WYC 028 Strength & Conditioning – Robert Taylor from SmarterTeamTraining.com talks Doing One Perfect Rep Ten Times

What does it take to be a winning youth coach? Listen in as Coach Robert Taylor shares coaching stories and discusses his journey to becoming a successful coach.

Coach Taylor runs Smarter Team Training, which is involved with equipping and training athletes all over the world – his clients include Super Bowl champions, World Series champions, and players who have been drafted #1 in the NBA draft.  Coach is married and just had his first daughter.

Website: smarterteamtraining.com

STT Podcast: Coach Taylor hosts a radio show on iTunes and iHeart Radio – Half hour released every Sunday – interviewing coaches and athletes around the world – Join the 37,000 subscribers listening to over 280 episodes – STTpodcast.com

Twitter: @SMARTERTeam

Facebook: /smarterteamtraining

Listen Now:

Listen in ITunes: Itunes link

Listen in Stitcher: Stitcher link

Coaching/Leadership Quote

• ‘At the youth level of sports – you don’t want more reps- you want better reps.’

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My ‘Cringe’ Moment

• One thing they don’t teach you in college is how to value and develop relationships – with the athletes, the parents, your coaches

My ‘Ah-Ha Moment’

• Stop chasing the word success and start chasing the word impact

Teaching Children & Keeping it Fun

• Keep it fun!
• Don’t expect perfection – instead enjoy the process of incremental improvements
• Have very few rules
• ‘We don’t do 10 reps.  We do one perfect rep ten times’

HUGE IDEA #1 – ‘At the youth level of sports – you don’t want more reps- you want better reps.’  More leads to drudgery and hating the sport.  Better leads to excitement and loving the sport.

Best Stolen Idea/Advice from another Coach

• Praise in public.  If needed criticize in private.

Discipline

• Have the kids take a picture of their bed made in the morning and send it to one of the coaches – ‘You can’t start the day undisciplined then expect to be disciplined the rest of the day’
• Coach doesn’t like making them run as a punishment – we want them to love exercise and running – so don’t use it as a punishment.  ‘If they miss a layup – don’t have them run – have them practice layups!’

Reward and Recognition

• Count high-fives during a practice.  Then try to beat that number in a future practice.
• At the end of practice – have players say something positive about a teammate.
• Spend one practice evaluating players’ GPA – Good Positive Attitude.  Are they giving a high-five coming off the field; are they picking up a teammate’s water bottle, etc.   If there’s a bunch of 4.0’s – the team spirit is good, if not – think of ways to recognize those who have the best GPA to encourage the whole team to raise the GPA level.

Mental Edge

HUGE IDEA #2 – How do you de-emphasize the importance of the moment?  One method is a trigger mechanism – something you have practiced and evaluated what works with each individual – something to get the player to smile and realize it’s just a game.  Maybe it’s slapping your leg.  Maybe it’s a teammate saying ‘Spongebob is ugly’, etc.  But you have to practice putting kids in those situations during practice!

The One that Got Away

• Coach Taylor believes in living/playing present – so doesn’t get caught up in reliving wins and losses in the past.

Favorite Quote/Book

• Books: ‘The Hinge- the importance of Mental Toughness‘ by Dr. Rob Bell; ‘The Talent Code‘ by Daniel Coyle;  ‘Lead for God’s Sake‘ by Todd Gongwer;  ‘The Sports Gene – Inside the Science of Extraordinary Athletic Performance‘ by David Epstein
• Authors: Brian Cain, Graham Betchart

SmarterTeamTraining

• SMART – Speed, Movement, Agility, Reaction, Technology, Education, Resistance
• Work with teams and individuals – do clinics and can revenue-share
• Teach coaches
• Check out the awesome results their clients are seeing: smarterteamtraining.com
• STT Podcast: Coach Taylor hosts a radio show on iTunes and iHeart Radio – Half hour released every Sunday – interviewing coaches and athletes around the world – Join the 37,000 subscribers listening to over 280 episodes – STTpodcast.com

Parting Advice

• If you want more, you must become more.
• If you want your kids to give more, you need to give more to them.  If you are their lacrosse coach, go to one of their football games or band concert.

Interview Links / Promotional Partners

SmarterTeamTraining.com

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