It’s Gotta Come From Inside

You can lead a horse to water…

Can passion, enthusiasm, and desire be taught?  How about aggressiveness and confidence?  Can these traits be coached and developed?

Without some seed of inner motivation and desire… I don’t think so.

If you don’t want something as much as someone wants it for you, it’s probably not going to happen.

If you’re not self-motivated, it’s unlikely that anyone else will be able to motivate you.

You’ve got to believe in yourself before you can expect someone else to believe in you.

You’ve got to want to make it happen before someone else can help you make it happen.

Basically, there are two types of motivation that are important for achievement and success:

• Intrinsic motivation is important for any athlete.  The athlete who is intrinsically motivated is self-motivated because he or she loves the game.  The intrinsically motivated athlete wants to be there.  Coaching team sports can be much more effective when athletes are self-motivated.
• Achievement motivation is fueled by an athlete’s competitiveness.  All things being equal between two athletes, the one with greater achievement motivation will be the better athlete because of his or her “appetite” for competition.

Keep in mind, intrinsic and achievement motivation are not limited to athletic achievement and success.  Both apply to academics, career, and every other aspect of our lives.

Conversely, extrinsic motivation, as the name implies, come from “outside” and usually involves changing behavior through reinforcement and/or punishment.  I’ve come to believe that this is ineffective, especially long-term.  Reinforcement and punishment can be effective, but only if the individual on the receiving end is motivated.

• Positive reinforcement involves the use of rewards – praise, helmet decals, prizes, and awards – to increase the probability that a particular behavior will be repeated.
• Negative reinforcement also increases the probability that a behavior will be repeated, by removing an event that is perceived to be unappealing or undesirable.  For example, if a team has a productive practice, the coach could announce that no sprints will be run at the end of the session.
• Positive punishment describes an action that is presented after a behavior, that could decrease the behavior’s recurrence.  Reprimanding a basketball player after a turnover is an example of positive punishment.
• Negative punishment is the removal of something valued.  Loss of privileges or playing time (benching) are examples of negative punishment.

Carpe Diem! Believe in you! Push yourself! Make it happen!

Your thoughts?

WE BUILD STRONGER ATHLETES!

We provide motivated athletes with a simple, customized training plan to help them improve performance and reduce injury risk.

The 3 H’s for Athletes

There are lots of qualities and characteristics that are important elements of athletic performance and achievement.  Ability, skill, and talent are, obviously, what every athlete aspires to develop.

But there are also intangible — effort-related — attributes that can improve any athlete’s performance.  Every team needs these athletes.  Persistent kids who work hard to get the most out of their talents and abilities.

Here are three of those attributes that will make any athlete hard to beat.

The 3 H’s for Athletes:

1. Hard Work.  Get in the weight room.  Improve your strength, speed, agility, and athleticism.  Practice your sport-specific skills.  Improve your ball-handling, hitting, skating, foot skills, or whatever your sport requires.  Have a plan and work smart.
2. Heart.  Believe in yourself.  Play with aggressiveness, confidence, and energy.  Hard work begets confidence.  Be confident, but not cocky.  Be positive, and have a “can-do” attitude.  Expect to succeed every time you’re on the field or court.
3. Hustle.  It doesn’t matter whether or not you’re the most talented player on the field or court.  Never allow yourself to be out-worked.  Whatever your 100% looks like, give it.

Your thoughts?

WE BUILD STRONGER ATHLETES!

We provide motivated athletes with a simple, customized training plan to help them improve performance and reduce injury risk.

The Most Important Game Is Your Next Game

How did you play in your last game?  Did you play as well as you wanted?  Did you play as well as you expected?  Did you play as well as you are capable?

Maybe you played with aggressiveness, or maybe you weren’t aggressive enough.

Maybe you played with confidence, or maybe it was lacking.

Maybe you brought energy, or maybe it just wasn’t there.

Well, here’s the deal:  There’s nothing you can do to change your effort or your performance now.  The game is over.

The key is to analyze and understand your performance — what happened and why it happened — and use that analysis and understanding to gain a competitive advantage… to improve upon your last game.

If you played a great game, work on further improving and reinforcing the things you did well.

If you played a not-so-great game, don’t dwell on it — it’s over.  But make sure you learn from it, and do your best to apply what you learned to your next game.

Because now the only game that matters is your next game.  It’s the most important one, because it’s the next game you can impact.  You can’t play any of the games after the next game until you play the next one.  Do your best to make it what you want it to be.  Make it happen.

Your thoughts?

WE WILL HELP YOU BECOME A BETTER ATHLETE!

We provide motivated athletes with a simple, customized training plan to help them improve performance and reduce injury risk.

It’s Gotta Come From Inside of You

You can lead a horse to water…

Can passion, enthusiasm, and desire be taught?  How about aggressiveness and confidence?  Can these traits be coached and developed?

Without some seed of inner motivation and desire… I don’t think so.

If you don’t want something as much as someone wants it for you, it’s probably not going to happen.

If you’re not self-motivated, it’s unlikely that anyone else will be able to motivate you.

You’ve got to believe in yourself before you can expect someone else to believe in you.

You’ve got to want to make it happen before someone else can help you make it happen.

Basically, there are two types of motivation that are important for achievement and success:

• Intrinsic motivation is important for any athlete.  The athlete who is intrinsically motivated is self-motivated because he or she loves the game.  The intrinsically motivated athlete wants to be there.  Coaching team sports can be much more effective when athletes are self-motivated.
• Achievement motivation is fueled by an athlete’s competitiveness.  All things being equal between two athletes, the one with greater achievement motivation will be the better athlete because of his or her “appetite” for competition.

Keep in mind, intrinsic and achievement motivation are not limited to athletic achievement and success.  Both apply to academics, career, and every other aspect of our lives.

Conversely, extrinsic motivation, as the name implies, come from “outside” and usually involves changing behavior through reinforcement and/or punishment.  I’ve come to believe that this is ineffective, especially long-term.  Reinforcement and punishment can be effective, but only if the individual on the receiving end is motivated.

• Positive reinforcement involves the use of rewards – praise, helmet decals, prizes, and awards – to increase the probability that a particular behavior will be repeated.
• Negative reinforcement also increases the probability that a behavior will be repeated, by removing an event that is perceived to be unappealing or undesirable.  For example, if a team has a productive practice, the coach could announce that no sprints will be run at the end of the session.
• Positive punishment describes an action that is presented after a behavior, that could decrease the behavior’s recurrence.  Reprimanding a basketball player after a turnover is an example of positive punishment.
• Negative punishment is the removal of something valued.  Loss of privileges or playing time (benching) are examples of negative punishment.

Carpe Diem! Believe in you! Push yourself! Make it happen!

Your thoughts?

WE WILL HELP YOU BECOME A BETTER ATHLETE!

We provide motivated athletes with a simple, customized training plan to help them improve performance and reduce injury risk.

The 3 H’s for Athletes

There are lots of qualities and characteristics that are important elements of athletic performance and achievement.  Ability, skill, and talent are — obviously — what every athlete aspires to develop.

But there are also intangible — effort-related — attributes that can improve any athlete’s performance.  Every team needs these athletes.  Persistent kids who work hard to get the most out of their talents and abilities.

Here are three of those attributes that will make any athlete hard to beat.

The 3 H’s for Athletes:

1. Hard Work.  Get in the weight room.  Improve your strength, speed, agility, and athleticism.  Practice your sport-specific skills.  Improve your ball-handling, hitting, skating, foot skills, or whatever your sport requires.  Have a plan and work smart.
2. Heart.  Believe in yourself.  Play with aggressiveness, confidence, and energy.  Hard work begets confidence.  Be confident, but not cocky.  Be positive, and have a “can-do” attitude.  Expect to succeed every time you’re on the field or court.
3. Hustle.  It doesn’t matter whether or not you’re the most talented player on the field or court.  Never allow yourself to be out-worked.  Whatever your 100% looks like, give it.

Get STRONGER, Get FASTER!

Your thoughts?

The Most Important Game Is Your Next Game

How did you play in your last game?  Did you play as well as you wanted?  Did you play as well as you expected?  Did you play as well as you are capable?

Maybe you played with aggressiveness, or maybe you weren’t aggressive enough.

Maybe you played with confidence, or maybe it was lacking.

Maybe you brought energy, or maybe it just wasn’t there.

Well, here’s the deal:  There’s nothing you can do to change your effort or your performance now.  The game is over.

The key is to analyze and understand your performance — what happened and why it happened — and use that analysis and understanding to gain a competitive advantage… to improve upon your last game.

If you played a great game, work on further improving and reinforcing the things you did well.

If you played a not-so-great game, don’t dwell on it — it’s over.  But make sure you learn from it, and do your best to apply what you learned to your next game.

Because now the only game that matters is your next game.  It’s the most important one, because it’s the next game you can impact.  You can’t play any of the games after the next game until you play the next one.  Do your best to make it what you want it to be.  Make it happen.

Get STRONGER, Get FASTER!

Your thoughts?

Don’t Take Yourself Out of the Game

As an athlete, consistency is important.  Consistency of effort, preparation, and practice leads to consistency of performance.  But, despite our best efforts, athletes at every level experience performance slumps.  There will be  some games when your shots are just not falling.  How will you deal with it?

There are some things that are under your control every time you take the court.  Attitude is one of them and, perhaps, the most important.  You decide if and how you let a missed shot or turnover affect your next possession, or the rest of your game.  Although it may be easier said then done, a positive mental approach (and, sometimes, a short memory) is critical to athletic performance success.

Effort is another area that shouldn’t be impacted by your level of play.  Keep hustling.  Continue to “play hard, play smart, and play together” (Dean Smith, former University of North Carolina men’s basketball coach).  Don’t allow a missed shot or bad pass to be an excuse to give anything less than 100% when you’re on the court.  Focus on the aspects of your play that aren’t susceptible to slumps, like defense, boxing out, and rebounding.

Don’t allow a performance slump to take away your aggressiveness, confidence, or energy.  You’ve worked hard to get to this point.  Keep believing in yourself and maintain a high intensity level.  Draw on positive past experience to fuel your thoughts.  Keep working hard, stay positive, and good things will happen.

Get STRONGER, Get FASTER!

Your thoughts?

It’s Gotta Come From Inside

You can lead a horse to water…

Can passion, enthusiasm, and desire be taught?  How about aggressiveness and confidence?  Can these traits be coached and developed?

Without some seed of inner motivation and desire… I don’t think so.

If you don’t want something as much as someone wants it for you, it’s probably not going to happen.

If you’re not self-motivated, it’s unlikely that anyone else will be able to motivate you.

You’ve got to believe in yourself before you can expect someone else to believe in you.

You’ve got to want to make it happen before someone else can help you make it happen.

Basically, there are two types of motivation that are important for achievement and success:

• Intrinsic motivation is important for any athlete.  The athlete who is intrinsically motivated is self-motivated because he or she loves the game.  The intrinsically motivated athlete wants to be there.  Coaching team sports can be much more effective when athletes are self-motivated.
• Achievement motivation is fueled by an athlete’s competitiveness.  All things being equal between two athletes, the one with greater achievement motivation will be the better athlete because of his or her “appetite” for competition.

Keep in mind, intrinsic and achievement motivation are not limited to athletic achievement and success.  Both apply to academics, career, and every other aspect of our lives.

Conversely, extrinsic motivation, as the name implies, come from “outside” and usually involves changing behavior through reinforcement and/or punishment.  I’ve come to believe that this is ineffective, especially long-term.  Reinforcement and punishment can be effective, but only if the individual on the receiving end is motivated.

• Positive reinforcement involves the use of rewards – praise, helmet decals, prizes, and awards – to increase the probability that a particular behavior will be repeated.
• Negative reinforcement also increases the probability that a behavior will be repeated, by removing an event that is perceived to be unappealing or undesirable.  For example, if a team has a productive practice, the coach could announce that no sprints will be run at the end of the session.
• Positive punishment describes an action that is presented after a behavior, that could decrease the behavior’s recurrence.  Reprimanding a basketball player after a turnover is an example of positive punishment.
• Negative punishment is the removal of something valued.  Loss of privileges or playing time (benching) are examples of negative punishment.

Carpe Diem! Believe in you! Push yourself! Make it happen!

Get STRONGER, Get FASTER!

Your thoughts?

The 3 H’s for Athletes

There are lots of qualities and characteristics that are important elements of athletic performance and achievement.  Ability, skill, and talent are, obviously, what every athlete aspires to develop.

But there are also intangible — effort-related — attributes that can improve any athlete’s performance.  Every team needs these athletes.  Persistent kids who work hard to get the most out of their talents and abilities.

Here are three of those attributes that will make any athlete hard to beat.

The 3 H’s for Athletes:

1. Hard Work.  Get in the weight room.  Improve your strength, speed, agility, and athleticism.  Practice your sport-specific skills.  Improve your ball-handling, hitting, skating, foot skills, or whatever your sport requires.  Have a plan and work smart.
2. Heart.  Believe in yourself.  Play with aggressiveness, confidence, and energy.  Hard work begets confidence.  Be confident, but not cocky.  Be positive, and have a “can-do” attitude.  Expect to succeed every time you’re on the field or court.
3. Hustle.  It doesn’t matter whether or not you’re the most talented player on the field or court.  Never allow yourself to be out-worked.  Whatever your 100% looks like, give it.

Get STRONGER, Get FASTER!

Your thoughts?

The Most Important Game Is Your Next Game

How did you play in your last game?  Did you play as well as you wanted?  Did you play as well as you expected?  Did you play as well as you are capable?

Maybe you played with aggressiveness, or maybe you weren’t aggressive enough.

Maybe you played with confidence, or maybe it was lacking.

Maybe you brought energy, or maybe it just wasn’t there.

Well, here’s the deal:  There’s nothing you can do to change your effort or your performance now.  The game is over.

The key is to analyze and understand your performance — what happened and why it happened — and use that analysis and understanding to gain a competitive advantage… to improve upon your last game.

If you played a great game, work on further improving and reinforcing the things you did well.

If you played a not-so-great game, don’t dwell on it — it’s over.  But make sure you learn from it, and do your best to apply what you learned to your next game.

Because now the only game that matters is your next game.  It’s the most important one, because it’s the next game you can impact.  You can’t play any of the games after the next game until you play the next one.  Do your best to make it what you want it to be.  Make it happen.

Get STRONGER, Get FASTER!

Your thoughts?