How Effective Leaders Use Comparions and Competition to Motivate and Build Momentum

Good article from "Both Sides of the Table" on how leaders use comparisons and competition to motivate.



Start-ups are all Naked in the Mirror

Dreams of an NFL Career? Have a Backup Plan

Some sobering stats about making it to the NFL.  Encourage your student-athlete to hit the books this fall!

 

High School Senior Football Players: 310,000

Percent of High School Players to the NCAA:  6.5%

Percent of High School Players to the NFL:  0.08%

Percent of NCAA players to the NFL:  1.7%

NCAA Football Players Drafted to the NFL:  254

 

...so out of roughly 310,000 high school football players, only 254 will be drafted into the NFL four to five years later.  And out of those 254 many will be cut before the first regular season game. 

Child Support & Sports Camp

Child Support is calculated on a state by state basis.  But for the most part, parents are obligated to cover the "necessities."  This would include food, clothing, medical treatment and shelter.  Because sports camps, personal coaches and youth league fees are not a "necessity" these expenses are not mandatory for one or both parents to contribute.  Payment for extracurricular activities, such as youth sports expenses, must be negotiated between the parents.  One more reason for both parents to find a way to work collaboratively for the best interests of their child. 

Parenting Plans & Youth Sports - "Best Interests" Standard

Acrimonious divorce?  It happens.  But does the parenting plan support your child's athletic schedule? 

One anecdote I share with parents every season is Alec Baldwin vs. Kim Basinger.  After a nine year marriage, Baldwin and Basinger waged war with an eight year custody battle, involving $3M in court costs and legal fees, and 90 + court proceedings.

Who benefited from that?

Parents Ruin Sports for Their Kids by Obsessing About Winning - The Atlantic

Good article re: setting process-based goals. 



Parents Ruin Sports for Their Kids by Obsessing About Winning - The Atlantic

Getting "Present" - Control the Controllables, Part II

“Thought Stop” works like this:  once an athlete feels their focus drifting from the immediate moment

(1) the athlete consciously acknowledges that distraction without judgment or fighting the distraction;

(2) the athlete briefly examines where his/her focus should be; and finally,

(3) the athlete allows themselves permission to refocus on the present. 

Thought Stop must be done quickly when in the middle of a game.  This is not an existential go sit on the mountain top and contemplate the meaning of life kind of fix.  Thought Stop is a tool in the tool box to rapidly get back into the right mind set.

Tips for using Thought Stop:

·        Review distracting thoughts without judgment (stay relaxed);

·        There’s absolutely no use in fighting back against distracting thoughts (stay relaxed) - allow these gremlins an exit door on every side of the brain;

o   Example – when someone says, “whatever you do….don’t focus on a pink hippopotamus riding a unicycle” where does your focus go?

Distracting thoughts are a never-ending battle (stay relaxed).  Think of Thought Stop like an endless roll of duct tape, a quick fix to get back on track until the next pink hippopotamus comes along.

Getting "Present" - Control the Controllables, Part I of II

Getting Present – The “Controllables”

The most common trait of mentally tough athletes is the ability to “get present.”  And this skill takes deliberate and repeated practice so it becomes a habit.  And once it becomes a habit it requires constant attention to avoid the slide back into worrying about external factors. 

The best example I’ve ever seen of “getting present” was Michael Jordan in game 5 of the 1997 NBA finals against the Utah Jazz.  Jordan came out on the floor with the flu and a 103 temp.  He literally took over the game and destroyed the Jazz with 38 points while fighting passing out on the floor.  Jordan “got present.”

When “present” the athlete focuses on process-oriented goals rather than outcome, channels energy on what they control, and settles into a game-mode mind set where instincts are allowed to run the show (the zone).

So what is the trick?  Easy to say, not so easy to do.  How does an athlete get present?  One useful exercise to use is a concept called “Thought Stop.” 

“Thought Stop” works like this:....to be continued...

Burnout & Breathing Room in Youth Sports

Burnout is a thief.  Burnout steals all the great life skills that youth sports can teach.  It is up to the sports-parent to get on the same page and align their goals with that of the student-athlete.  And it is also up to the sports-parent to create breathing room and purposefully schedule downtime from competitive youth sports.

Breathing Room.  Breathing room is a critical part of skill development. Breathing room is not a luxury or something to be “earned” by on-field performance.  Scheduling purposeful downtime allows the athlete to decompress and digest what has been learned.  Even a machine-like Navy SEAL requires downtime.  Shouldn’t same the same apply to a promising twelve-year-old wide receiver?