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"A Weekend With the Wildcats" -By Dave Cross

This past weekend my "varsity invitees" (tryouts aren't for
another week here in Ohio) played in the "Maumee Bay Summer
Spiketacular". This is by far the premier summer tournament in
our state. This year, there were 64 varsities, playing over
three days, at five different sites. Most of the state's "heavy
hitters" are there, and it truly is a "meat grinder".

We went in to the weekend at definitely less than full strength,
as my second middle (a 5-9 sophomore with tremendous athletic
ability) and second setter, (a 6-0 junior with D-I written all
over her), were both out with injuries.

No matter, I still believed we had the ability to compete if
each girl put their mind to it and went for it. Before our
first match, I sat them down and talked to them about this:
"This is our team for this weekend. We have players here who
can get the job done at every position. What we need to do is
go out and focus on getting the job done. We have everything
thing we need to be successful. How we look at this opportunity
is totally in our control."

What I was doing here is using one of our techniques we call
"Pre-Framing". I wanted to get the girls in the right frame of
mind by giving them the thoughts they needed to hold in their
head if we were going to go out and compete aggressively and
confidently.

Now, don't get me wrong, just because I speak, doesn't always
guarantee they are going to listen-as coaches, we all know that!

So as I've been doing with this group throughout the summer, I
pointed out very calmly that this was totally up to them...

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4.) FREE ARTICLE:

What Makes a Good Coach? -By Dr. Alan Goldberg

There’s no question that many, high level coaches are under a
tremendous amount of pressure to produce. Professional and
Division I college coaches who don’t win enough games are almost
always at risk of being fired and replaced. Even many high
school and club coaches feel this same kind of intense
performance pressure. Losing teams make owners, fans, alumni,
parents and the local sports media very, very unhappy. In these
situations the logical person to blame for all of this
unhappiness is of course the coach. If the team is
underachieving or losing whose fault would it be other than the
coach’s? Unfortunately, this kind of pressure to win usually
doesn’t make for intelligent, effective or successful coaching
decisions. What many coaches don’t seem to realize is that when
they transfer this same performance pressure onto their players,
it dramatically and negati vely affects their play. When this
happens the coaches alone can be directly responsible for the
sub-par results.

Coaches who typically get too caught up in their won-loss
record, who tend to focus too much on the importance of the
outcome are always most vulnerable to making the kinds of
unfortunate mistakes with their players that I’ve described
above. This head baseball coach and his assistant had a very
direct role in their player’s performance problems. It was
simply bad coaching and ignorant, insensitive comments that
pushed this freshman out of a peak performance state and into a
slump. It was these kinds of rather blatant coaching mistakes
that were directly responsible for this player’s high level of
stress, low self-confidence and resultant batting slump.

What may seem obvious to some isn’t that obvious to all: Winning
records are an extremely limiting and inaccurate way to judge
the quality and effectiveness of a coach. Simply put, winning
doesn’t make you a good coach in the same way that losing
doesn’t make you a bad one. The fact of the matter is that
judging a coach’s abilities and effectiveness based on the
record of his/her team is to totally miss the complexity behind
good and bad coaching.

Having said this, let me debunk some myths that many sports
fans, parents and athletes hold: Regardless of the level
individuals may coach at or how successful their teams have been
in the past, coaches are NOT always right. They do NOT always
say the smartest things. They do NOT always have all the
answers, regardless of what they may tell you. They do NOT
always make the right decisions. They are NOT always the most
sensitive or understanding of individuals. They are NOT always
fair. They are NOT always well-adjusted and mature. Coaches make
mistakes and frequently quite a few of them. The fact of the
matter is that coaches are human and as a consequence of this
human condition their performance as a teacher is always limited
by and filtered through their personality, life experiences,
knowledge of the game, personal problems, maturity and
psychological sophistication. While some coaches ar e absolutely
brilliant teachers and should be cloned, other coaches are
abysmal and abusive and should only be allowed to work with
inanimate objects.

Before we discuss what qualities and skill sets make for a good
coach, we need to first acknowledge how very difficult this
profession of coaching really is. Coaching is sometimes a
thankless, frustrating “no-win” kind of job. It’s an occupation
that is most often done in a public fishbowl. In other words, if
you coach, then you are in a highly visible position that
continually exposes you to the public’s scrutiny and evaluation.
It’s one of those professions where the general public regularly
weighs in on what kind of a job they think you’re doing whether
you want their evaluation or not. When it comes to judging your
job performance, everyone seems to be an expert and have the
“qualifications” to criticize you. Fans, parents, students,
alumni, the media and the team’s organization or administration
all seem at the ready to offer you eith er the thumbs up or
thumbs down signal. What’s even more frustrating for a coach is
that so much of this external judgment comes from individuals
who don’t seem to have a clue about you, your players or what
you’re trying to accomplish with the team.

Coaching is also one of those jobs where your professional
effectiveness is almost always narrowly measured by something
that is very often totally out of your control, winning and
losing. In many ways you can be an absolutely horrible, abusive
coach yet, because you are lucky enough to have great players on
your squad, you win all the time. Because of this external
record you are considered in your profession to be a “great”
coach. Similarly, you can be a wonderful coach and teacher but
because of a lack of player talent, luck or other circumstances
beyond your control such as player injuries, your won-loss
record is just mediocre and, as a consequence of this, you’re
seen as an ineffective coach.

To make the profession even more thankless, in most levels of
sports, (excluding a few very high level Division I programs and
professional teams) coaches are poorly compensated for what they
do. Typically coaches have to invest very long hours in the job
yet are barely paid an adequate wage for their time.

So now let’s take a look at what makes a really good coach. If
you’re an athlete then what follows will help you figure out how
your own coach measures up. It will give you some valuable
information that will allow you to more intelligently evaluate
how your coach conducts him/herself in relation to you and your
teammates. In this way it will give you the ability to better
“reality test” the coach-athlete situation that you currently
find yourself in. That is, very often it’s quite difficult for
an athlete to really know if there’s something wrong with him or
the coach. Most often in emotional coach-athlete interactions,
the athlete typically comes away feeling badly about
him/herself. Hopefully the information that follows will help
you better understand what is really going on and help you not
blame yourself for things that you shouldn’t.

If you’re a parent of an athlete, our discussion will help you
get a good idea of what to look for when you shop around for a
coach for your child. How do the better coaches conduct
themselves? How do they treat their athletes? How do they
interact with you as the parent? How do they deal with winning
and losing? How do the better coaches deal with mistakes and
failures? Parents need to be educated as much as possible about
their child’s sport and coaches in order to help their son or
daughter have the best and happiest experience possible.

If you’re a coach reading this, then our discussion will help
you get a better sense of how the finest in this profession
conduct themselves. You will learn which behaviors and
characteristics will best motivate and inspire your players. How
do the really great teachers conduct themselves? What it is
about these individuals that make them so successful? What are
some specific things that you can learn from them that will help
elevate you in the coaching ranks? If you so choose, then you
can use this list to begin to work on making yourself that much
better as a professional.

WHAT MAKES A GOOD COACH?

#1) The very best coaches GET THEIR ATHLETES TO BELIEVE in
themselves - Good coaches inspire their players to do more than
they think they can. In fact, all good teachers do this. They
get their students to entertain possibilities that stretch the
limits of their beliefs. Part of this involves building the
athlete up rather than knocking him down. Good coaches always
build self-esteem rather than undermine it. This self-esteem
building is not a gimmick nor is it done artificially. In other
words the coach doesn’t praise a mediocre effort. He/she simply
makes it a practice to catch his/her athletes doing things
right. The good coach doesn’t get caught up in playing head
games that leave the athlete questioning his/her abilities.

#2) The really effective coaches DO NOT USE EMBARRASSMENT &
HUMILIATION AS “TEACHING TOOLS” – One of the characteristics of
really bad coaches is that they regularly use embarrassment and
humiliation. They think nothing of calling out or putting down
an athlete in front of his/her peers, fans or parents. These
coaches mistakenly believe that this is the way that you build
character and mental toughness. What they don’t really
understand is that these abusive techniques are the most
effective way I know to emotionally destroy kids. Embarrassing
and humiliating a child/young adult for a failure, mistake or
shortcoming is an aggressive assault on that athlete. In fact,
when an adult does it it’s called CHILD ABUSE no ifs ands or
buts! There is NOTHING educational or constructive about it. It
tears down that athlete and grossly undermines his/her
self-esteem. It can emotionally scar that child for life! This
is NOT how good coaches operate.

#3) Great coaches are GREAT LIFE TEACHERS – A good coach
understands that what he/she is teaching goes far beyond the X’s
& O’s of the court, track or field. As a consequence this kind
of individual does not just teach the skills, technique and
strategy within the narrow confines of the sport. Instead he/she
looks for opportunities where the more important life lessons
can be taught such as mastering hardship, handling and
rebounding from failures and setbacks, trusting your teammates,
sacrificing individual needs for the benefit of the group,
emotionally dealing with winning and losing, good sportsmanship,
fair play, honesty, integrity, etc.

#4) The best coaches KEEP THE GAME IN PERSPECTIVE – Somewhat
related to #3, the best coaches are able to keep their sport in
perspective. They do not get distracted by how big any one game
is in relation to their job as a teacher. Similarly, they
understand that sports are just games and are merely a vehicle
to teach their charges other, more important life lessons. They
understand that what they teach and how they teach it will have
an impact on the student that goes far beyond the sport. They
know that long after the athlete has put away his bats, balls,
racquets and other sport paraphernalia, the effect of his/her
relationship with the coach will continue to influence that
individual’s life and happiness. Therefore, whenever they coach,
no matter how big the game, these coaches keep it all in
perspective.

#5) Great coaches DO NOT LET THEIR EGOS AND SELF-WORTH GET TIED
UP IN THE OUTCOME - The best coaches are psychologically
healthy enough to know that they are NOT their performances,
regardless of what others around them may say. They do not feel
diminished as an individual when their teams fail nor do they
feel that much better about themselves when their squads
succeed. These individuals understand that coaching is only one
thing of many that they do and therefore they do not let this
one thing solely define themselves as a person. Coaches who get
into trouble with their athletes do so because they are
emotionally more vulnerable and tend to feel threatened by a
loss or failure. Their egos are on the line whenever these
individuals compete and therefore they feel like they have much
more to lose. If your ego is on the line whenever your team
competes t hen you will be quite vulnerable to saying and doing
some rather unfortunate things with your athletes. Many blatant
coaching mistakes come directly from the coach’s overemphasis on
the game’s outcome because that individual self-esteem is too
caught up with this outcome.

#6) Great coaches UNDERSTAND INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES IN THEIR
ATHLETES – The best coaches have a basic understanding that each
athlete on their team is different in attitude, personality,
response-ability, sensitivity and how they handle criticism and
adversity. As a consequence, these coaches take the time to get
to know each athlete’s individual differences and styles. They
then hand-tailor what they say to and how they treat this
athlete to achieve maximum coaching effectiveness. They know
that while one athlete may respond well to a hard edge and
raised voice, this approach may totally shut another one down.
You can’t be really effective with a team full of individuals
unless you truly take the time to get to know what works best
for each one.

#7) The best coaches COACH THE PERSON, NOT JUST THE ATHLETE –
Really effective coaches take the time to get to know the
athlete as a person. They take an interest in the athlete’s life
off the field, court or track. They do not see personal,
academic or social problems as a distraction to the job of
coaching the athlete. In fact, they view these “outside
problems” as an opportunity to further build a relationship with
the athlete and help him/her become a better person. This kind
of caring is never lost on the athlete. Coaches who take an
interest in the athlete’s total life are more trusted and
respected than those who don’t. Coaches who really care about
the athlete as a person are better motivators. Do NOT approach
your athletes’ outside problems as outside of your coaching
purview. You can’t ever separate the athlete as a performer from
who he/she is as a person. Relationship issues, family problems,
academic stressors and gender issues all of which seem to have
no relationship at all to the sport are all importantly related!
If you have an investment in truly being an effective and
successful coach and teacher, then these need to be considered
by you when they come up.

#8) The best coaches are FLEXIBLE – They are flexible in their
approach to their teaching and they are flexible in their
approach to their players. For example, when an athlete
struggles learning a play or correctly executing a specific
technique or strategy the better coaches do not look at this as
a “learning disability” and blame the athlete for their
incompetence, thick headedness or ignorance. Instead they
approach it as a “teaching disability” and therefore change how
they are presenting the material to that athlete. If one
approach doesn’t work, then they try another and another until
they figure out the best way to reach that particular athlete.
Similarly coaches who take it personally when an athlete has a
learning or performance problem are missing the boat. Just
because that athlete may not be responding to your coaching does
not mean that he/she has an attitude or commitment problem. Be
flexible enough to examine yourself when your athletes struggle.
Rigidly assuming that they are the ones with the problem is not
the mark of a good coach. Remember, rigidity is not a quality
that goes with success and winning. Coaches who are rigid, who
continually adopt the attitude that “it’s my way or the highway”
are far less effective than those coaches who have mastered the
fine art of being flexible. Understand here that flexibility
does NOT mean being wishy-washy. You can be flexible and strong
at the same time.

#9) The great coaches are GREAT COMMUNICATORS - You can’t be
effective as a coach unless you can successfully reach the
individuals who you are working with. Good coaches understand
that communication is a two-way street and involves a back and
forth between coach and athlete. Bad coaches think that
communication is a one-way street. You talk and the athletes
listen. PERIOD! Instead, effective communication entails that
you as a coach carefully listen to what your athletes are
saying. When your athletes talk you must BE QUIET INSIDE SO THAT
YOU CAN LISTEN. Unless you carefully listen to them when they
talk then you won’t have a clue as to what your athletes are
really saying or how to best help them. Far too many coaches are
too busy countering in their head what their athletes are saying
to actually hear them. If you can’t learn how to listen then you
will never truly be ef fective in reaching your players.

#10) Good coaches TAKE THE TIME TO LISTEN TO AND EDUCATE THEIR
ATHLETES’ PARENTS – Many coaches find it a bit of an
inconvenience that they have to actually deal with the parents
of their athletes. If your job entails having to interact with
parents understand this. Your life will be far easier and you
will me much more effective if you make it a regular practice to
communicate with the parents and educate them about the sport
and the role that they need to play on the team. Your success as
a coach often depends upon getting parents to work with you, not
against you. The only way to make this happen is if you take the
time to talk to and train your parents. This means that you must
learn to listen to their concerns and questions. Take a
proactive role with them. Do NOT wait for a problem or crisis
before you decide that it’s time to actually approach your
parents. Do so righ t from the beginning of the season and do it
often. Let them know about their support role on the team. Help
them understand that their job is NOT to motivate or coach their
child. Teach them what are appropriate and inappropriate
behaviors at games and on the sidelines. Educate them about the
sport and what it takes to excel. Explain your philosophy about
competition and playing time. Be open to feedback in a
non-defensive manner. Never assume that your parents know what
they should do and how they should behave. Approach them like
your athletes. You coach your athletes. You must also invest
some of your time and energy into coaching and training their
parents. Be proactive with your parents, not reactive. Use an
educational, preventative model when working with them rather
than a crisis intervention one.

#11) GOOD COACHES “WALK THE TALK” WITH THEIR ATHLETES AND
PARENTS - If you want to be effective in reaching those that
you coach, then you must learn to put your actions where your
mouth is. That is, there must be some congruence between what
you say and how you act. If you are teaching your players about
the virtues of consistent, hard work yet you yourself are
inconsistent in this area, then what you are really teaching
your athletes is that you are a hypocrite, it’s really OK to
slough off and that talk is cheap. Because you have decided to
coach, you have put yourself in a position of intense public
scrutiny. Everyone will always be watching you, even when you
think not. As a consequence you must always be sure that
whatever comes out of your mouth is closely matched by how you
act. What I’m really saying here is that YOUR MO ST POWERFUL
TEACHING TOOL IS MODELING. You should operate upon the principle
that your actions and how you conduct yourself will always speak
much louder than your words. Actively model the behaviors and
attitude that you want your players to adopt.

#12) Good coaches KEEP THE LEARNING ENVIRONMENT EMOTIONALLY SAFE
– There are a lot of social things that go on in sports between
teammates that make the learning environment emotionally unsafe.
Scapegoating, ostracism, cruelty, emotional and physical abuse,
acted out petty jealousies and the list goes on and on. Many
coaches refuse to deal with these “locker room” or “soap opera”
issues because they don’t necessarily happen on the field and
therefore, these coaches claim, they have nothing to do with the
athlete’s or team’s performance. Nothing could be further from
the truth. Good coaches understand this basic fact, that the
emotional climate on the team is everything and dramatically
affects how players practice and perform. Ignoring these
“irrelevant and distracting” social issues and letting them
continue is like turning your bac k on an infection and allowing
it to fester. In both cases the problem with its’ resultant pain
will only spread and increase in intensity. Good coaches make it
their job to directly and immediately deal with the social
garbage that sometimes arises between players. They make it very
clear to their athletes which behaviors are appropriate and
acceptable when interacting with teammates and which are not and
therefore will not be tolerated. These coaches give a very clear
message to all members of the team that cruelty, petty
jealousies and mistreatment of others will not be tolerated and
is counter to the mission of the team. As a consequence this
kind of coach creates an atmosphere of safety on the team that
is absolutely crucial for optimal learning and peak performance.

#13) Great coaches CONTINUALLY CHALLENGE THEIR ATHLETES TO DO
BETTER AND PUSH THEIR LIMITS – One way that great coaches
inspire their athletes to believe in themselves is by
continually putting them in situations which challenge their
limiting beliefs. That is, these coaches are always pushing
their athletes outside of their comfort zone, physically,
mentally and emotionally, and then helping them discover that,
in fact, they can do better than they first believed they could.
These coaches teach the “GET COMFORTABLE BEING UNCOMFORTABLE
principle.” That is, the only way to grow physically and
emotionally is to constantly challenge yourself to do things
that aren’t easy, to attempt things that truly stretch you. The
best coaches do not allow their players to just get by with the
status quo. They refuse to tolerate mediocrity in effort,
attitude, technique, training or pe rformance. Because they
continually challenge their athletes, they are able to keep them
highly motivated. There is nothing more motivating to an athlete
than being challenged, experiencing themselves successfully
rising to meet that test and as a result, improving. When
coaches fail to adequately challenge their athletes, when they
instead allow them to remain stagnating within their comfort
zone, they will ultimately end up losing those athletes to
boredom and apathy.

#14) The best coaches CONTINUALLY CHALLENGE THEMSELVES – Good
coaches practice what they preach. They continually model the
attitudes and behaviors that they want their players to adopt.
Along these lines, these coaches always maintain a “beginner’s
mind” when it comes to their professional development within the
sport. Good coaches understand that regardless of how much
success they may have had in the past doing things their own
way, they can always learn new and better ways of teaching the
sport. These coaches are always open to learning the very latest
that may be available within their field be it regarding
strategy, technique, conditioning, mental training or
motivation. In this way these coaches continually step out of
their comfort zone as “experts” and put themselves in the more
uncomfortable position as “beginner and learner.” They are
always looking for fresh ideas to spice up and enhance what they
are already doing. They attend coaching conferences, read new
books, watch and listen to what’s current on DVD and CD
programs, and actively explore ways of getting the job done
better. These coaches are not rigidly closed-minded nor do they
fight what is usually a fast changing technology within their
sport. Because these coaches “walk the talk” around being open
to new ideas and demand from their athletes exactly what they
demand from themselves, their athletes are far more motivated to
meet the coach’s higher expectations.

#15) The very best coaches are PASSIONATE ABOUT WHAT THEY DO –
Success in and out of sports very often comes out of a love for
what you are doing. The more you love your sport, the better
chance that you have of reaching your goals. Passion (love) is a
high test fuel that will power you over obstacles, beyond
setbacks and through frustration until you achieve success. As a
coach, your passion for the sport and for coaching as a
profession is what will ultimately make you a great coach.
Passion is infectious and if you approach your practices and
competitions with it, soon after your athletes will “catch” it.
Passion in a teacher is motivational. Passion inspires others.
It gets them excited and gives them a reason to stretch
themselves. Coaches who lack this love for what they do, and who
just seem to be going through the motions, directly communicate
their lack of enthusias m to their athletes. Very soon you’ll
find that their athletes are doing much the same. As they say,
“nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.” To be
great in your field you must discover your passion for it. If
you’re bored coaching then you will bore your athletes. If you
can’t seem to find the passion in coaching then perhaps it’s
time that you seriously considered doing something else.

#16) Good coaches are EMPATHIC AND TUNED INTO THE FEELINGS OF
THEIR PLAYERS - Empathy is the ability to tap into another’s
feeling, experience what they are feeling and to then
communicate your understanding to that other person. When you
are empathic you demonstrate the skill of being able to step
into another’s shoes and walk in them long enough so that you
truly can feel what he/she is feeling from his/her model of the
world, NOT yours! Good communicators have this ability. When you
are empathic you leave your athlete feeling that you as his/her
coach deeply understands. This goes a long way in building
athlete loyalty, self-esteem and motivation. While an
insensitive, unfeeling coach can easily sabotage his/her
players’ confidence and contribute to performance problems, a
tuned in coach can do the exact opposite. He/she contributes to
the athlete’s sense of well being, personal safety,
self-confidence and, ultimately, peak performance. Keep in mind
that being empathic doesn’t necessarily mean that you are an
emotional pushover. You can have the ability to understand where
your players are coming from and still make the coaching
decisions that you feel are necessary. Coaches who lack the
ability or don’t take the time to tune into the emotions of
their athletes because they mistakenly believe that “all this
emotional crap” is a total waste, end up inadvertently
undermining their best coaching efforts. When you are an
emotional “bull in the China shop” with your athletes, routinely
tromping all over their feelings you will gradually alienate
your players, create team dissension and produce a group of
underachieving athletes.

#17) Good coaches are HONEST AND CONDUCT THEMSELVES WITH
INTEGRITY - What else needs to be said about this one? Your most
powerful teaching tool as a coach is modeling. How you conduct
yourself in relation to your athletes, their parents, your
opponents, the referees, the fans and the media is never lost on
your players. They see and hear virtually everything that you
say and do. One of the fastest ways of turning your players and
everyone else around you off is to model dishonesty and a lack
of integrity in some or all of your interactions. A dishonest
coach is one who lacks self-respect and therefore will never
earn the respect of others. Be aware of how you conduct yourself
in every aspect of your coaching. Be an honest role model.
Demonstrate character and class. These qualities are ultimately
far more important in the long run than how many games or
championships your teams have won.

#18) The best coaches MAKE THE SPORT FUN FOR THEIR ATHLETES – It
doesn’t really matter what level that you coach at from the pros
all the way down to Little League. It doesn’t really matter
whether a national title is at stake in this particular game or
just simply bragging rights around the neighborhood. Sports are
just games and games are meant to be fun! One of your most
important jobs as a coach is to find creative ways to integrate
this fun into what you do over the course of the season, on a
daily basis in practice and during those important competitions.
Even if you’re coaching at a high level D-I school, one of your
tasks is to try to keep your players enjoying that tedious,
painful grind. Fun is the glue that bonds peak and performance
together. If your players aren’t having fun, they will get much
less out of practice. If they get caught up in being too serious
in competitions, then they’re much more likely to play tightly
and tentatively. When an athlete is enjoying him/herself, that
athlete is loose and relaxed. Since loose and relaxed are two of
the most crucial ingredients to peak performance, it is in your
best interests as a coach to find innovative ways to keep your
athletes smiling. Keep in mind that it’s perfectly fine for you
to make the fun “goal directed.” That is, figure out ways within
your normal grueling practices to pique your players’ funny
bone. Periodically and unexpectedly interject the absurd or
hilarious. Just don’t get too caught up in how important a
particular game or tournament may be. Nothing is that important
that you’d want to totally botch it up with an excess of
seriousness. And remember, the younger the athletes are that you
work with, the more fun you have to weave into your practices.

#19) Good coaches are NOT DEFENSIVE IN THEIR INTERACTIONS WITH
THEIR PLAYERS OR PARENTS – Part of being a good communicator is
that you have to be open to negative feedback and criticism.
This is not something that is very easy to do and most of us
respond to this kind of negative feedback by getting defensive,
closing off and going on the counter attack. If you want to be
successful as a coach you have to learn to be open to all kinds
of feedback. You have to train yourself to carefully listen to
what others have to say to you and consider their comments and
points of view. You may not necessarily agree with their
assessment of you or their feedback, but it’s in your best
interests as a professional to at least listen. This is
especially important if the comments and negative feedback are
coming from your players. Far too many coaches refuse to listen
to any complaints or critici sms from their athletes,
categorically dismissing them as whining. Unfortunately this is
like throwing out the baby with the bath water. Sometimes the
negative feedback and complaints that come from your athletes
hold the seeds to you becoming a better, more successful coach.
Put the defensive stance away. It’s unbecoming and ultimately
counterproductive.

#20) Great coaches USE THEIR ATHLETES’ MISTAKES AND FAILURES AS
VALUABLE TEACHING OPPORTUNITIES - One of the bigger teaching
mistakes that coaches make is to get angry and impatient with
their athletes when they mess-up or fail. This response to your
athletes’ mistakes will insure that they will make plenty more
of them. Coaches who consistently yell at their players for
screwing up end up making them too nervous to play to their
potential. Furthermore, knowing that your coach gets impatient
and angry when you make mistakes will cause a player to worry
about this while he’s performing. An athlete who’s afraid of
messing up during performance is an athlete who will always play
tight and tentatively. Good coaches know that mistakes and
failures are the necessary perquisites to learning, improvement
and, therefore success. Therefore when an athlete makes a
mistake they do not go ballistic on the sidelines. They do NOT
want to teach their athletes to be afraid of making mistakes.
They do not want their athletes distracted by fear. Good coaches
know that an athlete needs to be relaxed and loose in order to
play well and that a fear of making mistakes always undermines
this relaxed state. To this end, the good coaches give their
athletes permission to fail and make mistakes. They instill in
their players the understanding that mistakes and failures are
nothing more than feedback, feedback about what you did wrong
and specifically what you need to do differently next time. The
best coaches teach that failure is feedback and feedback is the
BREAKFAST OF CHAMPIONS!

-Excerpted From:
The Mental Toughness Newsletter
May-June 2006
By Dr. Alan Goldberg
www.competitivedge.com

5.) GOLD ARTICLE PREVIEW:

What Should Coaches Watch? - By Mike Tully

(The second in an periodic series on things for coaches to ponder.)

Trying to watch everything at a volleyball practice is like
trying to watch every bee in a hive. Unlike the action around a
hive, however, not all the activity at practice will be
productive. It’s up to the coach to sort it out. It’s up to the
coach to coach.

As two-time national champion coach Dr. Carl McGown says, if you
want your players to improve, you must do two things: Put your
players in game like situations, and give them feedback.

Your feedback will improve if you understand that you can’t –
and shouldn’t – watch everything. Fortunately, there are several
perspectives from which to view practice. You don’t even have to
use the ones we suggest here. But you do have to narrow your
focus so that you’re watching one specific thing at a time.

The first thing you want to do is create...

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6.) GOLD ARTICLE PREVIEW:

This Works (Part Two of Three) -By Dr. Rob Gilbert

How do you get out of bed on a typical Monday morning? Do you
wait until you feel like getting out of bed and then you get out
of bed? OR . . . do you get out of bed and then you feel like
it? If you’re like most people, first you get out of bed and
then you feel like it. The ACTION precedes the feeling. THE
ACTION COMES FIRST.

When I was in school and I had to write that big paper, or start
that big project, or do that big reading assignment — I used to
wait until I felt like starting.

MAJOR MISTAKE!

Why was this a major mistake? Because I NEVER FELT LIKE IT! I
kept waiting to feel motivated and that feeling never came.

I learned that you have to do it, and then you’ll feel like it.
In other words, you can create the feelings through action.

Years ago, Tom Fleming was one of the top marathon runners in
the world. In fact, he won the New York City Marathon twice. He
once spoke to one of my classes and he said...

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7.) GOLD ARTICLE PREVIEW:

Do You Really Want It? -By Tom Hughes

Here we go, olay, olay, olay.

The song, more often heard at soccer games than volleyball match
has meaning.

Do you really want it…do you really want it?

Well the summer is almost over. Many schools begin in the next
week or two. Volleyball practice will soon swing into high
gear. A question you must ask yourself in the coming days:

Do you really want it?

When the gym is hot, the drills aren’t going well, and coach is
on you for your perceived lack of effort-

Do you really want it?

When matches begin and your team isn’t playing very well or
maybe you find yourself on the bench-

Do you really want it?

When homework and school projects begin piling up and you don’t
have enough time in the day to get everything done-

Do you really want it?

When friends get to go to the movies, parties, or other social
events and you can’t because you have a tournament tomorrow-

Do you really want it?

If in your heart you can answer that question with a resounding
“Yes”, then read on...

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8.) FREE ARTICLE:

Rules of Restoration -By Leslie Bonci

(Leslie Bonci, MPH, RD, is Director of the Sports Medicine
Nutrition Program at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center
Health System. She is also a consultant to the Pittsburgh
Steelers, the University of Pittsburgh Athletic Department, and
several high schools in the Pittsburgh area.)

What your athletes eat and drink immediately after a workout or
game can affect their next performance —for better or worse. The
key is to quickly restore to the body those important nutrients
it just lost.

If you ask athletes, “What is the most important meal or snack
to boost performance?” most will say the pregame meal. But, just
as important as pregame fueling is what athletes eat immediately
after a workout or match.

Why? Because after a tough workout or match, the body is
stripped of the exact energy it needs to help build muscle mass:
glycogen and fluids. The quicker the athlete is able to provide
nutritional energy to the body, the quicker the body can start
restoring itself. And an athlete’s body can only be fully ready
for the next workout or match if its glycogen and fluid stores
are completely replenished.

If energy is not replaced, the body becomes weak: muscle and
liver glyocgen stores remain low, the body can dehydrate, and
the likelihood of muscle damage increases. But it’s tough to
spot this problem, as the adverse effects of poor postgame
nutrition are cumulative and insidious. An athlete is often
unaware that he or she has reached suboptimal fluid and glycogen
levels until it’s obvious—until performance is adversely
affected, fatigue becomes difficult to ignore, weight loss
occurs, or injuries increase.

For these reasons, refueling after strenuous exercise is vital
for achieving the optimal recovery that enables an athlete to
compete again, whether it be in two or 24 hours. Therefore,
making recovery eating a planned, scheduled component of
training—with the appropriate amount of nutrients delivered in a
timely, efficient manner—should be a priority for all volleyball
athletes.

The Beverage Cart The first ingredient in the recovery process
is fluids. Because most of the weight lost during exercise is
sweat, rehydration is an essential component of the process,
both physically and mentally. To determine how much weight an
athlete loses through sweat, each player should be weighed
before and after practice, especially in situations involving
the following: temperature changes; increases in exercise
intensity, duration, or number of sessions; and young athletes
undertaking rigorous exercise.

The newest guidelines suggest that athletes drink 24 ounces of
fluid for every pound lost during exercise. This should be
consumed within six hours after exercise to ensure the athlete
is achieving optimal hydration status. For example, an athlete
who loses three pounds during an exercise session or event would
need to drink 72 ounces of fluid (3x24), or approximately three
water bottle-sized containers, to replace lost fluid.

It’s also important to note that heavy exercise can blunt the
thirst response. Therefore, athletes must drink beyond thirst,
following the guidelines instead of just drinking until thirst
is quenched.

While rehydrating is key to post-exercise refueling, water alone
may not be the best recovery fluid. Research has shown that two
key electrolytes, potassium and sodium, are lost during intense
exercise, especially of long duration.

In a two-hour exercise session, fluid loss through sweat can
exceed four to five quarts. In addition to water, one pound of
sweat contains 80 to 100 milligrams of potassium and 400 to 700
milligrams of sodium. In a two- to three-hour exercise session,
an individual can lose up to 300 to 800 milligrams of potassium
and 1800 to 5600 milligrams of sodium. The answer is not sodium
or potassium tablets, but foods and fluids that provide the
depleted electrolytes. Good potassium sources include yogurt,
grapefruit juice, bananas, nectarines, and most sports drinks.
Some good choices for sodium include vegetable juice, pretzels,
nuts, cheese crackers, and cheese pizza, as well as many sports
drinks.

Athletes should avoid alcohol, caffeine, and carbonated
beverages following strenuous exercise. Alcohol post-exercise
can impede recovery by hampering the body’s attempt to
rehydrate, and it can interfere with the body’s ability to
replenish glycogen, thus impairing the tissue-repair process.
And alcohol is a diuretic, causing further dehydration.

Caffeine is also a diuretic, resulting in only 50-percent fluid
retention, and is therefore not an appropriate post-exercise
fluid choice. Carbonated beverages are not the optimal choice
either, as an athlete may feel full before completely
rehydrating. A good rule of thumb is: juice first; beer, soda,
or latte later!

Another point to consider is the temperature of the beverage.
Cool drinks may permit increased intake over ice-cold beverages.

Replacing Glycogen The other important component of
post-exercise refueling is replenishing glycogen stores.
Restoring muscle and liver glycogen stores following strenuous
training will minimize the fatigue that results from repeated
days of heavy training.

Muscles replace glycogen at a rate of five percent per hour, so
it takes 20 to 24 hours post-exercise for the body to replenish
muscle glycogen stores maximally. However, muscles are most
receptive to fuel within 15 minutes after exercise, when the
blood flow to the muscles is still very high and the enzymes
that produce glycogen are most active. In fact, the lower the
muscle glycogen stores at this time, the faster the rate of
recovery. Therefore, a delay in intake of post-exercise fuel
will slow the recovery rate.

The best way to restore glycogen levels is by consuming adequate
amounts of carbohydrate. The goal is to drink and/or eat at
least 50 grams of carbohydrate as soon as possible post-exercise.

Despite what many advertisements tout, there is no benefit to a
low-carbohydrate/high protein diet for an athlete, as it can
contribute to chronic fatigue, slower recovery, and increased
risk of injury. Over and over, research has shown that the body
cannot efficiently replenish muscle glycogen without
carbohydrates.

However, there may be a role for small amounts of protein in
post-exercise recovery. Some studies have suggested that a mix
of carbohydrate and protein in a 3:1 ratio post-exercise may
replenish muscle glycogen more rapidly and promote muscle tissue
repair. The idea is that adding protein to the post-exercise
fuel results in a greater secretion of insulin than carbohydrate
(or protein) alone, and the release of insulin may stimulate
muscle growth.

It’s also important to consume the “right” type of
carbohydrates, namely those with a moderate-to-high glycemic
index. A food’s glycemic index indicates its ability to raise
blood glucose, which may enhance the replenishment of
muscle-glycogen stores post-exercise. Some examples of foods
with a high-glycemic index are potatoes, honey, cereal, corn
chips, white bread, sports drinks, jelly beans, and
high-carbohydrate sports drinks. Moderate glycemic index choices
include cookies, bagels, crackers, wheat bread, ice cream, and
potato chips.

When it comes to choosing liquids versus solids for
effectiveness and absorption of carbohydrates, either is fine.
Liquid and solid carbohydrate-rich foods of comparable
carbohydrate content will result in a similar rate of glycogen
resynthesis. Many fruits, however, provide both carbohydrate and
fluid and thus can be used to satisfy rehydration and glycogen
repletion simultaneously. Good choices include grapes,
blueberries, apples, peaches, celery, strawberries, melon,
tomatoes, oranges, and cherries.

To make things a little confusing, though, one drawback to
eating fruit is that it contains fructose. And, some research
shows that carbohydrate-rich foods containing glucose or sucrose
may be twice as effective as those containing fructose in
restoring muscle glycogen post-exercise. This is because
fructose is converted to liver glycogen, whereas glucose is
converted to muscle glycogen.

The bottom line: advise an athlete to include a variety of
carbohydrates post-exercise. For example, even though fruit
contains fructose, it can be very refreshing and provides fluid
to aid in rehydration. So, encouraging consumption of a piece of
fruit with another carbohydrate-rich food, such as a bagel or
handful of sweetened cereal, will encourage both fluid repletion
and glycogen resynthesis. Athletes should also be encouraged to
experiment with these foods for taste preference, tolerability,
and effect. They can record what foods work best, then make sure
to have them available.

Beyond immediate post-exercise consumption, athletes should eat
a carbohydrate-rich meal two hours post-exercise. They should
then continue to consume carbohydrates throughout the next 24
hours (or before the next workout or game). The maximum level of
carbohydrate intake seems to be 500 to 700 grams a day, above
which one will get little, if any, added contribution to
glycogen storage or improvement in athletic performance.

The number of meals the athlete eats is not that important. The
most important factor is meeting the carbohydrate requirements.
Smaller, more frequent meals may be easier to tolerate for some
athletes, but as long as she meets the goals in consuming the
appropriate amount of carbohydrates, the number of meals is
irrelevant.

How About Supplements? A big question posed by athletes these
days is, “Should I take supplements to boost my performance even
further?” In most cases, the answer is no. Eating a healthy,
carbohydrate-rich diet is still an athlete’s best bet for
immediate gains and long-term health. However, three types of
supplements currently being talked about a lot warrant some
further discussion.

If the athlete has food allergies or is a finicky eater, a
vitamin-mineral supplement can be considered. Although there are
no definitive studies demonstrating the performance-enhancing
effects of vitamin-mineral supplementation, achieving optimal
intake of micronutrients may reduce exercise-induced tissue
damage. A general multivitamin-mineral supplement that is
age-specific may be a good insurance policy, provided it is
taken on a daily basis and is not a replacement for food.

Strenuous endurance exercise can also depress glutamine levels,
and glutamine supplementation may decrease muscle damage and
expedite recovery. The recommendations are 0.09 to 0.27 grams of
glutamine per pound body weight. For a 120-pound athlete, this
would be 10 to 32 grams of glutamine per day. While there are
readily available glutamine supplements, glutamine by itself is
poorly absorbed. It is better utilized in a product containing
other amino acids or a food containing glutamine. Some good
sources include pork chops, steak, chicken breast, salmon, skim
milk, dried beans, and eggs.

Some studies have also looked at ciwujia for its ability to
expedite recovery at a dose of 800 milligrams per day. The
effects of long-term use are unknown, and as with other herbal
products, purity and dosing remain as question marks.

Make A Plan The bottom line is that post-exercise eating should
be considered a part of performance enhancement. Athletes need
to plan and schedule their post-activity snacks and meals with
even more focus than pre-competition eating, since training
occurs at least once a day, whereas competition may only be a
few times per week.