A Coach's Diary

As we leave 2019 and head into 2020, let's leave laziness, excuses and bad habits behind as well. Let's make a deal - we won't live by wishing; we will live by doing. Let's go to work this year on our habits and our goals.  Let's use this year to establish high quality habits that will propel us to live our best lives, for the rest of our lives. COACHES:  We won't just wish that our players come in early and stay late in 2020 - we are going to find ways to motivate and encourage them to do so.  We will make sure that we are ready and at practice early and staying late, prepared and ready to receive our athletes.  We won't hope that our players go hard in practice and are engaged - we are going to design engaging practices that is full of teaching and fun competition.  We are going to research ways to communicate to our kids throughout practices so that they stay engaged. PLAYERS:  We won't wish that we make that team, that we st...

PLAYERS:  Being mentally tough is one of the best skills that you can have.  Being mentally tough allows you to be completely present in the moment and allows you focus on what is most important. It allows you to be afraid and still play and act with courage.  When you are mentally tough, you know that you aren't perfect and that you will make mistakes.  When you are mentally tough, you will fight through and past the mistakes.  When you are mentally tough, you will learn from the mistakes. When you are mentally tough, you will try new things.  You listen better and more intently to your coaches because you want to learn and get better.  Then, you try and practice and try again what they taught you.  When you are mentally tough, you don't practice until you can do something - you practice until you don't mess up.  When you are mentally tough, you find ways to get better everyday.  You find ways to grow and grind and get...

Sue Enquist was a legendary softball player and coach at UCLA.  In the video below, she talks about the importance of valuing people and the process over results, the 33% rule , managing your strong and weak voice and being an engineer who builds a model around belief. Value People Over Results Don't load up on empty W's your entire career by thinking that fulfillment and happiness are all about winning and doing more on the field.  Winning is important, and we should be proud of our on-field/on-court success.  Just don't lose focus on how we get there or how we treat our athletes and their families.   Don't fixate more on winning and dominating and than on the people that you win with. Focus on how you get there and the people you get there with. Remember why you got into coaching and fall in love again with the idea of affecting others. 33% Rule Bottom Third - The people on your team or who work with you will suck the life out of you....

In the video below, NFL legend Deon Sanders talks about the importance of competing in practice and the importance of creating and living by the right habits. To become the best that you can be, you have to compete everyday in practice.  You have to push yourself and your teammates.  You will win some battles, and you will lose some battles, but if you just keep competing, you will keep improving. When you compete every practice, you are creating the right habits.  We are what we do, so our habits will dictate our success.  When you live by the right habits, you have a chance to be special. It's about how you practice and your habits.  Don't cut any deals with your teammates - go at eachother.  This is how you make eachother better.  Every practice is a game.  It's the chance to compete. Iron sharpens iron. Whatever you do, just do it consistently. Create habits.  Practice at a certain time to create habits....

One Killer Of Great Teams Is A Leader With A Fragile Ego. For the team to be the best that it can be, you have to have a talented and knowledgeable group of coaches who all bring great skills and ideas to the team.  The best teams share and effectively implement the best ideas, regardless of who the idea came from and regardless of who gets the credit. One Killer Of Great Teams Is Players With Fragile Egos. For the team to be the best that it can be, you have to have a talented group of athletes who are willing to work together and sacrifice for the good of the team.  The best teams put the best players in the best position to do their best, and they don't worry about who gets the credit for success because they know when the team wins, everyone wins. One Killer Of Great Teams Is Parents With Fragile Egos. For a team to be the best that it can be, you have to have a supportive group of parents who are willing to work together and teach their kids how to work toget...

Can you take character development into the most pressurized environments in athletics? When you grow a kid's character and emphasize character and personal development, the athlete always wins. The video below has really helped me refocus my purpose as a sports parent.  It's very easy for us to find our identity lost in how our kids play.  So much of my weekend levels of joy are based on the results of my kids' games.  This is not healthy, and this is not fun.  Like most kids, mines are inconsistent and so my weekend joy has been inconsistent. This video has taught me to emphasize and focus on who my kids are as people, and to re-purpose sports as another tool to help my kids live happy, healthy lives by learning how to set goals and work for them, by learning how to play well and work well with others, learning that how hard you work and how much grit you have has a positive correlation with success, and learning how to have a healthy relationship with...

Know what your purpose is, know what is most important to you, and know what you will emphasize and prioritize, and then focus your energy to aligning who you are and what you do with your purpose. It is not easy to prioritize character and winning, because the more success that you have, the harder it is to maintain your same moral compass.  But if you consistently emphasize the person over the athlete and character over winning, your athletes will do more of what it takes to win, they will find success, and their character will shine like a beacon in the center of the ring of performance. It's very important to know the reason behind what you are doing at any moment.  It's important to look at sports through the correct lens and get the purpose behind it right.  It's important to know your purpose for coaching, to know who you are as a person and as a coach, and to make sure that you rally your energy so that your energy is ...