Athletic Performance Toolbox

Mental Toughness and Excuses

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IMO, one of the most important life lessons coaches can teach their athletes is the lesson of refusing to make or accept excuses. I have assembled some quotes in this article that I hope will help as you work with your athletes to eliminate the use of excuses in your program.

Excuses allow us to stay in our comfort zones. But for growth and improvement to take place, we have to move out of our comfort zones. By refusing to accept the option of making an excuse, you hold your athletes accountable and force them to move out of their comfort zone to complete the skill, drill, play, workout, or whatever your objective is–and then take responsibility for the results.

If your athletes know that you will not accept excuses, they are more likely to strive to find a way to succeed through perseverance and extended effort rather than giving up on themselves and their teammates too soon by taking the easy way out of looking for an excuse. Many times, we find success on the other side of simply making one more intelligent effort.

A No Excuse team rule also teaches the lesson of not being afraid to accept failures and defeats and not feeling the need for rationalizing with an excuse. Setbacks and mistakes are a part of the improvement process, and as such should not be feared, but rather learned from. No one can learn from mistakes if they offer an excuse because they are attempting to cover up the mistake rather than embracing the opportunity to learn from it and get better.

I hope that you can find a few words in here that you can apply to your program!

Excuses are the nails used to build a house of failure. ~Don Wilder and Bill Rechin

Don’t make excuses – make good. ~Elbert Hubbard

He who excuses himself accuses himself. ~Gabriel Meurier

Several excuses are always less convincing than one. ~Aldous Huxley

Maybe you don’t like your job, maybe you didn’t get enough sleep, well nobody likes their job, nobody got enough sleep. Maybe you just had the worst day of your life, but you know, there’s no escape, there’s no excuse, so just suck up and be nice. ~Ani Difranco

How strange to use “You only live once” as an excuse to throw it away. ~Bill Copeland

Don’t do what you’ll have to find an excuse for. ~Proverb

No one ever excused his way to success. ~Dave Del Dotto

Excuses are the tools with which persons with no purpose in view build for themselves great monuments of nothing. ~Steven Grayhm

And oftentimes excusing of a fault. Doth make the fault the worse by the excuse. ~William Shakespeare

A lie is an excuse guarded. ~Jonathan Swift

Hold yourself responsible for a higher standard than anyone else expects of you. Never excuse yourself. ~Henry Ward Beecher

Whoever wants to be a judge of human nature should study people’s excuses. ~Hebbel

There is no such thing as a list of reasons. There is either one sufficient reason or a list of excuses. ~Robert Brault

We have more ability than will power, and it is often an excuse to ourselves that we imagine that things are impossible. ~François de la Rochefoucauld

Difficulty is the excuse history never accepts. ~Edward R. Murrow

Pessimism is an excuse for not trying and a guarantee to a personal failure. ~Bill Clinton

I attribute my success to this: I never gave or took an excuse. ~Florence Nightingale

We are all manufacturers – some make good, others make trouble, and still others make excuses. ~Author Unknown

One of the most important tasks of a manager is to eliminate his people’s excuses for failure. ~Robert Townsend

Success is a tale of obstacles overcome, and for every obstacle overcome, an excuse not used. ~Robert Brault

An excuse is a skin of a reason stuffed with a lie. ~Billy Sunday

Bad men excuse their faults; good men abandon them. ~Author Unknown

He that is good for making excuses is seldom good for anything else. ~Benjamin Franklin

It is wise to direct your anger towards problems – not people, to focus your energies on answers – not excuses. ~William Arthur Ward

It is better to offer no excuse than a bad one. ~George Washington

We have forty million reasons for failure, but not a single excuse. ~Rudyard Kipling

The person who really wants to do something finds a way; the other person finds an excuse. ~Author Unknown

If you always make excuses to not follow through you deserve the weight of anxiety on your chest. ~Author Unknown

Justifying a fault doubles it. ~French Proverb

A man can fail many times, but he isn’t a failure until he begins to blame somebody else. ~John Burroughs

The best day of your life is the one on which you decide your life is your own. No apologies or excuses. No one to lean on, rely on, or blame. The gift is yours – it is an amazing journey – and you alone are responsible for the quality of it. This is the day your life really begins. ~Bob Moawa

Never ruin an apology with an excuse. ~Kimberly Johnson

What’s in a Healthy Snack?

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Consuming healthy snacks between meals can provided athletes with tremendous benefits. But what makes a snack healthy?

This post is provided by My Sports Dietitian

By Tavis Piattoly MS, RD, LDN

Can snacking really boost performance? 
How do I put together a healthy snack to curb my hunger levels throughout the day? I don’t have time to eat a snack between meals because I don’t have time and there are not any healthy options on campus. These are questions I get and statements I hear all the time from athletes. I’ll answer the questions and provide practical guidelines to help you fix your snacking woes if you fall into the same boat.

Perception of Snacks
Athletes typically perceive the word “Snack” as some sort of junk food option (i.e. Chips, Candy, Cookies, etc). They typically don’t view it as an opportunity to get quality calories to fuel their body between their major meals. A snack can be comprised of anything you want it to be but what you choose, may determine how hungry you are in the next hour as well as how good you feel going on the field for practice at 3:00 pm, especially if you’re a high school or college athlete. This also depends on the sport as some collegiate sports practice and lift in the morning depending on the student athlete’s class schedule. Regardless, I’ll discuss what your snack should consist of to provide your body with a great source of fuel for the next 2-4 hours.

Benefits of Snacking between Meals
Dr. Dan Benardot, Professor of Sports Nutrition at Georgia State University, and Nutrition Consultant for USA Gymnastics, conducted a study on comparing the effects of consuming a healthy snack between meals in athletes vs. those who do not eat a healthy snack between meals. His findings were those who consumed a healthy snack demonstrated the following:

  • Improvement in Anaerobic Power (Strength)
    • Significant Increase in lean muscle mass
    • Significant reduction in body fat
    • Improvement in energy levels
    • Weight remained the same while muscle mass increased and body fat decreased

Additional benefits include blood sugar control, lower levels of hunger throughout the day which will reduce how much you eat later at night.

What Makes a Snack Healthy and Balanced?
There are 3 components of a healthy snack: Protein, Fiber, and Fat. When consuming these 3 nutrients synergistically, they help keep you full longer. Below is a chart that provides you with examples from each category.

PROTEIN
Lean Turkey, Ham, or Roast Beef Deli Meat
Chicken Breast
*Extra Lean Beef
*Lean Beef Jerky
*Low Fat Cheese
Low Fat or Fat Free Greek Yogurt
Protein Powder
Protein Bar

FIBER
Fresh Fruit
100% Whole Wheat Bread
Wheat Bagel
Whole Grain Cereal
Whole Grain Waffle
Whole Grain Crackers (i.e. Triscuits, Beanitos)
Vegetables
Light Popcorn

FAT
*Peanut Butter
*Nuts
*Sunflower Seeds
Olive Oil
*Trail Mix
Avocado
*Nut or Almond Butter
Ground Flax Seed

The above chart will give you a few examples of foods in each category. Those listed with an * next them indicate they are a source of Fat and Protein. Below are some examples of healthy snacks you can use between meals. These are just examples and may not apply to caloric needs.
• Peanut Butter Sandwich with Fresh Fruit
• 1 oz or Handful of Almonds with an Apple or piece of fresh fruit
• 1 scoop of Protein Powder with low fat milk or almond milk and a tbsp of Peanut Butter
• 6 Triscuit Crackers with 1 oz of low fat shredded cheese

Challenges for Athletes
High School and College athletes may face challenges in their schedule to where they may not have the ability to eat a snack. Some of these challenges are:

  • Only 5 minutes between classes to eat
    • I don’t have time to make snacks in the morning
    • Teacher may not allow athlete to eat in class
    • Healthy snack options are not available on campus
    • I don’t know what’s safe to pack in my bag

Putting together a Plan for Success
To be successful, you must develop a plan. All of the above are realistic challenges for athletes but they can be accomplished by doing the following:

  • It only takes 2-3 minutes to a PB and J sandwich, Protien Bar, or a handfulof nuts and blueberries.
    • Use a day off (i.e. Sunday) to make 10 Peanut Butter sandwiches or portion out your snacks for the week
    • Pack snacks from home and bring to school so you don’t miss your chance to eat
    • The following foods do not require refrigeration so you don’t have to be concerned about food spoilage.
     o Nuts or Trail mix
     o Nutrition Bars
     o Peanut Butter Sandwiches or Bagels
     o Whole Grain Crackers
     o Fresh Fruit
     o Dried Fruit (Raisins, Dates, Prunes, etc)
     o Beef Jerky
     o Whole Grain Chips (i.e. Sun Chips, Beanitos, Multigrain Tostidos)
     o Whole Grain Cereal (i.e. Special K Protein Plus, Kashi, Cheerios)
     o Whole Grain Waffles

Click the link below to get a free eBook that gives you tips for finding healthy snacks at the grocery store.

3 Guidelines for Choosing a Healthy Snack

 

 

Speed Training Program: Get FASTER

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Here are six simple tips/drills to help you get your athletes FASTER.

In the video below Michael Cano from ONEighty Athletics, shows you drills from each of the six key components of his get FASTER program.

The six key areas to focus on in order to increase speed are as follows:

F – Foward Lean
A – Arm Action
S – Shin Angle
T – Thigh Pop
E – Elevate
R – Recovery

In addition to the drills in this video you can get a free download complete with coaching cues and drills by click here. Speed Cheat Sheet

The YouTube video below has sound so please make sure that your volume is turned up and that you have access to the site.

Note that some schools block access to YouTube

Thoracic Rotation

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This post was provided by Training-Conditioning

Thoracic rotation is essential in baseball. Players need to develop strength in the core and thoracic spine to perform the two key movements of the sport—swinging and throwing. Players that can generate more rotational power from these areas will be in a better position to succeed on the diamond.

Gerry DeFilippo of EliteFTS breaks down the role of the thoracic spine in relation to the core when baseball players are swinging a bat or throwing a ball.

“After force is transferred from the lower half to the upper half and shoulders via the core, the thoracic spine (mid-back), must be able to rotate and the hips able to clear in order to square the body to the target when throwing the ball or when swinging,” he writes. “Lack of rotational power can severely limit velocity potential and swinging power. That is, an extremely strong base at the legs or shoulder may not see full potential utilized if a player cannot rotate at a similar rate.”

When training rotational power, DeFillipo believes it’s important to break down and understand each step of the movement. First, he points out that movements such as throwing and swinging are done in the frontal plane, which divides the body into the front and back. More specifically, the frontal plane components occur when the batter strides towards the mound and when a pitcher strides towards home plate. Then there is a transition to the transverse plane, which is where the rotation really takes place, such as when a batter brings their hands towards the ball as they swing or a pitcher brings their arm around to deliver a pitch.

Now that the different parts of these movements have been identified, it’s time to start training. DeFilippo recommends three exercises that fit into a basic progression. Together they will target the muscles and work within the planes of motion essential for building rotational power.

Sledgehammer Swings:

This exercise requires a sledgehammer and a large tire, or other equipment that serve an equivalent purpose. In order to experience full thoracic rotation, be sure to keep your feet perfectly squared. Start by holding the sledgehammer at your waist with your arms extended. Then rotate fully around towards one side, brings your arms back around, and rotate back to a squared position while simultaneously slamming the hammer on the tire. This movement helps to mimic that of a swing.

Figure Eight Medicine Ball Slams:

Start out in your lateral pitching stance, holding a medicine ball with both hands. The exercise is performed in a lateral position as you transfer weight from your front leg to your back leg before rotating and slamming the ball into the ground. This targets both planes of movement and mimics the type of rotation done when throwing. Use a soft or carpeted surface to lessen the bounce of the medicine ball.

Counter-Movement Figure Eight Medicine Ball Slams:

This is the final exercise in the progression. Start in the same position as the figure eight medicine ball slam then hop laterally forward, laterally backward, rotate and slam the ball into the ground. Building up this kinetic energy with the forward and backward hop helps to build even more power in the legs, waist, and core.

Teaching the Hang Clean

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When done properly the hang clean is a great exercise to add to any high school strength and conditioning program.

Here are some tips for teaching it properly.

In the video below Michael Cano of ONEighty Athletics demonstrates how he teaches the hang clean.

He not only shows you a 4 step sequence that he takes athletes through but also breaks down teaching tips and cues that he uses to get athletes in the correct positions.

In addition, he shares several stretches and corrective exercises that he uses between sets.

Also if you are interested Coach Cano is giving away a free copy of his Ultimate Speed Training Blueprint just click this link for more information.

The YouTube video below has sound, so please make sure that your volume is turned up and that you have access to the site. Note that some schools block access to YouTube.