“I am the greatest” – Muhammad Ali

“I suck!” – unknown, unaccomplished athlete

Top athletes talk themselves into incredible performances. What goes on in their mind has a direct effect on their body.  Our thoughts prompt certain emotions that in turn have bodily or physiological consequences.  Thoughts about losing can lead to feelings of fear and anxiety.  In turn those feelings cause various physiological responses: increased heart rate, shortness of breath, muscle tightness, narrow vision, and reduced blood flow to the hands and feet.  All of these responses stand in the way of performing at our peak. It creates a negative cycle – anxiety and fear compromise the physiology, leading to poor performance that (in turn) creates more fear and anxiety.

The same is true on the positive side – positive thoughts lead to feelings of alertness, fun, challenge – and these feelings (in turn) produce positive physiological responses.  This cycle can be learned and taught through proactively training self-talk.

Self-talk is that little voice in your head – the one that may have just said, “What little voice in my head?” Self-talk messages often come from our childhood – we hear the voices of our parents, siblings, teachers, coaches, etc., anyone who influenced us in the past. Self-talk goes on all the time and is nearly impossible to turn off. Unfortunately, most of the messages are critical or negative.

It is almost impossible to eliminate negative self-talk. But it can be replaced. Coaches and parents often tell athletes to, “Change your negative attitude,” “Stop saying that, it’s negative,” or “Be more positive!” While this may be good advice, it leaves the athlete with questions. “How do I change my attitude?” “What else should I say?” “How can I be positive when I just messed up?”

It is important that we teach our athletes how to change their attitude and how to transform their negative self-talk. Here’s a powerful three-step process I helped develop with the Positive Coaching Alliance to transform negative self-talk. Let’s use the expression, “My backhand slice sucks,” as an example.

1. State the negative self-talk as a feeling: “I feel like my backhand slice sucks.”

This is a more accurate statement. “My slice backhand sucks” may or may not be true. What’s absolutely accurate is that the athlete feels like he or she can’t hit their slice in the moment. Tomorrow is a new day and with practice feelings can change.

2. Enlist the “Power of a Big But”.

What happens when the word “but” is used in a sentence? “Jan, I really like your shirt, but the color is a bit much.” Whatever comes before “but” is devalued leaving the recipient waiting for the negative ending. Usually we say the positive first and then devalue it with “but.” BUT, we can turn that around by using “but” to devalue the negative self-talk. Teaching our athletes to use the word “but” to their advantage can help transform their negative self-talk. “I feel like my backhand slice sucks, BUT…”

3. End with an “I’m-the-kind-of-person-who” statement. “I feel like my backhand slice sucks, BUT I’m the kind of person who never gives up.” Whenever an athlete catches himself or herself using negative self-talk, he or she can use this tool to transform it.

Coaches (and parents) plant the seeds for these positive statements. Our athletes will rarely come up with them on their own. But they will repeat what they hear from people they admire. Our job is to fill in the blanks for them.

Be prepared. Know your players and plant the appropriate seed for each individual – you’re the kind of person who “never gives up,” “loves to compete,” “bounces back,” “rises to the challenge,” etc.

Top competitors are extremely disciplined in what they think and say.  It is important to teach our players to control that little voice in their head and to teach them to talk to themselves the way a good coach or teacher would.

You expect your athletes to handle the pressure of competition. You want them to maintain their composure on the playing field no matter what.

Do you hold yourself to the same standard? The great coaches do. I believe in the saying “A team is a reflection of its coach.” The best coaches lead by example, so if you want your athletes to perform well under pressure, you need to as well.

I learned this lesson the hard way. I was the assistant coach at the University of San Diego while working on my master’s degree in sport psychology at San Diego State. For one of my course assignments I wore a portable microphone and was recorded on video while I coached a college tennis match.

There were no action shots or cutaways, just me the entire time. In those days, college tennis matches averaged several hours. After about thirty or forty minutes I forgot about the camera. Everything I did and said was recorded, everything.

Then all the data, my words, body language, demeanor, and so on were sorted into various coaching and teaching effectiveness categories. Finally, I had the dubious pleasure of sitting down with my peers to watch the recording, review the data, and receive feedback. Talk about intense! I learned more about myself as a coach that day than from anything else I’ve ever done.

So, if you really want to know what you are like as a coach under pressure, have someone record you during a competition. The bigger the competition the better. Then summon up your courage and watch the recording. Really study yourself. See what your athletes see when they look toward the sideline during the heat of the battle.

Do they see poise under pressure, or do they see upset, frustration, and negativity? You set the tone for your players. Be sure to reflect back to them what you want to see on the playing field.

…88 consecutive wins, 10 NCAA championships, 38 consecutive NCAA tournament victories, eight undefeated PAC-8 championships and 4 undefeated full seasons. At 99 years young, John Wooden is the true Final 4 Phenom!

My most prized possession on my bookshelf is an original (1972) well-worn, copy of They Call Me Coach, the classic autobiography of legendary coach John Wooden. When I first read this amazing book (way back when) I was struck by the emphasis on the word “They” in the title. Other people called Wooden “coach”, he didn’t. Wooden wanted to be known as a teacher. This notion stayed with me and continues to shape my coaching and parenting.

I also discovered Wooden’s Pyramid for Success in this little book. The pyramid is a graphical representation of Wooden’s philosophy that success is built block by block. Each block in the pyramid is a key principle to achieving life-long success in every area of life. I’m shocked at how few coaches in my workshops know about the Pyramid of Success. Please Google it and download a copy for yourself!

In They Call Me Coach, Wooden tells us his own story in his own words. It focuses on his 27 years coaching the UCLA basketball team and offers insight into “success” both on and off the court. Wooden’s dedication to his craft made him “America’s ‘winningest’ coach”.

They Call Me Coach covers everything from the basics to important life lessons like “The team that makes the most mistakes will probably win. There is much truth in that statement if you analyze it properly. The doer makes mistakes, and I want doers on my team — players who make things happen.”

This classic is a must read for every coach!

Do you use a written practice plan 100% of the time? I ask this question at every coaches workshop I deliver – only few hands stay up when I emphasize 100%.

Most coaches average maybe 75% of the time. Yet we probably regret the 25% when we do not have a written plan. Having a written plan helps you to stay on task. A written plan is a tool a coach can use to make the best use of a very scarce resource, practice time, either by following the plan or by selectively deviating from the plan when it makes sense to do so.

Prioritize to make sure the most important things get done. Recognize that you can’t do everything. If a particularly important drill takes 15 minutes for players to benefit from it, then allocating five minutes is a waste of time. A written plan, even an imperfect one, gives you a framework to tackle a problem. You can always deviate from your plan – it’s shouldn’t be set in stone.

Players learn by doing – repetition or “reps” for short. Plan to maximize participation: This is often done easily by doing drills in pairs or in threes. This gives players the most reps and it keeps them involved and active. This requires planning and enough equipment to make this happen.

It is also important to go for quantity with quality. If an athlete is practicing a skill over and over again the wrong way, it will not do any good and she will have to “unlearn” it. The idea is to plan so that quantity of reps are done with quality.

Consider sharing your practice plan with your team before practice by either posting it or telling them directly. Also share your thinking about strategy and tactics. A lot of the fun in sports is the strategizing and thinking about how to get better, how to counter the other team’s strengths, etc. If you let your players in on your thought process, it will encourage them to begin to think strategically as well.