Athletic Performance Toolbox

Get Better at Following Through

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This post provided by Busy.Coach

Coaches often have a handful of great ideas about how to improve their program. For many coaches it is difficult to put those ideas into action. Here are some thoughts getting better at following through.

By Mandy Green

I just finished up speaking at the United Soccer Coaches Association National Soccer Convention.

A big thing that coaches were talking to me about this weekend is that they always have a lot of new ideas for how they can work better, but after the initial excitement wears off, they struggle to follow through and take action.

Although you start the day with the best of intentions, of course, you know what happens right? Life throws you a curveball. Maybe an administrator, another coach or somebody on your team stops by for an unexpected conversation.

Or maybe even for you, an addiction to distraction kicks in. Sorry if this sounds a little harsh, but coach, when you allow yourself to get distracted for long enough, you’ve essentially trained your brain to underperform. As a result, you likely struggle from a lack of focus, perhaps an inability to concentrate for long periods of time, and this near constant feeling of being totally overworked and overstretched and overcommitted.

But here’s the deal: if you want to create and contribute and experience extraordinary things in this life — and I believe you do because you are reading this newsletter — then you have to buck the status quo. You have to break cycle of these addictions and really push back against all these other distractions. You need to develop an unshakable ability to follow through on what is most important to YOU.

I mean, just think about it. When was the last time that you really completed a goal that truly mattered to you? When was the last time you set an important goal and you made it happen? I mean, doesn’t it just feel GREAT to check something off your list or complete an important project or say that something is finally DONE?

You see … no matter how enthusiastic we are at the beginning of any new day or with each new project, there’s one crucial habit that makes all the difference in the world: follow-through. And the ability to finish what we start.

As I continue to try to help you decide what’s most important, then to eliminate what’s not important, and to make doing the work that you need to do as effortless as possible, I can tell you without hesitation that THIS ability — the ability to focus on what matters, to finish what you start — has been invaluable to me as a coach, as a business owner … and quite frankly, as a human.

From my own experience, I have found that there are two big problems that get in our way of following through:

First, most of us are working on way too many things at once. We allow ourselves to be pulled in too many directions. Instead of making meaningful progress on a single project that really, really matters, we wind up feeling constantly overloaded and overstretched and get stuck doing maintenance tasks all day.

Now the second problem? Oftentimes we are fuzzy about our outcome. Meaning, most of the time, we’re just working hard and trying to keep our heads above water without a clearly defined, achievable result that we’re working towards.

The good news here is we have the power to fix both of these problems. And when we do, we gain some serious momentum and we train ourselves to become masters of follow-through.

So the very first step is this: we must decide.

Meaning, DECIDE what’s truly most important. And, to be clear — I’m not talking about several things here, I’m talking about choosing just ONE thing. One TOP priority. One single goal.

For you to develop the habit of finishing what you start – you’ve got to be willing to choose ONE important goal or ONE project that you want to get done.

Did you know that the word “decide” comes from the Latin word, “decidere,” which means “to cut off”? So when you decide on one thing, you cut yourself off from everything else except from that which you’ve said is most important.

As it is Sunday and you are hopefully preparing for kicking ass in the office this week, I want you to think about this question: What’s one thing you could focus on (a single project or goal) that, if you finished it, would make a tremendous positive impact on your program and life?

If you’re having trouble committing to JUST one thing, if you’re unwilling to commit to one thing, I want you to remember this: you’re most likely going to be distracted by EVERYTHING.

Shut off your phone, close email and eliminate all distractions. Have a great week!

If you want to challenge yourself to a Busy Coach 30 Day Productivity Challenge this month, go here to get the details.

Email me at mandy@busy.coach.com to let me know how it goes for you. I love hearing all of your success stories of how this is working for you!!!!!

If you are interested in having me help you get your program and staff organized and firing on all cylinders this year, email me at mandy@busy.coach.

Win the day!

Hip and Glute Exercises

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One of the many benefits of proper training is injury prevention. By strengthening an activating the hips and glutes you can reduce the risk of ACL injuries.

ACL injuries are devastating to high school athletes. The recovery time will usually mean an athlete will lose a season of competition. While injuries can not be prevented, proper training can certainly reduce the risk of injury.

In the video below Jerry Schreck, Head Strength Coach at Bucknell University, details a few Hip and Glute exercises that he uses to help prevent ACL injuries.

The video was taken at a recent Glazier Athletic Performance Clinic. For information about how to gain access to Coach Schreck’s entire presentation, as well as hundreds of other great presentations, click the link Glazier Athletic Performance Clinics.

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

Progressive Pressing

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As one of the most commonly used exercises in high school strength training programs, the bench press can help athletes make gains in the weight room and on the playing field. As with any exercise, it is important to begin with the basics and follow a progression before engaging in the full exercise. This will help your athletes complete the movement correctly, gain the most benefit, and decrease the chance of injury.

In a blog for the International Youth Conditioning Association (IYCA), Tobias Jacobi, current Strength and Conditioning Coach at Strong Rock (Ga.) Christian School who previously spent 15 years coaching at various levels, explains the progression plan that he uses with his athletes. He recommends progressing athletes through multiple levels before reaching the pause bench press:

Bench Push-Up

Perform a push-up with both hands on the bench. The athlete’s chest should touch the bench during each repetition. If an athlete cannot hold the proper posture and execution, this movement can be made easier by putting their knees on the ground. Jacobi suggests waiting to progress the athlete until they can perform 10 perfect repetitions of this movement.

Push-Up

The athlete should focus on holding their body posture and proper execution throughout the movement. One coaching cue Jacobi uses is telling athletes to squeeze their elbows into the body. Again, if the athlete is struggling to do this movement, they can make it easier by putting their knees on the ground. Jacobi recommends athletes be able to perform 10 perfect repetitions before moving to the next movement.

Once athletes have mastered these exercises, Jacobi’s recommended progressions begin to utilize weights as resistance. But first, he covers a few topics with his athletes. One of these is proper set up on the bench. Jacobi has athletes lie directly under the barbell in order to create a straight line between the barbell and eyes. Next is body position.

“First, we want the shoulder blades in the bench,” write Jacobi. “Second, we want the hips to stay in constant contact with the bench for the entire time throughout the movement. Lastly, we want the feet flat and pressed into the floor. This allows for the lifter to use the lower body by pressing through the floor during the bench pressing exercises.”

Jacobi also focuses on grip. He begins with barbells and progresses to dumbbells for each individual exercise, as the barbell adds stabilization. Jacobi utilizes blue and red tape, with the blue tape on the outer ring of the barbell and the red tape covering from the smooth part of the barbell towards the middle. Athletes are told to go no wider than pinky fingers on the blue tape. Once athletes are taught these coaching cues, they can move on to the next progressions:

Floor Press

Begin with a 25 pound barbell. Have the athlete lie on the ground under the barbell and lower the barbell straight down with their elbows tucked at a 45-degree angle. Lower the barbell until the elbows touch the ground. When the barbell is completely at rest, press upward and fully lock out the arms.

DB Floor Press

This move is similar to the floor press, but utilizes dumbbells in place of the barbell. Jacobi explains that athletes’ palms should face towards each other, as this helps keep the elbows in the proper position.

Board Press

Now on a bench, have the athlete once again use the barbell, lowering it in the same motion that they executed the Floor Press, stopping just above the chest. Then, the athlete will press upward until their arms lock.

DB Bench Press

This exercise uses dumbbells and the same grip position as the DB Floor press. Begin by extending the dumbbells upward. Lower them until they touch the chest and then press upward until the arms lock out at the top. Jacobi stresses the importance of controlling the weight throughout the movement, so athletes should focus on not allowing the weight to bounce off their chest.

Close Grip Bench Press

Have your athlete grip the barbell with their middle finger on the red tape. Lower the barbell until it touches the chest and press upward until the arms lock at the top. Again, the barbell should be kept in control throughout the movement.

DB Incline Press

With the bench at an inclined position, have athletes hold the dumbbells with palms facing each other. Follow the same movements as the DB Bench Press, focusing on controlling the weight throughout the exercise.

Pause Bench Press

This is the final movement in the progression. According to Jacobi, athletes should lower the barbell until it rests on the chest. After a three second pause, explosively press the barbell upward until the arms lock at the top of the exercise.

10 Ways to Boost Motivation

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This post was provided by Inner Drive, a mental skills training company

10 WAYS TO BOOST MOTIVATION

1. Targets – Set yourself a clear, ambitious and accurate target

2. Think Why – Remind yourself why you are doing this

3. Improvements – Measure success by how much you’ve improved (not comparing to others)

4. The Right People – Surround yourself with positive hard working people

5. Choose – View decisions as active choices, not sacrifices

6. Enjoy – Find enjoyment in what you are doing

7. Travel – Embrace the journey, not just the outcome

8. Break it Down – Focus on your next step. This helps break the challenge down into manageable steps

9. Challenge Yourself – If the task matches and stretches your ability, you will get immersed in it

10. Manage that Stress – Some stress is good. Too little and you won’t care, but too much and you may get overwhelmed

For even more useful info visit our page on How to Develop a Growth Mindset which has tons of great tips and links to the latest research on Growth Mindset.

Hip Mobility Series

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This post was provided my ONEighty Athletics

Here’s a great warm up to implement before any lower body workout. In the video below, we have already  implemented a 5 minute dynamic warm up & now are focusing on increasing range of motion in the Knee, Ankle, & Hip!

The Sets & Reps Below.

*Left Knee on Ground- Right Leg in Lunge Position:

1. Hamstring Stretch x10 secs

2. World’s Greatest x10 secs

3. Over Shoulder Twist x10 secs

Switch Legs

Hip Mobility Series

1. Push up to Worlds Greatest W/i Pause X2 ea Leg

2. Single Exchange x2 ea

3. Double Exchange x2

4.Squat Position hands on ankles

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