WHAT IS TRUST

What is trust?

It is a belief and reliability in a person.

The highest levels of performance require the deepest levels of trust.

Trust is what every person and team talks about but its sometimes hard to get.

Trust is earned through behavior, not granted to you based on a position.

if you are trusted by your teammates, they know you can ALWAYS be counted on the easy and most difficult situations.

Your teammates push you through the grind with encouragement. you develop that trust through shared training.

Trust can create a special bond, one that can lead to truly special things.

Trust is not solely earned on one or two actions but daily, weekly and monthly consistant actions that show your investment to yourself by doing things right, your teammates and coaches.

Trust requires you to make an uncommon commitment to being the best, by your attitude and actions to your team and coaches. Repeatledy, over and over and over.

Attitude - Preparation - Execution

I Spoke the other day about Attitude, here is what attitude looks like as you prepare for Practice.

What player are you?

Mediocre attitude - how many of you actually prepare for practice? Do you shove down a burger, race to the locker room, quickly put on your gear, and then wait to be told what to do?

Professional attitude - athletes will attempt to find a way to prepare better for pratice. Actually having a set routine to follow made up of proper eating, rest and letting go of un-athletic related issues (school, girlfriends, etc).

Everything must be done with intent!

If you want to be a great player, you have to dominate your time.  Repetition is not punishment; it is how you get better.  In order to maximize your ability as a player, you need to spend countless hours working on your body and working on your game; putting up hundred’s of game speed shots, whizzing through countless ball handling drills, hitting countless balls of the tee, catching countless passes, watch game film, and lifting weights & running sprints. This needs to be done on a daily basis for maximum improvement.

Tips to execute better during practice:

• Take notes during team meetings and/or after practices regarding personal and team performance.

• Take coaching during practice… get better opposed to just getting through.

• Have inner competitions: win every sprint, chase teammates on runs, know how many times you were successful in each drill. Do not just survive.

• Don’t allow your focus to drift. Visualize the gold at the end of the rainbow and what it will feel like.

• Know the purpose of the drill and what the end result will look like.

• Never be reminded to give great effort

 Have a great attitude! Prepare to be the best! Execute as a champion! WIN!!

ATTITUDE TO BE THE BEST

The only disability in life is a bad attitude! For years my belief has been your attitude is the key to start your day! Below are some points I read in a book back in 2006 (Mental Toughness Training for Football, Mike Voight).

PROFESSIONAL ATTITUDE VS. MEDIOCRE ATTITUDE

THE MAJOR DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THESE TWO IS HOW YOU PERCEIVE WORKOUTS/PRACTICE. Some players view workouts/practice as an opportunity to play and improve, which denotes an internally driven motivation mainly within the players control. Others, however, perceive workouts/practice as something that is “done to them” signifying an externally driven motivation that is out of a player’s control.

If a player has a mediocre attitude, his effort in workouts will fluctuate depending upon mood, whether or not he likes the activity, or an external motivation. Workouts are something that “coach does to me” or “what is he going to do to us today?” Players with this mindset go through the motions, put their time in, and just want to complete the day and leave. This player is usually hard to coach or “uncoachable”.

If a player has a professional attitude, they view workouts as an opportunity for improvement and refinement, not something “forced” on to them.  Players with this mindset take more responsibility for their performance by holding themselves accountable to pre-set standards of execution. This player puts in maximal effort on all exercises, drills and conditioning. This player listens to coaching and then puts it into action.

Professional attitude players tend to be motivated by internal desires to improve and perform better than their last performance, thus increasing their motivation and work rate to do all they can in practice to ensure this occurs.

Mediocre attitude players tend to be motivated by external agents (praise, big game, crowd, accolades, media), yet, in the absence of these agents, motivation is lacking, as is the case in practice settings. These players usually consider themselves “gamers” and do not feel it important to give maximal effort in training. These “gamers” believe thay can just turn on their top performances like a light without having to put in the work in practice. Although these players might be quite talented and succeed come game time, their consistency of play will not be as sharp and there long term progress may be jeopardized by lack of consistent, quality practice.

Ask yourself these questions:

• How can I/we get better today?

• What will I/we accomplish today?

WHAT IS YOUR ATTITUDE?

The Difference USA Striking Machine Workouts

This is the ultimate striking machine to aid in correct hand placement and striking, to take your football skills to the next. Below our workouts I use to help players develop.

Defensive Line

1 Kneeling Double Punch 20x Airex Pad    

2a 2pt Stance Step & Punch 2x5 EA Right Foot & Left Foot Lead

2b 3pt Stance/Get-Off & Punch 2x5 EA Right Foot & Left Foot Lead    

3 3pt Stance/Punch & Release 2x5 EA Lateral Release RT & LT    

4 Dodge, Duck, Dip, Dive & Dodge 5x Using Crayon shield

Skill / Big Skill

1 2pt Double Punch 10x      

2 2pt Step & Punch R/L  2x5 EA Alternating R/L    

3 Alternating Rapid Punch 3x15 sec      

4 2pt Stance/ Punch & Release 2x6 EA Positional Release RT & LT

OL / Tight End (Option 1)

1 Double Punch 10x 1a Single Punch R/L 10 EA  

2a Same Hand Step & Punch  2x5 EA

2b Opp. Step & Punch 2x5 EA  

3a 3pt Stance Step & Punch 2x5 EA

3b Shuffle & Punch Down & Back   3x Up & Back

OL / Tigh Ends (Option 2)

1a Punch Target: R/L Shoulder 2x15 sec  

1b Plank- Push Up 2x10      

2a Band Resisted Punch (Red Band Back-Pack) 3x10  

2b Set & Strike (Draw Principles) 3x5 EA RT & LT    

3a Rocker Pass-Pro Footwork (Post, 45⁰, Vert.) 3x20 sec  

3b Zone Footwork Steps (Inside & Outside)   2x5 EA  

FEMORACETABULAR IMPINGEMENTS (FAI)

As we prepare athletes. We need to coach, watch, listen and choose the correct exercises to get them better.

·       “Hot topic” in sports medicine.  Diagnosis rate is increasing exponentially year to year.

·       Congenital or developmental?

·       Much higher incidence rate in athletics than normal population.

NORMAL / CAM TYPE / PINCER TYPE

1.      How do we identify athletes at risk?

a.      Anterior pelvic tilt

b.      Inability to reach full hip flexion, adduction, internal rotation without compensation

c.      Anterior hip pain with activity (“Hip flexor pain” when squatting)

2.      What do we need to do about it? 

a.      Reposition pelvis posteriorly to achieve neutral alignment

i.     Activate/strengthen pelvic floor & Hip ext, abd, ER

ii.     Deactivate/stretch paraspinals and hip flexors

3.      How do we need to do that?

a.      Activate muscles that produce hip extension, abduction, external rotation

i.     Glute max, Glute med, piriformis, lateral hamstrings, etc

b.      Inhibit/deactivate/stretch overactive anterior musculature; hip flexors (rectus femoris, psoas, iliacus, etc)

c.      Postural respiration

i.     Breathing patterns are highly influential on pelvic position

4.      What should we avoid?

a.      Hamstring stretching for range of motion increase

i.     Length/tension relationship of hamstrings has already been affected by anterior rotation of pelvis.

ii.     Hamstrings are in a chronically lengthened position and therefore at huge mechanical disadvantage

b.      Forced range of motion in lifts requiring deep hip flexion

You must be a great teacher!

SIMPLICITY IS THE ULTIMATE SOPHISTICATION…

We always need to understand this while coaching.

TEACHING: Clear, Clean, Concise and Direct. YOU MUST BE A GREAT TEACHER!

CLEAR - speaking or watching what you want.

CLEAN - exercise cues, graphics or video

CONCISE - break everything down. Fundamentals. TO THE POINT

DIRECT - direct your teaching at an individual or individuals

-Be specific and organized when critiquing players.

-Be specific with your drills.

-Demand they do exercise correclty / finish drills. If not do it again or teach better.

FINALLY

• Correct one thing at a time = 85% SUCCESs RATE

• Correct two things at a time = 35% SUCCESS RATE

• Correct three things at a time = Good Luck!

• No training Program is good or bad unless its not prepared, layout and coached

• if you are bored, your athletes have already been for a while.

• YOUR ATTITUDE, PREPAREDNESS AND ENERGY ARE CONTAGIOUS!

• Give the players your all!!

HOW TO SCORE OFF SEASON COMPETITON

TEAM COMPETITION SCOREBOARD

CATEGORIES:

ATTITUDE / EFFORT / ENTHUSIASM

COMPETITION

ACCOUNTABILITY

SCORING CRITERIA

I. ATTITUDE / EFFORT / ENTHUSIASM

Community Service = +2 POINTS

High Needs = +1 POINT / PER SESSION - - - (Extra Weight Room, Training Room, nutritionist appt, etc.)

Strength Staff weekly report (BOARD) = +1 POINT or -1 POINT (COACH DISCRETION)

Meeting Weekly Weight Goal = +1 / -1 POINT

Loafs = -1 POINT / PER LOAF

II. COMPETITION

Speed Groups =

+1 POINT WIN / MOST MOVE UP A GROUP  -1 POINT LOSS / MOST MOVE DOWN A GROUP

Weight Room (specific exercise, improvement, competitions) = +1 POINT / UNIT POINTS

Team Agility = Each Player gets total amount of POINTS BASED ON WINS-PENALTY

III. ACCOUNTABILITY

ANY misses consisting of (weight room, training room, nutrition, academics,life, team fucntion.) = -4 POINT

Being Late  = -2 POINT

Messy / Dirty locker room area = -1 POINT

**KEEP TRACK DAILY - ALL PERSONNEL WILL TURN IN ALL REPORTED

VIOLATIONS ON TUESDAY BY 4:00 PM. DATA UPDATED ON WEDNESDAY.

WINNERS = DINNER / MASSAGE / GEAR

LOSERS = NEGATIVE CONSEQUENCE

 *JUST LIKE REAL LIFE!!!

THE INTANGIBLES

As we evaluate our programs over the next few weeks, keep in mind that most times its more important then sets and reps. It is how well did you prepare to get to the program! This is a guidleine I use as I start to develop a program and staff.

WE ARE AN “ATYPICAL PROGRAM” - We use every methodology to create the best program mentally and physically for the student athletes. Then coaching it better and with more detail then anybody.

WE MUST BE THE BEST IN EVERYTHING WE DO! - This is easy to say but hard to do. This means we stay ahead of the curve, know what everybody is doing, be educated on whats out there and being in the know.

SHARED ENTHUSIASM, ALIGNMENT! - If not right this will destroy a program. You must have the right people in each position. Then everybody must have the excitment to work to get the job done right for the players

“LEAVE NOTHING TO CHANCE”

MEANING:

·    -   ACCOUNT FOR EVERY POSSIBLE OUTCOME IN YOUR PREPERATIONS, AND ENSURE THAT EVERYTHING GOES AS PLANNED.

·     -  MAKE SURE THAT EVERYTHING GOES EXACTLY HOW YOU WANT IT TO GO AND NOT WAIT AND SEE WHAT HAPPENS. TO HAVE CONTROL OVER EVERYTHING AND LEAVE NOTHING TO FATE.

- PREPARATION AND CONSISTANCY ARE THE KEY!

It is big to undestand the next element. Then figure out a way you can objectively track it.

10,000 HOUR RULE = 10,000 HOURS IS THE RULE OF GREATNESS. DO YOU DO ENOUGH WHEN THE COACHES ARE NOT AROUND? (MALCOLM GLADWELL – OUTLIERS)

DESIRED OUTCOME… BELIEVE   + EXPECT   + ATTITUDE    + BEHAVIOR = PERFORMANCE

THE FINAL OUTCOME:

GET THE MOST FROM THE LEAST AND THE BEST FROM THE BEST!

Keep the ROUTINE!

“ROUTINE IS THE SIGN OF AN AMBITIOUS PERSON”

Just a quick note to make sure we are keeping a routine as our days are a bit different. Just a few quick points.

1. Wake up around the normal time you usually do. It is fine to sleep in a little but try and keep your clock as normal as possible.

2. Keep your daily routine as regular as you can. Adjust it as needed with family, maybe include them.

3. Keep eating as regular and healthy as possible. Keep your eating time close to regular.

4. Remember to hydrate.

5. Replace extra time that you have with reading, researching, learning, or going for a walk.

6. Keep your traning schedule! Maybe you need to add a second dose to keep the volume or intensity of not having a gym, thats fine.

7. Go to bed around the same time!

8. Most important plan your day the day before. Check off what you complete! Your success rate will be high!

9. if you happen to get off schedule: adjust and adapt! keep whats important important!

10. Keep kicking butt!!

COMMUNICATION GOES BOTH WAYS

We always hear how important communication is, the important part is the exchange of information! Not just giving information!

As we give out workouts and traning recomendations to the athletes we train, at this time it is important to make sure we follow up with them and communicate!

A few ways to make sure you are getting info back!!

1. Group text message. Make sure they respond! Divide up your staff to hit all athletes. Then catch up with your staff to make sure things are well.

2. Exercise group text message. Drop a text of you doing an exercise and have them return a video back. Make it a challenge!

3. Set up Zoom calls. See them as a group face to face! Again set your staff up. Involve everybody to communciate. Maybe have a different coach call each day so the players see everybody!

4. A Daily Twitter entry about something you asked about! IDEAS: picture of breakfast, a motivational quote, something they are thankful for, somethign they are reading, etc

5. Set up a Youtube channel. Give content and finish with a question or something that they need to interact with and can comment on!

6. A phone call or facetime. Pretty Basic!

   Obvisiously there are other ways. These are just a few. Rememer its not all about getting the workout complete.

   -ASK HOW THEY ARE, DO THEY NEED ANYTHING, ARE THEY STAYING SHARP WITH SCHOOL AND JUST TALK!!!