 29 years and has been working with children since he was ten years old when his mother ran an in home daycare out of his home in the Thornridge section of Levittown. He attended West Chester University and graduated with a degree in education, and after two years of teaching in the city of Philadelphia, Ryan returned to Pennsbury where he has served as a Language Arts teacher and head basketball coach at William Penn Middle School for the past 10 years. Coach Hohman has established a reputation as a dedicated and passionate teacher both in the classroom and on the court. He has established Lady Falcons Elite Hoops to offer the level of basketball instruction that the girls of his beloved community deserve. Coach Hohman lives in the North Park section of Levittown with his wife Brooke and their two daughters Joley and Nola.

Facebook: /LFEHoops

Website: ladyfalconselitehoops.org

Listen Now:

Listen on iTunes: iTunes link

Listen on Stitcher: Stitcher link

Listen on Google Play Music: Google Play link

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Quote

‘It’s about we, not about me‘

If you can’t find the youth sports program you want…start your own!

Ryan was frustrated with the lack of attention the leaders of the youth basketball program were giving to the girls side of the program
They did a bunch of research on how to start a non-profit, did a Gofundme, and launched program with 250+ girls in the 1st year and going into year 3 they will have 450+ girls!

Coaching your own kids

‘You told me to pass more’ – Ryan was very stubborn when his dad coached him, and one time after scoring 27 points, his dad told him to pass more, so for the next couple games Ryan overreacted and took it to the opposite spectrum
Ryan goes with the ‘I love to watch you play’ after coaching his daughters
Ryan wants ‘Try-hards’ – kids that give it their all

My Cringe Moments

Most of all of Ryan’s cringe moments are sarcastic things he said to refs
The second thing was he used to take the results of all the games way too personally

Teaching Skills

You have to establish what the core fundamentals are that the level of kids you are coaching need
Make skill work fun and turn it into a game
With smaller kids it often starts with their feet!
Good game: Defensive slide duck-duck-goose: So you play the normal game but have to do defensive slide when running around the circle.
Another good game: Jump stop Mr. Fox

Mental Toughness/Achieving Peak Performance

Biggest thing a coach can do to help his kids: SMILE. Remind them that this is fun
Jay Bilas’ book Toughness talks about ‘Next Play’ – you can’t worry about previous plays, bad calls, etc. – you need to focus on the Next Play
All you can control is yourself and preparation, so don’t worry about things outside of your control

Culture – Discipline/Rewards/Teambuilding

Anytime they refer to people involved in the program they talk about the LFE Family. They constantly hashtag #LFEFamily
Establishing mentors within the program – Have the older girls connect with the younger girls
The standard is that everyone is going to work hard

Connecting with and Impacting Kids

Ryan coached a team that had a really tough situation with a girl who had a serious eating disorder – the team rallied around helping this girl out and it actually brought the team together

The One that got away

They have one team that spooks his girls – the best thing he has found is just to be prepared.

Best borrowed/stolen idea

Rick Pitino – ‘As I go through practice, I try to make corrections in 7 seconds or less.’ There needs to be a rhythm and pace to your practice. For youth- maybe this needs to be 20 seconds.
Tharp Gallimore study of John Wooden’s practice: What a Coach can Teach a Teacher

Favorite coaching book/quote

Book: Leading with the Heart by Coach K
Book: Toughness by Jay Bilas
Quote: ‘It’s about we, not about me’

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June 20, 2016

WYC 083 – Youth Baseball – Troy Silva talks 9 Innings of Hitting

Troy Silva is the author of the #1 bestselling book on Amazon & iTunes for coaching baseball – 9 Innings of Hitting. Troy spends his days coaching baseball at Rijo Athletics in the Seattle area. Troy has spent his life playing and coaching baseball, including being drafted by the Cleveland Indians in 1997 and playing 6 years of professional baseball. Troy is married and has 3 beautiful children.

Book: 9 Innings of Hitting

Twitter: @TroyPSilva

Facebook: /Rijo-Athletics-Baseball-Softball-49661522946

Websites: rijoathletics.com ; rijobaseball.tv

Listen Now:

Listen on iTunes: iTunes link

Listen on Stitcher: Stitcher link

Listen on Google Play Music: Google Play link

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Quote

‘Hitters have to be smart enough to have a good approach and dumb enough to get in there and hit.’

Pretty swings vs. developing consistent swings in players

Swing instruction is different than hitting instruction – you need someone to develop the concept of hitting. It starts with the swing, but that’s just the first step in the process of hitting.

Each individual has different needs

Early on while Troy was coaching – he realized that kids weren’t necessarily getting better, they were just looking better. He was trying to teach them all one way to swing, instead of working with each individual’s strengths.

Mental Toughness

There is a huge difference between expecting to hit the ball vs. trying to hit the ball
Mental approach actually has a physical effect on batspeed

Mental approach – how do you not overthink when at the plate?

‘Hitters have to be smart enough to have a good approach and dumb enough to get in there and hit.’
‘Free hitters up to be athletic and just get in there and compete’
Quiet the mind – it’s ok to be thinking about 1 thing while at bat – just don’t start complicating it by thinking of 5 or 10 different things you need to do

Teaching progression

A great start is just to have kids watch their favorite big-leaguer and copy what they are seeing.
Start with mechanics. Then it comes down to the individual and what they need to become a productive hitter. Great progression chart in the book 9 Innings of Hitting

Should we teach the ‘oppo first’ approach when setting up our batting practices?

You should learn power first and how to swing hard BEFORE learning how to hit to the opposite field

HIT – Honor, Integrity, Truth

As a Christian, Troy uses baseball to be a light in a dark world.
As a coach your job is to be a mentor and positive influence in these young peoples’ lives.

The One that got away

Being drafted as a pitcher was really tough for Troy

Best borrowed/stolen idea

Ed Sheft – Mental toughness – You have to know you are better than your competitor

Favorite coaching/leadership quote/book

Personal experience is the best teacher

Rijo Athletics and 9 Innings of Hitting

Online video hitting/fielding portal with over 300 videos: rijobaseball.tv
Book by Jose Rijo: Creating Winning Relationships through Sports

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June 8, 2016

WYC 082 – Youth Football – Greg Robinson talks offseason skill development & iYouthFootball

Greg Robinson has spent 6 years developing a non-contact system to train athletes ages 3 to 11 to catch, throw, and kick footballs. In 2015 he helped launch iYouthFootball to do just that. iYouthFootball is a system that can be brought to any town and can be taught by anyone regardless of their level of football experience. In this episode we discuss this system as well as other secrets to teaching kids skills.

Twitter: @iYouthFootball

Facebook: /iyouthfootball

Website: iyouthfootball.com

Listen Now:

Listen on iTunes: iTunes link

Listen on Stitcher: Stitcher link

Listen on Google Play Music: Google Play link

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iYouthFootball

Complete training curriculums for coaches, orgs, and parents to teach fb skills on the field to kids ages 3-11.
Great chance to improve skills for a position you don’t get to play on with your team (i.e. a big/tall kid who wants to play quarterback but because of his size always gets put on the line)
They offer complete training packages and territory ownership to coaches, parents, and/or organizations
Website: iyouthfootball.com

Teaching Skills

Set the expectations up front. With the parents and the kids – This is what we are going to be learning, and these are the expectations of how you need to act so that we can achieve these goals.
Age-appropriate – Make sure you are making your drills age appropriate – this includes the size of the ball you are using.

Impacting Kids

The ultimate satisfaction as a coach is seeing the lightbulb go off when teaching a kid how to improve a skill

Best borrowed/stolen idea

Greg’s high school football coach is in the Pennsylvania hall of fame – and he was a disciplinarian, who kept things simple and would only run a few plays but they would practice them over and over again until they perfected them. The details are important. RUN LESS PLAYS!

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May 31, 2016

WYC 081 – Building Culture – John Doss talks building a program with awesome culture

John just finished his first year as the the Brownsburg Lacrosse High School Head Coach after 2 years as the 7th/8th grade coach. John played collegiate lacrosse as a goalie at San Jose State University. He was named a West Coast Lacrosse League (WCLL) All-Star 3 times. Coach Doss also played 3 years of post-collegiate lacrosse with San Francisco Lacrosse Club and still remains active as a player with DOGS Lacrosse in Indianapolis.

John previously joined us in WYC Episode 52, but I asked him to join us again to share the awesome ways he has built an incredible culture into his program.

Twitter: @laxcoachdoss

Websites: brownsburglacrosse.com; indyelitelacrosse.com

Listen Now:

Listen on iTunes: iTunes link

Listen on Stitcher: Stitcher link

Listen on Google Play Music: Google Play link

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Starting a High School program

Communication
- High school kids don’t check email much – so you might have to text or use a social media group
- Own it – if the kids aren’t understanding something, that’s on me, not them
Everything starts with trust – ‘Build a relationship so strong that it bears the weight of honesty’

Mission 2 Assist

How do you have kids value assists as much as goals?
John used system described by Willie Cromack in WYC Episode 63:
- John worked with 3 of the team captains to let them take ownership of it
- They partnered with an adaptive sports wheelchair lacrosse program
- They used the walk-a-thon type forms to fundraise – but used assists as the pledge criteria
- By the end of the season they have raised almost $10k for that organization
- Link to Go Play Better: GoPlayBetter.com

Culture and pre-game routine

They have helmet stickers with 3 chain links. In their pre game they link arms and talk about how strong a chain is and how they are there to play for the person on their right and left
The second part of their pre-game routine they share with each other what they are grateful for
The final thing they do is visualize, as specifically as possible, the success they are going to have in the game

Post-game talks & the 24 Hour Rule

John has converted the 24 hour rule that he uses with parents (parents don’t talk to me about issues for at least 24 hours after a game)- he now uses that same rule to not point out issues to his players immediately after the game. They usually aren’t in the mindset to listen or learn, so he saves it for the next practice.

Communicating with players – the ‘0 for 2’ Rule

When communicating instructions from the sideline – be careful not to go 0 for 2 – meaning your communication had a negative tone, and had no instructional value. Yelling ‘play harder’ or ‘catch the ball’ are examples of 0 for 2 communication.

Free Play Saturdays

This summer John is telling parents they can drop off their kids from 4 to 6 every Saturday and there will be pick-up games. Their will be 2 or 3 coaches there to make sure everyone is staying safe, but other than they the coaches are staying out of the way and letting the kids figure out teams, resolve arguments, pretty much do everything themselves. This is great not only for developing their skills, but it also teaches them conflict resolution and many other great life skills.

Parting Advice

John asked one of his kids: ‘If I told you that if you practiced wall-ball for 25 minutes 3 times per week that I would guarantee you start and play 100% of the time next season, would you do it?’ – The kid answered ‘Yes’, then John asked him ‘Then why aren’t you doing that now?’ John uses this challenge to let kids know that things in life aren’t guaranteed, but if you prepare with the mindset that you are going to outwork your competition, most of the time you are going to have great success

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May 19, 2016

WYC 080 – Youth Baseball – David Klein talks Living a Legends Life

David Klein is the founder and Camp Director of the Menlo Park Legends Youth Summer camps – a premier collegiate summer baseball team and youth baseball camps in California. The Legends youth summer camp has nearly doubled in size every summer and the camp boasts over a 90% camper return rate. David and his staff have thousands of kids through the Legends camp program in 6 years and have been featured in a number of local blogs and newspapers. They also feature a youth academy and an exciting new podcast!

Twitter: @MenloDave

Facebook: /MenloParkLegends

Website/Podcast:menloparklegends.com

Listen Now:

Listen on iTunes: iTunes link

Listen on Stitcher: Stitcher link

Listen on Google Play Music: Google Play link

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Quote

‘If you work hard and focus on the little things – good things will happen’

My Cringe & ‘Ah-Ha’ Moments

Early on he always taught kids to swing down on the baseball
Early on David did not spend very much time on the mental side of the game

Teaching Skills

Make a game and competition out of everything in practice
Be vocal, high-energy – and connect with the kids!

Mental Toughness/Achieving Peak Performance

Visualize your successes before they happen
Breathing- Breathing in oxygen into your lungs reduces cortisol levels/stress hormones
Have the kids develop a personal power statement – and have them create few words that represent that and write them somewhere (inside of their hats) to anchor on
Track Quality-at-bats instead of batting average

Culture – Discipline/Rewards/Teambuilding

Positive reinforcement works better than negative disciplines
For your rules – establish them at the beginning of the season, not in the middle
David emphasizes ‘looking the part’ – looking well dressed and being organized as a team
Praise progress instead of purely praising results
Post-game talk: Spend a few minutes debriefing – what worked well today, what can we work on in practice, acknowledge kids helping the team and progressing. Don’t get too high or too low!

Connecting with and Impacting Kids

‘If you work hard and focus on the little things – good things will happen’ – David took over a team that was 0-4 and he told them he believed in them and if they work hard good things will happen – they went on to win the league championship

The One that Got Away

David coached a team that was in a championship game and the umpires made the worst call he had ever seen – and his team went nuts – to the point the umpires called the game in the 8th inning. David learned that as the coach – you have to be in control no matter what- and you cannot let your players or coaches get out of control

Best stolen idea

From his Dad – ‘You can please all of the people some of the time, some of the people all of the time, but you can never please all of the people all of the time.’
Qualityatbats.com – from Steve Springer

Podcast

Link: A Legends Life Podcast
Applying lessons from the diamond into a legendary life off the field – includes interviews with many former big-leaguers

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May 12, 2016

WYC 079 – Mental Performance – Lindsey Wilson talks breaking out of slumps and coaching girls

As the Co-Founder and Product/Program guru for Positive Performance, Lindsey works with athletes and coaches to unlock player and team potential through mental performance training. As an athlete, Lindsey had the privilege to play on many successful teams and collect an impressive playing resume along the way. As a mental training coach, Lindsey has developed mental performance training tools and techniques for universities, teams, and organizations across the globe.

Twitter: @lindseywilson13

Facebook: /positiveperformance

Website/blog: positiveperformancetraining.com

Listen Now:

Listen on iTunes: iTunes link

Listen on Stitcher: Stitcher link

Listen on Google Play Music: Google Play link

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Quote

‘Change happens slowly and then all at once’

Visualization

Make it realistic (i.e.- I will never be able to dunk) – but make it a little out of reach
Your mind will naturally think of both positive and negative thoughts – be prepared for this & acknowledge the negative though non-judgementally
BRAVR exercise – 5 minute pre-practice visualization routine – download it for free: positiveperform.clickfunnels.com/5min-a

Confidence in Girls vs. Boys

Girls develop the ability to read faces much earlier than boys – so because of that they are often looking for positive affirmation much more than boys. The danger of this is the girls might stop taking risks.
Typically girls have a much stronger need to create harmony within the team. Hunter-gatherer theory: As men were out hunting by themselves, the women were back raising children with the other women – so the need to get along was very important.
Socially – as men move up the corporate ladder, they are more liked. The opposite is true for women, as they move up and are more successful, they typically are less liked.

How to get out of a slump

Sometimes we actually like the extra attention
Momentum – It’s easier to keep going the direction we are going – so even if it’s a negative direction, we keep going. You have to break that negative path. Self-Talk is a great way to do it. We think 50,000 words per day- and the majority of it is negative (that’s a survival technique.)
‘To be successful you have to lie to yourself a little bit. If you are not failing a lot – you are not pushing yourself hard enough, so realistically most of your time should be spent pushing yourself through those failures. But that’s mentally hard to get excited about, so you have to lie to yourself a little bit.’
Great post: positiveperformancetraining.com/slump/

Connecting with and Impacting Kids

Lindsey shares a story of a 10 year-old girl who had lost confidence and hope, and was crying during games. Lindsey worked with the girl and her parents to re-establish a guiding light and hope to break out of that mindset. The girl is 14 now and is doing great.

The One that Got Away

Not playing at the end of the championship game her freshman year and they lost by 1

Favorite coaching book/quote

Quote: ‘Change happens slowly and then all at once’
Book: The Inner Game of Tennis by W. Timothy Gallwey
Book: The Female Brain by Louann Brizendine
Book: Positivity by Barbara Frederickson – Great book for self-talk

Positive Performance Training

Website/blog: positiveperformancetraining.com
Free resources/ Webinars for coaching on confidence; coaching girls; mastering self-talk
Personal 1-on-1 coaching: LindseyWilsonCoaching.com

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May 3, 2016

WYC 078 – College Scholarships – Nicolae Popescu talks college recruiting

Nicolae Popescu has built WeGotPlayers for those athletes who dream, hustle and work hard to play at the next level. For those players, who always had the desire to train, learn, take risks and fail graciously. The kind of players who have character, values, work ethic and a sharp mindset that will push them to do whatever it takes to succeed.

WeGotPlayers is designed to inspire and empower players to reach their highest potential in sports and life. With so much information out there, it’s so hard to know where to start, what to do and who to trust. They are here to help you unleash your talent so it won’t get lost in the shadows of empty hopes. Navigating through the college recruiting process himself and thanks to all the wonderful and helpful coaches and teachers he worked with, Nicolae has been fortunate to earn a full athletic scholarship at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, CT.

Today, he’s a proud husband, father, entrepreneur and coach who always tries to positively influence and help guide players on and off the field achieve their sports dreams. This is what fulfills him and gives him the power, energy and strength to keep on inspiring others achieve their dreams. Nicolae’s story is just one example of how playing sports changed his life.

Twitter: @1NicolaePopescu

Facebook: /wegotplayers

Website/blog: wegotplayers.com

Listen Now:

Listen on iTunes: iTunes link

Listen on Stitcher: Stitcher link

Listen on Google Play Music: Google Play link

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Quote

‘Learn from your mistakes. Have the power and the strength within yourself. Lift yourself back up. Try again. And again.’

3-step plan for athlete to prepare for recruiting process

Evaluate –
- Has your athlete completed all academic requirements? Start looking at this in 9th grade.
- Be realistic athletically
Identify
- Identify some criteria you will be evaluating when looking at schools: geographic location, academic requirements, do they offer the major you want to study, coaching staff and playing philosophy
Connect
- The kids need to email the college coaches themselves

We Got Players

Website/blog: wegotplayers.com
A very low-cost tool to help educate parents and coaches on the recruiting process and help create a Linkedin-type resume to share with colleges

Connecting with and Impacting Kids

Nicolae shared a story of a sophomore in high school who just verbally committed to a Division 2 school. You can’t wait until your senior year to start this process! And most importantly – choose a school based on its academics, not athletics!

Teaching Skills

Communication is key – you have to be crystal clear explaining to the kids what you want them to do. Using language they understand.

The One that got away

From his junior college days – Nicolae had a free kick that he wishes he had played differently in a game that could have moved them on to the finals. Lessons learned: ‘Learn from your mistakes. Have the power and the strength within yourself. Lift yourself back up. Try again. And try again.’

Best borrowed/stolen idea

It doesn’t matter what level you are coaching at – always remember who you coach. It’s not about you being a great coach, it’s about you knowing and developing young men and women.

Other recruiting services

Parting Advice

Enjoy the journey. Educate yourself and learn. Use lots of positive feedback, especially at younger ages. Keep it fun.

Reviews are the lifeblood of the podcast!- If you like the podcast- please take 2 minutes to write a review! Click here

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April 22, 2016

Achieving Peak Mental Performance – Factor #2: We are what we repeatedly do

The Growth Mindset – 7 Key Factors to Achieve Peak Mental Performance

Factor #2 – We are what we repeatedly do

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‘We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.’ – Pete Carroll in Win Forever

The best way to minimize performance anxiety is practice: For every minute of a presentation, you need 1 hour of preparation – the same is true in sports. One of the best things you can do to prepare your athletes for high-pressure situations is to create practices that build up the confidence of players so when these types of situations occur in games they are experienced and know exactly what they are going to do. So how do you create practices like this? Here are some great guidelines:

Lots of small-sided games. Kids need lots of touches, and you get more touches with the ball if you are 3 on 3 vs. 5 on 5 or 11 on 11.

Freeplay is huge. No parents or coaches. Try having a silent Saturday – coaches and parents aren’t allowed to say ANYTHING.

Task design – from Stuart Armstrong of The Talent Equation and Reed Maltbie from CoachReed.com.
- Don’t jump in too early – many people get uncomfortable when they see someone struggling and not being able to get there quite yet- so they either jump in and solve it for them, or they move on. But this never allows the learning to happen. The moment when they are close to figuring it out is actually the sweet spot. So the players shouldn’t think everything is easy and fun – it should be a little frustrating and uncomfortable.
- Implicit Learning – False praise and spoon-feeding kids actually creates a fixed mindset in them. Create the task, then say very little – and observe their attempt to solve the problem, and observe what choices they make, then allow them through a questioning approach subsequent to the activity to feed back to you what they are experiencing, then allow them to solve problems.
- Give them a challenge, and see if one of the players can figure it out on their own. If one does – let him/her show the team. If not, give them a hint and let them keep trying.
- Design your practices like a video game designer: Create ‘levels’ that are within their reach, but it’s a big stretch that might feel just out of their reach. So when they figure something out – ask them ‘are you ready for level 2 now?’

Knowing that you are outworking your competition is a huge confidence-builder – I love the quote in a recent article about Kobe Bryant’s work ethic:

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“It’s not so much to do with the competition of the players and all this other stuff,” he said, “because I figured out at an early age, even if I showed them what it is that I do, they wouldn’t do it, just because it’s so boring and so much repetition that it takes a long time to do.”

– Article: Kobe Bryant’s shooting is part perspiration, all preparation

April 21, 2016

WYC 077 – Way of Champions Transformational Coaching – John O’Sullivan talks leadership

John pic Screen Shot 2015-04-21 at 12.38.07 PM

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John is the founder of the Changing the Game Project – whose mission is to is to ensure that we return youth sports to our children, and put the ‘play’ back in ‘play ball.’ They want to provide the most influential adults in our children’s lives – their parents and coaches – with the information and resources they need to make sports a healthy, positive, and rewarding experience for their children, and their whole family.

John started the Changing the Game Project in 2012 after two decades as a soccer player and coach on the youth, high school, college and professional level. He is the author of the #1 bestselling books Changing the Game: The Parents Guide to Raising Happy, High Performing Athletes, and Giving Youth Sports Back to our Kids and Is it Wise to Specialize? John is also a regular contributor for SoccerWire.com, and his writing has been featured in many publications including The Huffington Post and Soccer America. John is an internationally known speaker for coaches, parents and youth sports organizations, and has spoken for TEDx, the National Soccer Coaches Association of America, IMG Academy, and at numerous other events throughout the US, Canada and Europe. He resides in beautiful Bend, OR, with his wife, Dr Lauren O’Sullivan, and two wonderful children and aspiring young athletes: Maggie Shea, age 10, and Tiernan, age 8.

Twitter: @CTGProjectHQ

Facebook: /SportsParentingResourceCenter

Website/blog: changingthegameproject.com

Way of Champions Conference link: changingthegameproject.com/wocconference

Listen Now:

Listen on iTunes: iTunes link

Listen on Stitcher: Stitcher link

Listen on Google Play Music: Google Play link

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Way of Champions – Transformational Coaching Conference

Dr. Jerry Lynch is the founder of Way of Champions, and has been part of 35 national and world championship teams, from the Golden State Warriors to UNC Women’s Soccer. He is the author of 12 books on leadership, championship culture, and coaching/parenting to win in sport and life.

At the Way of Champions Coaching Conference, you will spend a weekend being inspired by Jerry, John, and dozens of other transformational leaders.

Early-bird pricing if you sign up before May 1st – Click here to see more details about the conference

Leadership – Great blog posts on Changing the Game Project

Bullying – Know the difference between being rude, being mean, and bullying – link to article
Captains – You have to train them! Also – just because a kid is a quiet introvert doesn’t mean they can’t be a captain – learn how to utilize their quieter leadership style to help lead the team.
How Adults take the joy out of sports – and how we can fix it – link to article

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