Is McDonald's the key for young athletes?

Hi ,

I was watching the life story of Ray Kroc on the Biography channel over the weekend.

Ray Kroc is the man who made McDonald's what it is today.

A dedicated and passionate businessman, Ray was selling a new kind of 'milkshake' maker to brothers Dick and Mac McDonald during a routine sales trip to California.

Dick and Mac had moved from New Hampshire to California and opened a revolutionary drive-in restaurant in San Bernardino called, McDonald's -- a tribute to their family name.

Ray became very intrigued with the brothers' systematized methods
of mass producing food and drinks for their customers.

Originally when McDonald's started, it took the restaurant an
average of 25 - 30 minutes to get the customer their food from the time the order was placed.

With the implementation of several well-considered innovations,
the brothers got that down to a mere 30 - 45 seconds.

Extra large grills for mass producing burgers, condiment
dispensers that placed 1 tablespoon of ketchup and 1/2 a
tablespoon of mustard on each bun with the flick of a switch,
a warming tray that kept the food piping hot for a full 30
minutes so that it was 100% ready to be served even before it
was ordered...

... These were the type of innovations that got Ray Kroc
intrigued -- and began the 'fast food' revolution in America.

You see, it was post World War Two, and the United States was
immersed in a new found philosophy for life.

Quick... Easy... and Fun!

That's what Americans wanted.

Ray Kroc saw the potential of this 'quick and easy' method and
predicted, quite correctly, that families would literally
'eat up' the concept.

He purchased the exclusive franchising rights to McDonald's and
began an expansion crusade that would eventually see this
icon of modern fast food become the highest grossing restaurant of all-time.

Now...

... What on earth does this have to do with training young
athletes???

Well, if you look at McDonald's as the American icon that it is,
you'll see that it had tremendous influence over the business
models of several other industries outside of food service.

- Drive through banking
- Drive up pharmacies
- Internet grocery shopping

The 'quick and easy' generation that began post World War Two
has lead to a movement for 'quick and easy' consumer products
in virtually every single injury imaginable.

Gone seem to be the days of quality customer service, brand
loyalty and personal relationships.

Just look at the fitness and sport-training industries:

- 8 minute abs
- 4 minute fitness
- 30 days to a new you

In fact, a casual search of 'Google' revealed that the gimmicks
go as low as training programs that promise results in as little
as 2 MINUTES PER DAY!

And they almost always sound something like this...

"Lose weight instantly and re-gain your teenage physique with
my patented quadruple-action fat burning incineration system!"

And has you've read me pontificate about before, this 'quick
and easy' mentality is now being applied to sports training for
kids all over the world.

Facilities and franchises promising immediate gains in strength
and speed for athletes as young as 8... in only 6-weeks!

Now, what's the problem with this 'quick and easy' mentality?

IT DOESN'T WORK!!!

Yes, McDonald's has managed to sell 14 quad-trill-million
hamburgers all over the world and the fitness industry grosses
an estimated $100 billion a year in the United States alone...

... But where has that gotten us?

- Obesity is at an all-time high the world over

- Obesity is recognized as the number one causative factor in most adult diseases

- The youth obesity rare has exploded around the world

- The CDC has announced that our current group of youngsters
may be the first generation in decades to have a shorter life
expectancy than their parents

- By 2010, the youth obesity rate in American youth is projected
to be 50% of the entire population under the age of 18

In part, I blame the inefficiency of the fitness industry at
large for not providing consumers with a personalized approach
to health and fitness.

I mean, infomercials that sell people on the latest and greatest
workout plans, websites that offer basic training regimes to
any and all who choose to purchase them and Personal Trainers who
take ALL their clients through the same 60-minute session
without thought or consideration for individuality --

How can any of this help the situation.

The fitness industry has become the 'quick and easy' solution...

... Just like McDonald's.

And to think that we're starting to treat young athletes the
same way.

I'll go on record right now and say that the single greatest
reason for my success as a Coach working with young athletes
is due to my never-ending pursuit in getting to know them as
best as I can.

When you get know your athletes and spend time developing a
personal relationship, you'll understand exactly what they need
to achieve their best results.

"Sure, Brian. But how can I do that when I work with a team
and have 20+ athletes at the same time?"

Well...

"The impact that Brian had on my career was phenomenal. While
working with a large team of figure skaters, Brian managed to
reach each of us individually to encourage development in areas
specific to maximize each skaters' performance"

- Jodi Martin (Canadian National Team, International Champion)

The answer is simple.

You DECIDE to build personal relationships with every single
one of your athletes.

And that will make, literally, all the difference in the world.

So enough of the carbon copy, cut and paste, 'quick and easy'
approach to training young athletes.

Roll your sleeves up, get your head in the game and start forming
quality relationships with your athletes AND their parents.

Do me a favor, also.

Listen to this awesome interview I conducted with well
respected Coach, David Jack.

We talked for over 45 minutes about the importance of coaching
and how it is the key to developing quality young athletes.

It's free courtesy of the IYCA Free Resources section on
www.IYCA.org.

You can access that interview here:

http://www.iyca.org/Free-Resource-Center-c8.html

'Till next time,


Brian