Motivation in Sport – the Number One Source
A popular pondering of most team coaches is “How can I motivate my athletes?” There are many sources of motivation for your team. Unfortunately, you are not on the top of the list. In order to strengthen your athlete’s mental game, it’s important to understand the most influential factors. Let’s look at the number one source of motivation in sport The strongest source of motivation lives within the athlete. When an athlete has a burning desire for something, motivation is high and consistent. So “self-reinforcement” is the most powerful source of reinforcement and learning. Internal control is stronger than external control. The ...
Coaching Awards for Desired Behavior
Want more effort from your players? If so, then make sure you reward it. What kinds of awards do you give out as a coach? Are your rewards and awards just for the standard "outcome" goals of your sport - points scored, shooting percentage, runs etc? Not a problem. Yet, how about rewarding the stuff that leads up to the outcomes? Hustle, defense, assists, picks, floor burns? If you want more of these behaviors from your team, then reward it. I'm not talking about expensive trophies or gifts. Watch today\'s video and discover ...
High Performance Coaching and the Many Kinds of Smart
Some say, “Variety is the spice of life” – it might also be a key to coaching. Variety not only keeps things interesting it also taps into the various ways our athletes learn. All athletes learn differently: they have their own unique learning style. Learning styles are different ways of thinking and learning. High school and colleges coaches that understand their athletes’ learning styles and vary his or her style of teaching strategies accordingly, have the best shot at truly impacting all their players. In 1983, Dr. Howard Gardner, psychologist and professor of education at the Graduate School of Education at Harvard ...
Effective Team Leaders Handle the Dissatisfaction Phase
Teams are living breathing organisms – constantly changing and adapting. They progress in phases just like a child goes through development phases; from a toddler to an adolescent to an adult. In essence team coaches are excellent ‘course correctors.’ Like airplanes that fly off course 99% of the time, the pilot is however always constantly correcting. The same can be said for team leadership. A good high school or college coach recognizes where their team is and what the team requires at any given phase. Ken Blanchard’s book, The One Minute Manager Builds High Performing Teams provides a great framework ...
Coaching the Mental Game – where to begin?
One of the most crucial yet most ignored area of training is the mental game. Team Coaches and athletes sometimes hear mental strength training and think it implies only to people with major mental issues. Not true. My goal is to see the mental game become a normal, everyday part of training. Where does one begin? In developing any skill, the best place to start is with an assessment of the current situation. A tool I’ve used with all of my teams is the Competitive Adjective Profile (C.A.P.) developed by Dr. James Loehr. Each item on the profile represents ...
More Featured Posts
Motivation in Sport – the Number One Source
Posted on March 1, 2011A popular pondering of most team coaches is “How can I motivate my athletes?” There are many sources of motivation for your team. Unfortunately, you are not on the top of the list. In order to strengthen your athlete’s mental game, it’s important to understand the most influential factors. Let’s... [Read more]
Coaching Awards for Desired Behavior
Posted on February 26, 2011Want more effort from your players? If so, then make sure you reward it. What kinds of awards do you give out as a coach? Are your rewards and awards just for the standard “outcome” goals of your sport – points scored, shooting percentage, runs etc? Not a problem. Yet, how about... [Read more]
High Performance Coaching and the Many Kinds of Smart
Posted on February 21, 2011Some say, “Variety is the spice of life” – it might also be a key to coaching. Variety not only keeps things interesting it also taps into the various ways our athletes learn. All athletes learn differently: they have their own unique learning style. Learning styles are different ways of... [Read more]
Effective Team Leaders Handle the Dissatisfaction Phase
Posted on February 15, 2011Teams are living breathing organisms – constantly changing and adapting. They progress in phases just like a child goes through development phases; from a toddler to an adolescent to an adult. In essence team coaches are excellent ‘course correctors.’ Like airplanes that fly off course 99% of... [Read more]
Coaching the Mental Game – where to begin?
Posted on November 30, 2010One of the most crucial yet most ignored area of training is the mental game. Team Coaches and athletes sometimes hear mental strength training and think it implies only to people with major mental issues. Not true. My goal is to see the mental game become a normal, everyday part of training. Where... [Read more]
A Team Building Strategy for the Team Coach – Stay in Touch!
Posted on November 26, 2010Team Coaches are always looking for great team building strategies. Well, recent research shows us that “reaching out and touching someone” goes along way in creating great team chemistry. The fist bump, the high five, a quick hug or even the Bryan Brothers famous chest bump – are... [Read more]
Key Coaching Skill – Getting Things Done!
Posted on August 10, 2010Coaches wear many hats – teacher, counselor, administrator, fundraiser etc. A daunting coaching challenge is to balance one’s focus on the big picture of the program with implementing the important daily details. Yet striving for “stress free productivity” is critical for long-term success... [Read more]
Sport Motivation is an Inside Job
Posted on July 22, 2010The question coaches ask a lot is “How can I motivate my players?” The answer to this is twofold. First, it’s time that coaches STOP TRYING to motivate their players and start helping athletes CONNECT to their own motivation. Second, when coaches foster the right mindset, a growth mindset, in... [Read more]
Clarity of vision is critical coaching skill
Posted on July 6, 2010If you had a “magic wand” and could have your program look anyway you wanted, what would it look like? This wand is special and designed to give you exactly what you want – so be specific! I originally learned this concept as “begin with the end in mind” from Stephen Covey’s... [Read more]
Effective Coaching Tip: Go Ahead – Push My Buttons
Posted on June 17, 2010Unfortunately, button pushers get a bad rap. They’re considered rude, inconsiderate, disrespectful, intrusive, self-absorbed and insensitive. They are the difficult people in life. Teachers send them to the principals office, coaches pull their hair out and bosses fire them. I see it differently. ... [Read more]
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