As a Player Skill Development Coach I am often asked "what do I believe is in the make up of a 'good athlete'?" The answers could vary depending on who you talk to but, I think there are 4 things that are in the general makeup of a 'good athlete'.
#1 Desire - Desire is the determination to overcome an opponent. Desire is a state of mind, an abandonment of self and a form of courage. It is playing for oneself and for the team's interest. It consists of exercising your determined will that flows from your competitive spirit. This determined will and competitive spirit drives one to achieve their goal. Desire is available to all kids, not just to a gifted few. Desire is 100% effort, 100% of the time.
#2 Confidence - Confidence is the belief that a player can do what he/she has been asked to do. I am a firm believer that confidence comes from success. If an athlete starts to have some success in the sport whether in practice or in the game then they will start to develop confidence. A coach can help build that confidence when he acknowledges steps or progress that the athlete has not been able to do and has started to do well and or has mastered.
There is an old saying, "You don't ask someone for something that you think they don't have." A coach's job is to try to put players in a position where they can succeed and help the team achieve its goals as well as help the player to develop and improve their skills and game. An athlete that doesn't believe that he can accomplish the task or assignment that he has been given will very seldom play with confidence and as a result will not achieve much success.
A 'good athlete' must believe in himself or he loses the competitive edge. Sports are 60-70% mental. A player has to have confidence and a coach can help a player develop that confidence.
#3 Discipline - It goes without saying that "discipline produces self-discipline". There are times when a coach must be very firm and sometimes "bark" alot. This in most cases is not meant to humiliate or hurt a player. Often times it can and is taken by parents as a need to be alarmed or protective. Most kids will get yelled at and be upset. These reactions are both understandable and are warranted in some cases.
The reality is that most kids have to learn to be mentally prepared, mentally tough, and motivated and excited to play the sport. Sometimes I will bark at a player who is not paying attention. This is not done to hurt or upset a player. It is done to wake the athlete up and help them realize that they are part of a team and and team sports require team effort and focus. A player who is doing his own thing, talking, or not paying attention while the coaches are teaching is risking possible injury to himself or a teammate, and is setting himself up for failure.
The great Woody Hayes once said, "Discipline is something you do for someone, not to them."
#4 Love for the Game - This is an important part of any 'good athlete'. A good athlete enjoys the competition of working their way up the depth chart and is willing to put in the work. They have a willingness to play any position. They have the motivation to study the playbook and be responsible to their teammates. An athlete with a passion for the game enjoys the details that are required to go from being average to good or good to great.
GRID IRON Youth Sports Training is focused on helping the youth sports culture produce "good athletes" as well as great people. We are "Building Character and Champions - We Develop the Player and the Person."
WEBSITE: www.gridironyouthsportstraining.net
EMAIL: coachjj.gridironyouthsports@gmail.com
COACH JJ's BLOG: http://gridiro.blogspot.com/
Tuesday, May 21, 2013
Sunday, May 5, 2013
Why Does My Athlete Need Personal Coaching/Training
In my career as a youth football/basketball coach I have had many parents ask me during the playing season, "How can I get my child to play better and show real improvement?" Well, I try to answer that question by first trying to educate the parent in a few areas concerning player skill development and long term athletic development. Here are a couple of things that a parent should keep in mind when considering their child's athletic skill development.
First, an athlete develops in stages and those stages vary over the course of the athletes life.
Take for example a 7 year old basketball player that really likes basketball but has a hard time keeping himself from committing a traveling violation. Though this may be frustrating for the parent, coach, or even the child. This should be expected as the child is learning to develop muscle control and coordination along with timing. The 4-7 year old range for a child is in what youth fitness specialists term the "guided discovery" development stage.
The child needs to be taught how to perform fundamental movement patterns such as running and coming to a quick stop prior, to being asked to do the same action while dribbling the basketball. He needs to be shown how to do these things in a way that is fun but also challenges the child to concentrate and at the same time helps them to learn the skill.
There is not enough practice time in a youth players basketball season to be able focus on all the details of the developmental stage. That can be frustrating for the child and the parent as they may expect the child to be able to perform these functions and not understand that he is just physically unable to do those things at this stage. The basketball season will introduce the 7 year old to the learning of the rules of the sport, team concepts, and how to play as a unit.
There is just not enough time during the season for players to really develop and master the certain levels of skill required to play the game at a skilled level. This is where a personal sports coach comes in to play. Many parents think that the season will dramatically increase the players ability but do not realize that the season will focus more on team oriented goals rather than personal one on one skill development.
A player's skill development should be focused and systematically guided to achieve age appropriate skill levels. This can be achieved with an adequate amount of quality training time, repetitions, and a proper skill development progression plan.
Secondly, there is a drastic difference between play and practice.
A child can go out to play on his own but that will not improve his skill level. Many often say that "practice makes perfect" but that is simply not true, it is not practice that makes perfect. It is "perfect practice that makes perfect", a child can practice it the wrong way without proper guidance and they will only perfect doing it the wrong way. What I mean by that is that a child must be shown proper training methods, and be taught skill progression in parts that eventually lead to the whole.
For instance, a player trying to improve their shooting must take hundreds of shots with the proper shooting mechanics to become a consistent shooter. The player should practice taking shots from different areas of the court and at different tempos to help the athlete develop the muscle memory and endurance to make shots even while tired. This is more of a game time experience. A player must be taught how to practice and will not do this without a coach guiding them.
This type of skill development is effective but it takes time and can only be achieved in the off season. There is just not enough time in the regular season to accomplish this.
Off season personal skill development training is necessary to help the athlete learn, progress, and build the confidence needed to become a very skilled athlete.
Last, I want to point out that there is a certain level of confidence needed for athletes to go out and perform at a high level. I often tell my players that hard work equals success and success breeds confidence. As a player starts to see his hard work paying off in making more shots consistently, then that child will be more aggressive in their shot taking. The player will also have a more focused mentality in his training as he sees it is paying off in the games.
Check out GRID IRON Youth Sports Training for more info on its training programs and packages.
GRID IRON Youth Sports Training, "We are Building Character and Champions".
First, an athlete develops in stages and those stages vary over the course of the athletes life.
Take for example a 7 year old basketball player that really likes basketball but has a hard time keeping himself from committing a traveling violation. Though this may be frustrating for the parent, coach, or even the child. This should be expected as the child is learning to develop muscle control and coordination along with timing. The 4-7 year old range for a child is in what youth fitness specialists term the "guided discovery" development stage.
The child needs to be taught how to perform fundamental movement patterns such as running and coming to a quick stop prior, to being asked to do the same action while dribbling the basketball. He needs to be shown how to do these things in a way that is fun but also challenges the child to concentrate and at the same time helps them to learn the skill.
There is not enough practice time in a youth players basketball season to be able focus on all the details of the developmental stage. That can be frustrating for the child and the parent as they may expect the child to be able to perform these functions and not understand that he is just physically unable to do those things at this stage. The basketball season will introduce the 7 year old to the learning of the rules of the sport, team concepts, and how to play as a unit.
There is just not enough time during the season for players to really develop and master the certain levels of skill required to play the game at a skilled level. This is where a personal sports coach comes in to play. Many parents think that the season will dramatically increase the players ability but do not realize that the season will focus more on team oriented goals rather than personal one on one skill development.
A player's skill development should be focused and systematically guided to achieve age appropriate skill levels. This can be achieved with an adequate amount of quality training time, repetitions, and a proper skill development progression plan.
Secondly, there is a drastic difference between play and practice.
A child can go out to play on his own but that will not improve his skill level. Many often say that "practice makes perfect" but that is simply not true, it is not practice that makes perfect. It is "perfect practice that makes perfect", a child can practice it the wrong way without proper guidance and they will only perfect doing it the wrong way. What I mean by that is that a child must be shown proper training methods, and be taught skill progression in parts that eventually lead to the whole.
For instance, a player trying to improve their shooting must take hundreds of shots with the proper shooting mechanics to become a consistent shooter. The player should practice taking shots from different areas of the court and at different tempos to help the athlete develop the muscle memory and endurance to make shots even while tired. This is more of a game time experience. A player must be taught how to practice and will not do this without a coach guiding them.
This type of skill development is effective but it takes time and can only be achieved in the off season. There is just not enough time in the regular season to accomplish this.
Off season personal skill development training is necessary to help the athlete learn, progress, and build the confidence needed to become a very skilled athlete.
Last, I want to point out that there is a certain level of confidence needed for athletes to go out and perform at a high level. I often tell my players that hard work equals success and success breeds confidence. As a player starts to see his hard work paying off in making more shots consistently, then that child will be more aggressive in their shot taking. The player will also have a more focused mentality in his training as he sees it is paying off in the games.
Check out GRID IRON Youth Sports Training for more info on its training programs and packages.
GRID IRON Youth Sports Training, "We are Building Character and Champions".
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