Go Sports Life

I've been thinking a lot about the 'x' factors as it relates to
training and developing young athletes, .

And I'm kind of an 'x' factor guy.

I read a lot about the 'secrets of speed training'.

I hear coaches talk about how to gain 'brute strength'.

I feel like I'm forever being exposed to the 'new', 'innovative'
and 'groundbreaking' methods for improving a young athletes' on
field play.

And that stuff is all fine.

Let's be honest, I believe my own system for training young
athletes is all those things.

But you also know by now that I'm constantly on the lookout for
OTHER things as well.

The intangibles.

The stuff that is outside the box.

How many times have you read one of my emails that talks about
the Art of Coaching, for example?

Understanding your athletes' mindset.

Going beneath the layers to see what really makes them tick.

And it really isn't about 'motivation' either, .

Motivation, to me, is a catch-phrase.

It's what we call all the yelling, screaming and constant
critiquing we do of our young athletes.

But does any of it penetrate?

Does it get inside them and actually cause them to dig deeper,
work harder or produce more?

To me, 'motivation' is nothing more than a short-lived
emotional response to some kind of external stimulus.

A coach yells, the young athlete becomes motivated to run
faster.

A coach screams, the young athlete becomes motivated to work
harder.

But not only is that type of 'coaching' evoking little more than
a temporary response, it's doing so in a negative way.

Negative reinforcer's bring about a temporary response, but they
end up being nothing more than false positives.

The coach sees the young athlete work harder after his tirade,
so assumes that the tongue lashing was effective.

But as soon as the verbal whipping is over, the young athlete
goes back to being the same kind of athlete he was before.

That's the difference between 'motivation' and 'INSPIRATION'.

Inspiration comes from within.

It's what compels you to drive forward and achieve more.

It's an internal compass that points you in the direction of
your greatest aspirations.

Parents and coaches often ask me the following question -

"My young athlete is really talented, but doesn't always play
as hard as he should.  What's the key to making his play more
consistent?"

My answer is simple -

"Help him find his inspiration and you will find the key"

And that's what I mean by 'X factors'.

Successfully coaching and developing young athletes is so much
more than increasing speed, improving strength and enhancing
agility.

For young athletes to truly excel, you have to understand
everything that goes into making them tick.

I've recently become very interested in the whole mental side
of athlete development.

How can I maximize each and every training session with them?

How can I teach them focus and in emotional control during game
situations?

In keeping with my philosophy that in order to build a successful
future in sports, we have to teach and develop young athletes
in several different facets of performance.

Now, my past coaching experiences involved extensive work with
elite, professional, National Team and Olympic athletes.

And I can tell you that the mental part of the training and
competition was every bit as important to them as the physical
was.

So it started dawning on me...

... In keeping with my own philosophy of teaching a variety of
abilities in order to develop a broad-based skill set -

Shouldn't that include exposure to mental training and
development?

I found a great resource on exactly this topic through the Hypnosis Network.

It's a program created by Dr. Jack Singer and has been developed
specifically for the young athlete.

I went ahead and negotiated a price discount on their
'Core Sports Performance' program for you.

Have a look -

Core Sports Performance - Click Here

It may be one of the 'X Factors' you've been looking for...

'Till next time,

Brian

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