Archives for May 2018

Standards to Control or Empower

8 Minute Read or Listen on iTunes

Over the last month, one of the most dominant challenges and topics of conversations I have had with mentees and other coaches has been getting “player buy-in” to an off-season program.

One feeling coaches continue to articulate is this: “I care so much more than my players. They just don’t seem to want it like I do.”

Does this sound familiar to you? Probably. I know, I can empathize.

When we are building a program, what is one of the first things we look to do? Set standards! We tend to believe everyone needs more standards and higher standards. We can all work harder, smarter, and more consistently! Right? And we seem to have this belief that if we simply raise standards kids will rise to that standard as if that is all it takes! But the flaw in this approach is that they are often done in a way to “control” behavior instead of empower individuals and build character.

And when we set standards in an effort to control or get compliance, we get relationships built on fear and players who see those standards as obligations instead of opportunities to learn and grow. Controlling standards are often set, communicated, and enforced in such ways that they fail to consider the circumstances and needs of the person.

The reality is that most kids have a lot going on in the off-season, other sports, summer jobs (which are invaluable life experiences), vacations, and just being a kid.

Leisure Athlete versus Performance Athlete

Mark Bennett, the founder of PDS Coaching, spoke about leisure athlete versus performance athlete in the Way of Champions Podcast Episode 31. An absolute must listen!

If you were to categorize your athletes as performance or leisure, many coaches might classify them based upon skill level or ability, but Mark defines the performance athlete as an athlete giving his/her very best outside of “practice” time or the basic required training your team or club requires. When a coach is not holding them accountable, are they training hard by themselves, eating right, sleeping right?

Now, based on that standard, very few teams have performance athletes. Bennett suggests that we have almost two pathways or systems of support, one for those athletes who choose the performance pathway and one for those who choose the leisure pathway. The leisure athlete can and should be held to a high standard of giving their best in practices and games, but what differentiates the pathways is the support we give in training behaviors and the process outside of our required training time.

We need to be having this conversation with each of our athletes and supporting not shaming them in whatever path they take. Athletes shouldn’t feel ashamed to change their mind on the path they want to take, with both doors always being open.

Regardless of whether we are at youth, high school, or collegiate level, the truth is we don’t need or shouldn’t want a bunch of performance athletes. We need to be supportive of the holistic development of all the people we work with. Performance athletes will sacrifice and miss out on valuable life experiences: summer internships, trips abroad, mission trips, and other high school and college experiences.

So, the challenge is to have two pathways and let the path be the choice of the athlete. Some coaches are eager to design and implement the most complete off-season program EVER! Great, but don’t expect every kid to be brought in and have 100% commitment, because the reality is that it doesn’t align with their aspirations. Sure, he or she may want to win a championship, be a starter, or make the all-star team, BUT it isn’t the only thing they want in their life and it shouldn’t be.

Regardless of whether they are leisure or performance athletes, below are some ways to get buy-in and raise the standards and behaviors in your program.

7 Ways to Get Off-Season Player Buy In

1. Individual Meetings

Connect with them and work to understand them as an athlete and person. Ask questions like:

• What are your aspirations for the upcoming season?

• What other aspirations and goals do you have in life?

• What are you commit to doing?

• What are some of the challenges in following through on those commitments?

2. Team Meeting

Bring prospective players into the room and instead of handing them the plan for the off-season, start by getting their thoughts and ideas around what it should look like. Ask questions like:

• What do we hope to achieve this off-season?

• If you were the coach, how would you start to develop an off-season program?

• What do we want to do as a team? Team camps, team retreat, strength program, skill workouts, pick-up games, etc.

• What opportunities do we want as a team or individually?

• What else should we be involved in to have an enjoyable and healthy off-season? Summer jobs, family vacation, other sports, etc.

3. Agree Upon Standards, Schedule, and Consequences 

• What should the minimum standard for all players be? Are we okay with players not coming to anything in the off-season and then coming out for the team?

• What are acceptable excuses for not attending our off-season program?

• As best as possible, work to schedule off-season workouts and camps without creating conflicts with other sports, family vacations, and summer jobs.

4. The Path for the Performance Athlete

• Meet with players who choose this path to set higher standards and make more commitments.

• Offer them additional training, nutritional plans, off-season book, journaling, keys to the gym.

5. Communicate with Parents 

• Share your final plan moving forward with the parents.

• Consider bringing the parents in to discuss and take part in the summer planning as well.

• Ask them what they expect from an off-season program? What challenges do they anticipate? What days are they headed on family vacation?

6. Empower them to Plan and Schedule

In one of James Clear’s recent blogs, he discusses a simple tool to double the chances of follow through.

“A study in the British Journal of Health Psychology found that 91% of people who planned their intention to exercise by writing down when and where they would exercise each week ended up following through. Meanwhile, people who read motivational material about exercise but did not plan when and where they would exercise showed no increase compared to the control group.” – James Clear

So, it is great to talk with them about their goals and to encourage them, but one of the best things we can do is to have them not only write out their goals but very specific commitments and when and where they plan on following through on those commitments.

7. Address Incompatible Team Expectations and Individual Aspirations

At certain times we may need to communicate with the athlete and the parents that their individual goals and aspirations (or lack of) are incompatible with the teams. As the coach, you will work to create a culture of high standards in season and sometimes in the off-season.

These standards will depend on the level of your team. At the lower levels, your standards may be focused on development, but the athlete and parents want exposure. At the higher levels, you may have expectations of high commitment and performance, but the athlete and parents may be unwilling to make those commitments.

When this incompatibility arises, it is best to address it sooner than later!

Call to Action

Don’t just focus on player improvement! Create an off-season coach improvement plan for yourself with reading, clinics, and work with a mentor.

Also, don’t forget to enjoy your off-season as well! Start by scheduling time with your family and time away from your sport.

-J.P. Nerbun

Works Referenced

James Clear Blog

Achieve Your Goals: Research Reveals a Simple Trick That Doubles Your Chances for Success

Podcast Way of Champions

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/way-of-champions-podcast/id1223779199

10 Minute Read or Listen on iTunes

You may be the coach who has 100 kids at a tryout for a roster of 12 or you may be the coach who struggles to get the numbers together to form a team. Regardless of your situation, a selection process can help lay a strong foundation for your culture. How and who you choose for your team will determine the challenges you face throughout the season.

I am not a reality TV guy, but last year, a friend recommended “The Selection: Special Operations Experiment,” a fascinating reality show on the History Channel. The show takes 30 men and women with no military background and puts them through a rigorous selection process run by veterans of the Navy SEALs, Green Berets, and Army Rangers. Special forces all around the world have rigorous training and assessment processes to find the best of the best and in “The Selection,” instructors challenge these 30 people mentally and physically, beyond anything they have ever done before.

The show is fascinating for many different reasons: It gives the viewers an inside look into some of the ways they assess physical and mental toughness, as well as leadership. Some of the tests are truly horrifying and include tear gas, interrogation simulation, and psychological warfare (such as being stuck in tiny boxes), among others. The participants are pushed to their breaking point, but they can pull out of the program at any stage.

It also gives an inside look into why these people want to go through this process— there is no prize money or future job as a member of the Elite Forces. In fact, most of the people—especially those who last into the later stages—seem to have overcome some great life challenge or to be battling something dark in their life, such as the loss of a loved one, substance abuse, sexual abuse, and so on. These people have signed up because they understood the opportunity to be transformed through the experience that the “selection” offers.

Since watching this show, I have become fascinated with the selection process—in particular, that of the Navy SEALs, which were founded on the design of Draper Kauffman, a legendary Navy Demolition Man. While the dropout rate is around 60% for the Navy SEALs—which is low, compared to Delta Force and Army Rangers, which lingers around 90%—the SEALs have one of the strongest—if not the strongest—reputation for their selection program.

One surprising aspect of “The Selection” was the instructor’s behavior. While they were hard and tough, they were still supportive and encouraging at times. Even when people quit or left the program, the instructors always showed them respect. I had always imagined yelling and cursing like in the movie Full Metal Jacket!

Talk with anybody who has made it through the Navy SEALs’ BUD/s selection program and they will tell you it is not the strongest, fittest, or smartest people who survive the program. In her book, Grit, Angela Duckworth’s research revealed similar ideas when she studied cadets in West Point’s BEAST program and Navy SEALs. So, who survived? The grittiest survived! Using a simple “Grit” test, Duckworth was able to predict with near-perfect accuracy who would make it through these selection processes. Grit, as she defines it, is perseverance and passion for long-term goals.

The selection process is not about weeding out the weak but weeding out those who lack the “grit” necessary to be successful, while strengthening their commitment to each other and developing mental toughness and leadership.

However, in most sports programs, our selection process is too often just the opposite—only the most talented survive! In most programs, regardless of the level, we are selecting people in tryouts based upon an assessment of skill or ability. We do not test growth mindset, grit score, mental toughness, character, leadership, or all the other qualities we claim to value in our program.

By applying the principles of the Navy SEALs’ selection process, we could benefit greatly from a selection process or a “Hell Week”. Even if we were to use a Hell Week after we had already selected our team, it would still provide a great number of benefits for the culture of the team.

Before I share, let me be clear; I am not saying we need to hire Navy SEALs to run our tryouts and I am not saying we should ignore skill or talent. In any military selection process, even the most basic training requires a simple standard level of fitness, intelligence, and skill.  We should give great thought as to what our minimum standards should be regarding skill level and character.

The 7 Benefits of a Hell Week

1. Weeds out the weak. Coaches at the high school and collegiate level often provide off-season training programs for their players to help prepare them for the season ahead. Basic levels of fitness, athleticism, and skill should be required; giving them an off-season training program that will be adequate enough to bring them up to a minimum standard is important. Hell Week will weed out those who are unable or unwilling to put in the work required to meet those standards.

2. Weeds out the uncommitted. If they are unwilling to push themselves outside their comfort zone and stretch themselves physically and mentally at the start of the season—when players are typically most motivated—then when will they be willing? Typically, this is why the first week of selection programs are the most rigorous—they know it is better to learn whether they are committed or not, as it saves everyone stress and complications down the road.

3. Strengthens their commitment. Studies have been very clear that the more you sacrifice and invest your time and physical and mental resources to something, the stronger your commitment will be. Not only will a Hell Week weed out the uncommitted, but it will also strengthen the commitment of the others.

4. Builds relationships and culture. Through physical and mental pain, they will experience intense vulnerability and a deeper connection to each other. They will also learn to rely on each other during the team training exercises.

5. Improves mental toughness and discipline. Hell Week will stretch and challenge every participant physically, mentally, and emotionally. They will be forced to leave their comfort zone, and the more time they spend being uncomfortable in this type of environment, the more they will crave the benefits of training outside the comfort zone. Feeling themselves growing physically and mentally stronger creates a sense of fulfillment.

6. Builds leaders. The process presents many opportunities to pass on leadership responsibilities, decision-making, and ownership. As they are pushed to their limits and tested, leaders will rise up because they will depend on each other.

7. Creates a story. Hell Week will become a rite of passage they will talk about for the rest of their lives. A certain level of pride and self-belief comes from surviving a selection process.

7 Keys to Having a Beneficial Hell Week

1. Create a safe out. In the Navy SEALs selection process, the cadets honorably ring a bell when they decide to quit. It is important to stress that your team isn’t for everyone—you have high standards and you are working to build something special.

2. Be encouraging. Don’t go Full Metal Jacket on them! If possible, join in on the activities. Draper Kauffman did everything he asked of his soldiers during his selection process.

3. “Log PT (Physical Training).” Draper Kauffman used large logs for conditioning that required everyone on the team to pull their weight. Break them into small teams and put them through grueling and creative physical and mental tests.

4. “It pays to be a winner.” Teams should compete against each other. The winning team should be rewarded by being exempt from the final part of conditioning but should still be required to help the coaches support and encourage those who fall short.

5. The training doesn’t always need to be sport-specific. Challenge the participants physically and then have them execute skills or tactical play when they are tired and exhausted. While long distance running doesn’t physically prepare basketball players for competition, it can help prepare them mentally.

6. Decentralize command. Leaders create more leaders. Rotate team leaders and give them responsibility. Communicate instructions through the leaders and give them the challenge of disseminating the information to their teammates and making decisions for the team.

7. Explain why. Continuously remind the participants that each activity serves a purpose. Make sure they know this is helping them grow physically and mentally, and by choosing to persevere, they are choosing to be part of something truly special.

Call to Action

Whether you run a Hell Week after tryouts or as part of your selection process, be sure that you don’t only select the most talented players. We can’t continue to ignore character and devalue leadership, commitment, work ethic, and responsibility in favor of those who are naturally talented.

As Trevor Ragan from TrainUgly.com says, “The most important skills are those that are acquired.” Are you selecting those who are the most committed to learning and growing as athletes and as people?

-J.P. Nerbun